{"id":1368470,"date":"2026-05-30T12:34:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T10:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T21:23:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:23:30","slug":"f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p>The F-47 has a $20 billion prime contract, 185-plus jets on order, Mach 2-plus on the spec sheet, up to eight robot wingmen each, and a $300 million per copy sticker that would make a Lamborghini dealer blush. The Air Force is building it in St. Louis. Boeing&#8217;s stock loves it. Trump named it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>There&#8217;s just one small thing nobody is putting on the press release: not a single pilot has ever flown one. Experimental NGAD demonstrators have been flying quietly since 2020, but an actual F-47? There isn&#8217;t one to fly. There&#8217;s no simulator. No syllabus. No test pilot pool selected. The aircraft that&#8217;s going to replace the F-22 Raptor and police the skies against China&#8217;s J-20 currently exists in CAD, in tooling jigs in Missouri, and in a slick computer render the Air Force keeps emailing reporters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Welcome to the most ambitious \u2014 and most paper-airplane \u2014 fighter program in modern American history.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f0f0;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:14px 18px;margin:20px 0 24px;border-radius:0 6px 6px 0\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Quick Facts<\/p>\r\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;font-size:14.5px;line-height:1.7\">\r\n<li><strong>Prime contract:<\/strong> $20 billion development contract (Boeing), awarded March 2025<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Planned buy:<\/strong> 185-plus aircraft<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Unit cost:<\/strong> ~$300 million per jet<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Top speed:<\/strong> Mach 2+<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Combat radius:<\/strong> 1,000+ nautical miles<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Engine:<\/strong> Adaptive-cycle (Pratt &amp; Whitney XA103 or GE XA102)<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Drone wingmen:<\/strong> Up to 8 Collaborative Combat Aircraft per F-47<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Final assembly:<\/strong> St. Louis, Missouri<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>First flight (planned):<\/strong> 2028<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Initial operational capability:<\/strong> 2029<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A &#8220;Stealth++&#8221; quarterback with a drone swarm<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The pitch is genuinely impressive. The F-47 is built to be the manned quarterback of a new American air combat formation: a single human pilot in a sixth-generation, deeper-stealth-than-F-22 airframe, networked with up to eight Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones. The CCAs do the dirty work \u2014 penetrate contested airspace, hunt SAM sites, jam radars, soak up missiles, act as decoys. The F-47 stays high, fast and a long way back from the threat envelope, calling the plays.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That math turns 185 fighters into a potential 1,500-platform combat ecosystem. Whether the Pentagon ever buys all 1,480 CCAs is another question, but on paper the F-47 plus drone-swarm concept is the single biggest leap in air combat doctrine since stealth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The aircraft itself is meant to deliver Mach 2+ persistent supercruise, a 1,000+ nautical-mile combat radius (a huge jump over the F-22), an adaptive-cycle powerplant \u2014 either P&amp;W&#8217;s XA103 or GE&#8217;s XA102 \u2014 and a stealth signature the Air Force has cheerfully described only as &#8220;Stealth++.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=793681107  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-air-force-secretary-rendering-stealth-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"F-47 NGAD platform rendering released by the Secretary of the Air Force\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The official artist rendering of the F-47 NGAD platform. Boeing is building the type in St. Louis, Missouri. Image: USAF \/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">$300 million each, and that&#8217;s the optimistic number<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>$300 million is the unit price the Air Force is currently telegraphing. For context: an F-35A is roughly $80 million today. The F-22 cost about $150 million per copy at the end of its run, and Congress refused to buy more than 187 of them because the price tag was already unforgivable. The F-47 launches at twice the F-22 figure and the Pentagon wants almost the same fleet size.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>185 jets at $300 million each is $55.5 billion in airframes alone. Add the eight-drone wingman package per fighter, the new adaptive engines, the network backbone, the simulators and training infrastructure that don&#8217;t exist yet, and the program lifetime cost runs in the multi-hundred-billion-dollar range before anyone fuels one up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;With the F-47, we are not just building another fighter &mdash; we are shaping the future of warfare and putting our enemies on notice. This platform will be the most advanced, lethal, and adaptable fighter ever developed.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Gen. David Allvin<\/strong> &mdash; Chief of Staff, US Air Force<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The one thing nobody&#8217;s flown<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>And here&#8217;s the twist. Boeing is now in the manufacturing phase. Long-lead tooling is in St. Louis. The Air Force is publicly tracking a 2028 first flight and a 2029 IOC. Skeptics \u2014 including a few sitting lawmakers \u2014 point out that historically every modern American fighter has slipped at least three years from its IOC target. Some now openly say the F-47 won&#8217;t see operational service until the mid-2030s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That gap matters because the test pilot cadre that&#8217;s going to take the F-47 from a renderer&#8217;s hard drive to an air-to-air kill ratio has not been picked. There&#8217;s no training pipeline. There&#8217;s no simulator. There isn&#8217;t even a finalised cockpit layout in the public domain. China&#8217;s sixth-generation demonstrators \u2014 the J-36 and the J-50 \u2014 have been flying with test pilots aboard since late 2024. For the F-47, no test crew has even been publicly named.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The point is not that this kills the program. Boeing is genuinely building this thing, and the contract is real. The point is that the operational fielding date assumes everything goes right \u2014 first flight, envelope expansion, CCA integration, simulator development, pilot selection and training \u2014 without a single year of slippage in a program type that has never not slipped.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>185 jets, eight drones each, Mach 2-plus, $300 million per copy. America&#8217;s first sixth-gen fighter is real. It&#8217;s just nobody&#8217;s flown one yet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic\">Sources: National Security Journal, 19FortyFive, Wikipedia (Boeing F-47), Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, The War Zone.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The F-47 has a $20 billion prime contract, 185-plus jets on order, Mach 2-plus on the spec sheet, up to eight robot wingmen each, and a $300 million per copy sticker that would make a Lamborghini dealer blush. The Air Force is building it in St. Louis. Boeing&#8217;s stock loves it. Trump named it. There&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":1368370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1368470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boeing&#039;s F-47 NGAD is a $28 billion, 185-jet sixth-gen fighter program with Mach 2+ speed and drone wingmen. But one critical gap \u2014 no test pilots have flown it yet.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About | MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boeing&#039;s F-47 NGAD is a $28 billion, 185-jet sixth-gen fighter program with Mach 2+ speed and drone wingmen. But one critical gap \u2014 no test pilots have flown it yet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T10:34:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T19:23:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ed38e73f51a5891bfb3da9b272b2800\"},\"headline\":\"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T10:34:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-11T19:23:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":839,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military Aviation\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About | MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T10:34:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-11T19:23:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ed38e73f51a5891bfb3da9b272b2800\"},\"description\":\"Boeing's F-47 NGAD is a $28 billion, 185-jet sixth-gen fighter program with Mach 2+ speed and drone wingmen. But one critical gap \u2014 no test pilots have flown it yet.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"Shown is a graphical artist rendering of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform. The rendering highlights the Air Force\u2019s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. The NGAD Platform will bring lethal, next-generation technologies to ensure air superiority for the Joint Force in any conflict. (U.S. Air Force graphic)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ed38e73f51a5891bfb3da9b272b2800\",\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joseph Duncan\"},\"description\":\"Joseph is the fastest pen in the newsroom. When the Pentagon drops a press release at 5 PM on a Friday, his article is live before most people finish reading the headline. Sharp, witty, and allergic to jargon, he turns breaking defence news into stories that are as entertaining as they are informative.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/author\\\/josephduncan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About | MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"Boeing's F-47 NGAD is a $28 billion, 185-jet sixth-gen fighter program with Mach 2+ speed and drone wingmen. But one critical gap \u2014 no test pilots have flown it yet.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About | MiGFlug.com Blog","og_description":"Boeing's F-47 NGAD is a $28 billion, 185-jet sixth-gen fighter program with Mach 2+ speed and drone wingmen. But one critical gap \u2014 no test pilots have flown it yet.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/","og_site_name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","article_published_time":"2026-05-30T10:34:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-11T19:23:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joseph Duncan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joseph Duncan","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"Joseph Duncan","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/7ed38e73f51a5891bfb3da9b272b2800"},"headline":"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About","datePublished":"2026-05-30T10:34:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-11T19:23:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/"},"wordCount":839,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Military Aviation","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/","name":"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About | MiGFlug.com Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-30T10:34:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-11T19:23:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/7ed38e73f51a5891bfb3da9b272b2800"},"description":"Boeing's F-47 NGAD is a $28 billion, 185-jet sixth-gen fighter program with Mach 2+ speed and drone wingmen. But one critical gap \u2014 no test pilots have flown it yet.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-47-ngad-boeing-6th-generation-fighter-render-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440,"caption":"Shown is a graphical artist rendering of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform. The rendering highlights the Air Force\u2019s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. The NGAD Platform will bring lethal, next-generation technologies to ensure air superiority for the Joint Force in any conflict. (U.S. Air Force graphic)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-47-ngad-185-jets-mach-2-test-pilot-problem-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"F-47 NGAD: 185 Jets, Mach 2+, and One Big Problem Nobody Talks About"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/7ed38e73f51a5891bfb3da9b272b2800","name":"Joseph Duncan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joseph Duncan"},"description":"Joseph is the fastest pen in the newsroom. When the Pentagon drops a press release at 5 PM on a Friday, his article is live before most people finish reading the headline. Sharp, witty, and allergic to jargon, he turns breaking defence news into stories that are as entertaining as they are informative.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/author\/josephduncan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1368470"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1729071,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368470\/revisions\/1729071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1368370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1368470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1368470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1368470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}