Key Points and Summary – A potential strike at Boeing’s St. Louis defense plants threatens to derail the U.S. Air Force’s most critical aviation program. Over 3,200 union workers rejected a contract offer, setting the stage for a work stoppage on August 4 that would halt work on the F-47 fighter—the centerpiece of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.
Any delay to the F-47 could have a cascading effect, stalling the program.
The Boeing F-47 Fighter Could Be Impacted by a Labor Strike
Boeing is facing major labor disruption after more than 3,200 union workers at its St. Louis-area defense plants voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposed four-year contract that included a 20 percent pay increase.
The vote means a strike could occur on August 4, following a mandatory seven-day “cooling-off” period.
And while the strikes present a new challenge for Boeing, they also risk the ongoing development of the F-47 – and the Next Generation Air Dominance program more generally.
What Just Happened?
Union officials have accused Boeing of failing to account for the contributions and sacrifices of its workforce properly.
This next-generation U.S. Air Force fighter jet is the central focus of the Pentagon’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.
Boeing secured the multibillion-dollar F-47 contract earlier this year and has begun expanding into its St. Louis-area facilities to ensure the deal can be fulfilled.
The expansion was backed by $1.8 billion in investment and $155 million in local tax incentives tied to the creation of roughly 500 high-paying jobs.
Dan Gillian, Boeing’s Air Dominance vice president and general manager of the St. Louis site, expressed disappointment in the outcome of the union vote.
“We’re disappointed our employees voted down the richest contract offer we’ve ever presented to IAM 837 which address all their stated priorities,” Gillian said.
Unless an agreement is reached before August 4, the strike is expected to take place and will impact the work schedule of not just the F-47, but also the T-7 Red Hawk trainer and the NGAD program more broadly.
How It Affects F-47 and the Wider NGAD Program
NGAD is a sixth-generation air superiority program that encompasses the development of a family of next-generation aircraft.
Chief among them is the Boeing F-47 – a design chosen by the U.S. Air Force in March 2025.
However, the Air Force aims to build a family of systems as part of the program, designed to replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
The F-47 is the centerpiece of the program; a crewed “Penetrating Counter-Air” (PCA) platform designed to work in tandem with uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft, or “loyal wingman” drones.
The length of the strikes, should they take place, remains unknown. Similarly, Boeing may also need to take the time to renegotiate contracts and reach a deal with its workers. These delays will inevitably slow down work on the F-47, pushing back prototyping, assembly, testing, and ultimately, initial deliveries of the jet.
The F-47 is a key part of Boeing’s defense portfolio, and delays in its production schedule could affect both internal timelines and external contractual obligations with the Air Force.
Any disruption to the centerpiece of the NGAD program could also stall the entire program’s rollout for some time. NGAD’s success depends not just on the F-47 itself, but the synchronized development of manned and unmanned platforms that are designed to work together. If the F-47 is delayed, the integration of supporting systems like wingman drones and AI software could be pushed back, too.
The F-47 is expected to enter operational service before 2029.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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