The Hard Truth About the F-35 That No One in the U.S. Military Wants to Admit

Key Points and Summary – The F-35 and F-22 reshaped air combat, but the threat environment is evolving faster than fifth-generation fleets.

-Hypersonic weapons, dense SAM networks, drone swarms, and sophisticated electronic warfare are forcing the U.S. toward a different model: a sixth-generation “quarterback” that orchestrates the battlespace, not just survives it.

F-35 Fighters Ready. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Two Dutch F-35 Lightnings patiently wait for their opportunity to maneuver into position to receive more fuel mid-air from a KC-135 Stratotanker over the Arctic Circle, May 31, 2023. The 101st ARW is taking part in Arctic Challenge Exercise 2023, a live fly exercise that serves to advance arctic security initiatives and enhance interoperability in the increasingly dynamic and contested region.

-The F-47 concept centers on autonomy, manned-unmanned teaming, and open architecture that can be upgraded rapidly, keeping pace with adversary iterations.

-Fielded on time, it restores deterrence, reassures allies, and complicates Beijing’s and Moscow’s planning from day one.

-It is designed to see first, decide faster, and strike deeper without betting on luck.

Why the F-35 Is Now a Bridge to the F-47

The F-35 and F-22 Raptor are marvels of engineering—culminations of fifth-generation thinking in airpower. Stealth, networked sensors, fused data, and high survivability in contested airspace. Each feature was designed to address the battles the United States anticipates it might face in the 21st century.

But the world has moved on. The threats are evolving faster than those legacy aircraft, which still comprise the bulk of the US fighter arsenal.

Hypersonic glide vehicles, long-range surface-to-air missile systems, artificial intelligence, drones, and high-powered electronic warfare are rewriting the rules of warfare. Against this backdrop, the F-35 is increasingly looking like a bridge to something else, rather than the destination itself.

Enter the F-47: not an upgrade, but a break from the past. A sixth-generation platform meant to operate—and win—in the wars of the 2030s and beyond.

Ushering in a Distinct New Generation of Airframe

The distinction between fifth- and sixth-generation fighters isn’t just marketing. It’s foundational. With fifth-gen, the revolution was stealth and sensor fusion. With sixth-gen, it’s convergence: airframes as nodes in a multi-domain web, platforms that don’t just survive in contested environments but dominate them through autonomy, speed, and adaptability.

The F-47 isn’t just a new fighter; it’s a novel weapon system designed from the ground up to team with drones, command cyber operations, and serve as a quarterback across the battlespace. The future of airpower isn’t about one platform doing everything—it’s about one platform orchestrating everything.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Melanie “Mach” Kluesner, the pilot for the F-35A Demonstration Team, performs aerial maneuvers in a USAF F-35A Lightning II during the first day of the airshow at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida, on 18 October, 2024. The Demo Team performs at various airshows across the globe to display the power, agility, and lethality of America’s 5th generation fighter jet. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Rupiper)

That orchestration matters. Because the F-35, for all its strengths, is vulnerable in ways that are becoming harder to ignore. Its dependence on unbroken connectivity and exquisite sensor networks makes it uniquely exposed to jamming, spoofing, and other forms of electronic disruption. In the clean environments of test ranges and simulations, the F-35 is dominant. But real wars—against China or Russia, for instance—won’t be clean. They’ll be dirty, denied, and degraded. In such scenarios, a fighter that can think and adapt independently—autonomously—isn’t a luxury. It’s the bare minimum.

Some will argue that the F-35 has proven itself and should remain the backbone of the fleet. That’s fine—for now. However, we must be honest about what the F-35 is: a transitional platform. It was never going to be the end state. The arrival of adversary systems like China’s J-20 and Russia’s Su-57—both improving with each new block—makes this abundantly clear. They are narrowing the gap. And in the next decade, they may well close it.

Su-57 Felon in the Sky. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Forging a New Gap

That’s why the F-47 must be more than a mere concept or a fantasy platform. It has to become a reality—and quickly. Not because we want another defense program with endless cost overruns and delays, but because delay is itself a strategic liability. Waiting for perfection is a recipe for paralysis. China isn’t waiting. Neither is Russia. The F-47, if developed properly, can be the answer to both. But the clock is ticking.

Critics, of course, will balk at the cost. They always do. But there’s a deeper cost to inaction: losing the edge in the one domain where America has long enjoyed overwhelming superiority. That edge has underwritten not just American freedom of maneuver, but global stability. Lose that, and you lose much more than just the next dogfight. You lose deterrence. You lose credibility.

What sets the F-47 apart isn’t just stealth or speed, though both will matter. It’s the shift toward modularity and adaptability. This aircraft won’t be frozen in time, unlike many legacy systems, such as the F-35. It will evolve rapidly. Open architecture will allow for plug-and-play updates. AI cores can be swapped out and retrained. Sensor suites upgraded without gutting the airframe. In a decade where the battlespace is likely to evolve significantly every few years, that adaptability is not optional—it’s essential.

Strategically, the F-47 sends a clear message. It tells allies that the US is not coasting on past achievements. It tells adversaries that technological overmatch remains the American way of war. And it tells the world that the US is preparing not for the last war, but for the next one. That kind of signaling is invaluable at a time when revisionist powers are probing every seam in the global order.

We also need to think about the F-47 as a deterrent. Deterrence isn’t just about having nukes. It’s about making any conventional move by your adversary look like a losing proposition from day one.

If the F-47 can show up, see everything, strike first, and coordinate the fight in real-time with land, sea, and cyber assets, that changes the calculus in Beijing and Moscow. That’s real deterrence, rooted not in static threats but dynamic capabilities.

The F-47 Is the Future 

The Air Force stands at a crossroads. It can double down on the F-35 and hope that its capabilities stay ahead of the curve. Or it can recognize that the curve is bending rapidly. The F-47 is a bet on the future—but it’s one we can’t afford not to place.

Betting against it means betting on stagnation. Worse, it means betting that our adversaries won’t catch up. That’s not a prudent strategy. It’s a reckless gamble.

No one is saying the F-35 should be scrapped. It has its role, and for the next several years, it will remain critical. But we cannot mistake a stopgap for a solution. The F-47 is the future. It’s time to act like it.

About the Author: Dr. Andrew Latham

Andrew Latham is a non-resident fellow at Defense Priorities and a professor of international relations and political theory at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. You can follow him on X: @aakatham. He writes a daily column for National Security Journal.