Key Points and Summary on F-47 Name – The naming of America’s new sixth-generation fighter, the F-47, appears to be a direct homage to President Donald J. Trump, the 47th president.
-According to a Bloomberg News report based on Freedom of Information Act requests, U.S. Air Force officials scrambled to create a historical justification for the name after Trump announced it.
F-22 Raptor. This will be replaced by the F-47. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
-While the official story now links the “47” to the WWII-era P-47 Thunderbolt and the Air Force’s founding in 1947, the leaked emails suggest the primary motivation was to honor the president for his “pivotal support” of the program.
F-47: The Trump Fighter?
Back in March, as part of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, the Air Force announced that it had awarded Boeing the contract for the first sixth-generation fighter aircraft, which would be called the F-47.
“I’m thrilled to announce that, at my direction, the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” United States President Donald J. Trump said during a March press briefing. “Nothing in the world comes even close to it, and it’ll be known as the F-47.”
“In terms of all of the attributes of a fighter jet, there’s never been anything even close to it, from speed to maneuverability, to what it can have, to payload. And this has been in the works for a long period of time,” the president added. “America’s enemies will never see it coming.”
According to a report by Breaking Defense this week, the engine prototype for the F-47 has been delayed, possibly until fiscal 2030.
But meanwhile, some attention has also been paid to another aspect of the F-47: Its name.
What the F-47 Fighter is For
A Bloomberg News report last month by Jason Leopold, as part of his newsletter, the FOIA Files, which gathers information from Freedom of Information Act requests, examined the origins of how the F-47 was named.
F-22 Raptor @ USAF Museum 2025. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
Trump had said, during the March announcement, that “It’ll be known as the F-47. The generals picked the title. It’s a beautiful number.”
It was hard not to notice at the time that while the “F” generally stands for “fighter” in such naming conventions, the “47” might have something to do with Trump being the 47th president.
After Leopold’s FOIA requests, which turned up some emails, he concluded: “They reveal that the F-47’s name has roots in an iconic World War II fighter plane—and in an effort to honor Trump.”
Meet the P-47
The Air Force is claiming, seemingly after the fact, that the F-47 has been named in a homage to the P-47, known as the “Juggernaut,” which was a key warplane during World War II.
According to Slashgear, the P-47 was a prolific warplane during the Second World War.
“The P-47 was a fighter and fighter-bomber craft employed by the Allies during World War II. It was powered by a single 2,000-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine and measured 36 feet 2 inches in length and 14 feet 8 inches in height, with a wingspan of 40 feet 9 inches,” Slashgear wrote. “As an aircraft meant to go against some of the Axis’s best planes, the P-47 featured six to eight .50 caliber machine guns and either 10 rockets or 2,500 pounds of bombs. Its top speed was a respectable 433 miles per hour, while its cruising speed was 350 miles per hour.”
However, Leopold noticed something else.
“Oddly, when Trump announced the F-47 neither he nor Hegseth mentioned the P-47 or its historic legacy. As I reviewed the time stamps on the emails it occurred to me that the Air Force may have been caught off guard or were just unprepared when the president said the new fighter jet would be called F-47.”
He also noted that, based on the FOIA’d emails, “officials scrambled to draft a statement explaining the nomenclature for the F-47 after the press conference took place.”
Three Meanings
Ultimately, the FOIA request turned up a prepared statement that included both an acknowledgment of the intention to “honor the legacy” of the P-47, and two other things: to honor the “founding year” of the Air Force, which was 1947, and also “recognizing the 47th president’s pivotal support for the development of the world’s first sixth-generation fighter.”
The Air Force’s Gen. David Allvin posted that statement to social media on the day of the press conference.
Later, an unnamed reporter asked why the Air Force departed from its usual naming convention in this case.
Ann Stefanek, the Air Force spokesperson, replied that she “didn’t have additional details to share,” and that “General Allvin made the decision.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
NOTE: We have updated the story to correct a wording mistake.
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Red Blunt
July 22, 2025 at 11:05 am
Silver should be fired for publishing that the P-47 was a jet.
TM May
July 22, 2025 at 1:35 pm
Sickest thing Ive ever read. Bonespurs ffs? The guy eho says were all losers? What happened to this nation?
michael
July 22, 2025 at 2:32 pm
P-47 THUNDERBOLT, not Juggernaut. Sheesh. No one fact checks anymore???
It was called the ‘Jug’ by it’s pilots because it looked like a milk jug from the side.
krystal cane
July 22, 2025 at 4:06 pm
F-00 b0ne spurs. Costs a lot does very little. Armed is a PDF gun and nad bombs and the ejected seat is triggered by the pilot crapping there pants just like dear leader
Dilligaf
July 22, 2025 at 9:21 pm
Honor Trump who, exactly? He’s a draft dodger with zero respect for the military,the Constitution, or the people of the United States. You want to honor Trump with a naming convention, let’s rename the ‘honey bucket’ in his ‘honor.’