WASHINGTON—The next generation of manned fighter jets will be built by Boeing. The Department of the Air Force awarded the company a $20 billion engineering and manufacturing development for a next generation air dominance (NGAD) platform. The F-47, the world’s first sixth-generation fighter, will be designed to replace a fleet of F-22s air-to-air fighters.

The U.S. Air Force released a blurry illustration (see above) that may or may not represent what the cutting-edge aircraft will look like. If the image is accurate, the stealthy plane will feature dihedral wings and a shovel-shaped nose. The fighter will probably be powered by either a GE Aerospace XA102 or a Pratt & Whitney XA103 jet engine.

“With this F-47 as the crown jewel in [our arsenal], we believe that this provides more lethality,” says U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin. “It provides more capability, more modernized capability, in a way that is built to adapt, along with our collaborative combat aircraft.”

Allvin claims that the F-47 will be a significant advancement over the F-22, which is currently the U.S. Air Force's primary air superiority fighter. It will “integrate next-generation stealth, sensor fusion and long-range strike capabilities….”

When it debuted two decades ago, the controversial F-35 joint strike fighter, which was designed for air-to-ground combat missions, was supposed to be the last manned aircraft in the U.S. military. It now appears that the F-47 will hold that distinction. The jet fighter will, however, be designed to fly with semiautonomous drones that carry missiles.

“We recognize the importance of designing, building and delivering a sixth-generation fighter capability for the United States Air Force,” says Steve Parker, interim president and chief executive officer at Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “In preparation for this mission, we made the most significant investment in the history of our defense business, and we are ready to provide the most advanced and innovative NGAD aircraft needed to support the mission.”

Boeing is already in the process of building a 1.1-million-square-foot assembly plant adjacent to its military jet production facility in St. Louis.