Trump announces Boeing wins contract for next-generation fighter jet... F-47??? Say-What????

[WKTaylor]

 

[IRstuff]

sure, he's president 47; it's not a whole lot more outrageous than half the things he's done in the last two months

 

[3DDave]

It's the 12th plane since the F-35. That's how it works, right? Right?

 

[SWComposites]

F-47 MagaFighter!

 

[rb1957]

Thunderbolt II ?

 

[verymadmac]

A-10 was Thunderbolt II, so maybe Thunderbolt III maybe. Looks like a warmed up Bird of Prey, although with the F-47 designation its should be, about 120,000 lbs gross*.


* for those that don't know the P-47 was rather large and heavy compared to period competitors (20% maybe).

 

[rb1957]

yeah, as I wrote it I thought about the A10. How about "Thunderbolt X" ... if F47 isn't in sequence, why should the nickname be constrained ? and "X" is a cool descriptor, like "SpaceX".

 

[MintJulep]

It's the 12th plane since the F-35. That's how it works, right? Right?

Apparently the system has some flexibility built in.

1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[IRstuff]

In addition, the F-35 should have been something like F-24