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).
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".
Below is a portion of an AI answer: "The numerical designations for fighter planes follow a specific system used by the U.S. military. The first letter in the designation, such as "F" for Fighter, indicates the basic mission of the aircraft. The number that follows is the design number, which is not necessarily sequential but indicates the aircraft's design in that mission category. For example, the F-15, F-16, and F-18 are fighter aircraft designed in that order under the fighter mission category. However, there are exceptions where the sequence is not strictly followed. For instance, the F-117 was not the 117th fighter design, but rather a stealth fighter that was given a higher number to emphasize its unique capabilities"
The last "F" aircraft introduced was the F-35 which got that designation partially because it was the X-35 in development. It was in the "30" series as it represented a new generation of design. This new plane is a "6th generation fighter", so it is appropriate that is is in the "40" series indicating yet another generation.
So the designation F-47 is not that unusual. Of course, the Pentagon could have designated it the F-45. It has been in development since the previous Trump administration.
BTW, the P-47 was in the "Pursuit" class of aircraft. It used a massive R-2800 'Double Wasp' engine that was also used in medium twin-engine bombers. The P-47 was used in dual roles as both a fighter and a ground-attack bomber. It could carry 2500 lbs of bombs and rockets under its wings. It was known to be able to withstand a massive amount of damage and keep flying.
I wonder if the F-47 actually derives from the F-7 concept that was put about a couple of years go. Would be a nice cover story (building an F-7 mockup) for having T-7 gear / engines shipped to an otherwise unexpected location. Plus nothing like letting a design team go shopping from an existing airframe to speed up a program.
The point is, it is likely only "47" because the narcissist in Chief is precluded, so far, by the convention of not using his name on it. None of the other explanations make sense as the founding year of the Air Force hasn't changed for any previous aircraft numbering and, while the P-47 was a tough, damage resistant aircraft, this aircraft is intended to never be shot at.
Breaks in the sequence often occur when demonstration aircraft are tagged, i.e., YF-17, as an example between the F-16 and F-18, and YF-23, which lost out to YF-22 and they don't make it to production.
I don't think the X-series counts, since they're not production/product oriented. The Y-series were all potential procurement candidates for production.
Yes, it's listed as an "aberrant" numbering in Wikipedia, since it should have been F-24 or F-25. Supposedly, the plane, and its competitor X-32, were concept demonstrators and the program went into a full SDD, where it received numerous major modifications.
