US President Donald Trump made remarkable statements at a business meeting in Qatar. At the event, which was also attended by the heads of Boeing and GE Aerospace, Trump announced two important projects that will shape the future air power of the US: a new twin-engine fighter jet, F-55The development of and legendary F-22 Raptor fighter jet F-22 Super to be modernized under the name.
F-55: Both an Improved F-35 and a New Aircraft
While talking about the F-55 project, Trump hinted that this aircraft could be both a modernized version of the F-35 fighter jets and a completely new development. Also referring to Boeing's recent F-47 air dominance platform tender, Trump said that the F-22 Raptor is planned to replace the US's current air superiority. F-22 Super He said that they were also thinking of developing a fighter jet called.
Trump made the following striking statements on the subject: “We’re going to build an F-55 and – I think if we get the right price, we should get the right price – it’s going to be two engines and a super upgrade on the F-35 and then we’re going to build the F-22. I think the most beautiful fighter jet in the world is the F-22, but we’re going to build an F-22 Super and it’s going to be a very modern version of the F-22 fighter jet. We’re going to move forward with that pretty quickly.”
Lockheed Martin's F-35 Move
Lockheed Martin, which lost the F-47 tender to Boeing, is developing a different strategy. Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet told analysts that they are looking for ways to integrate the technology they developed after losing the F-47 tender into the F-35 fighter jets. Taiclet claimed that they could offer 80 percent of the current capacity at half the cost, and made the analogy, “We’re basically going to take the chassis and turn it into a Ferrari.”
Lockheed Sözcüsü also thanked President Trump for his support of the F-35 and F-22, stating that they will continue to work closely with the Administration to achieve the vision of air dominance. In this context, it is known that Lockheed Martin is currently working on an overdue technology and software upgrade to increase the cockpit displays and processing power of existing F-35 fighter jets.
Silence from the Pentagon
Following these surprise statements by President Trump, there has been no official statement from the Pentagon yet. There are not many details in the public about the F-55 and F-22 Super projects that Trump mentioned. Frank Kendall, who served as Air Force Commander during the former US President Joe Biden administration, said in an interview with Defense News that it was unclear what Trump meant by the “F-22 Super,” but that he may have been referring to the sixth-generation F-47 fighter jet.
The F-47, previously known as Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), is a project designed to replace the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of approximately 185 F-22 Raptors. The U.S. Air Force has been working on the NGAD for years and signed a contract with Boeing in March to build the aircraft.
These unexpected statements by President Trump raise questions about the future air power strategies of the United States and continue to be closely followed in aviation and defense industry circles. The details and timetable of the F-55 and F-22 Super projects are expected to become clear in the coming days.
