Senators Think Boeing Can ‘Redeem’ Itself With Next Generation Fighter Jet

The responsibility of developing the most advanced military aircraft in the world rests on a company that has become, in recent years, synonymous with plane problems: Boeing.

Despite recent issues — like crashes, mechanical failures, and door plugs blowing out mid-flight — senators are expressing confidence that Boeing can develop the most advanced aircraft in existence.

Last month, President Donald Trump revealed Boeing as the winner of a $20 billion contract to build America’s next generation fighter jet. During a ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump said the “F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built.”

“It’s a rich opportunity for Boeing to sort of resurrect themselves,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, chair of the Airland subcommittee, told NOTUS.

It’s a chance, he said, to “really redeem themselves in the defense space.”

The contract is a massive win for Boeing. The largest aerospace company in the world spent much of the past decade struggling to escape a cycle of tragedy and scandal. And despite repeated failures to address problems, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee believe Boeing has turned the page, and are willing to bet $20 billion that they’re right.

“They competed and won this contract because they had the better option,” Sen. Mark Kelly told NOTUS. “Obviously they’ve had some issues on the commercial side. But I do think they are the right choice for this.”

Cramer said he and Kelly, the vice chair of the subcommittee, have already received briefings on the F-47 this year. One was a private briefing from Air Command Combat Commander Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach. Another was with former Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James C. Slife and Lt. Gen. Dale R. White. White oversees acquisitions for the Air Force, while Slife was fired by Trump earlier this year.

Cramer said Boeing’s recent troubles might even be a blessing in disguise for the F-47 program.

“I suppose I’d call it one of the benefits of Boeing’s history is that it forces obvious scrutiny,” Cramer said. “It just begs for extra scrutiny. Which I think is both to Boeing’s benefit and the American taxpayer’s benefit.”

During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg acknowledged Boeing’s recent failures, saying the company “has made serious missteps in recent years, and it is unacceptable.”

In what was a rare bipartisan grilling, senators repeatedly questioned Ortberg on how the company planned to address perpetual safety failings. Ortberg emphasized both practical changes (additional inspections of aircraft) and cultural changes (placing a renewed priority on safety).

After the hearing, lawmakers told NOTUS they planned to keep a close eye on Boeing to see what changes were actually implemented.

“We’re going to be holding their feet to the fire because we can’t afford any errors,” Sen. Jacky Rosen said.

Sen. Ted Cruz, chair of the Commerce Committee, told NOTUS he felt that Ortberg “did a good job addressing the serious safety concerns.”

“The company is taking real steps toward restoring the safety culture at Boeing,” Cruz said. “That’s critically important for them.”

Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat on the Commerce Committee, told NOTUS that Boeing has “moved heaven and earth” to restore its culture. He said he trusts the company to build the F-47.

“If you’re gonna allow them to build airplanes for everybody else, might as well let them build them for Air Force One,” he said.

But members of the Airland subcommittee say they have other reasons for optimism.

On Thursday, Kelly met with the wing commander involved with the operational test of the B-21 Raider, an advanced stealth bomber in the latter stages of its development. The bomber has been an anomaly among weapons systems programs: It is both on time and on budget.

After the mess that was the F-35 Lightning program, the Air Force and its contractor, Northrop Grumman, utilized new methods to develop the B-21. Those methods included a digital design phase to decrease production costs and building test aircraft with similar manufacturing processes to the production bombers. By emulating those steps with the F-47, Kelly said Boeing and the Air Force can avoid the fiscal heartburn caused by the F-35 acquisition.

“You gotta pay close attention to how these programs go, but I think we’ve got a good story to tell in B-21,” Kelly said. “Hopefully that can be reproduced here for F-47.”

It’s truly been a tragic stretch for Boeing. Once viewed as the gold standard for engineering in the defense and airline space, the company has spent recent years trying — and failing — to avoid another public disaster.

First it was the crashes of its flagship Max airliners. Next came years in court facing a variety of charges, eventually reaching a $2.5 billion settlement in 2021, only to face further charges in other lawsuits. Then a door plug blew out mid-flight on another iteration of the Max aircraft.

More investigations followed. The Boeing CEO stepped down. And, finally, Boeing stranded multiple astronauts in space for months due to a mechanical failure on its Starliner capsule.

All the while, testing has been underway on the aircraft intended to vault America’s air dominance into the future. The competition ultimately came down to Boeing and Lockheed Martin, who hold contracts on other widely produced military aircraft, including the F-35 Lightning and F-18 Super Hornet.

Although many senators seemed confident the program can avoid the cost overruns that plagued the F-35 program, concerns over the F-47’s price tag are not new. It was previously predicted to cost as much as $300 million per plane.

Former Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall paused the program last May to determine whether the Next Generation Air Dominance program, which includes the F-47, was a necessary — and viable — path for the military to pursue. He ultimately left it to the Trump administration to decide how the program should proceed.

Of course, not every senator is convinced Boeing is on the right track — or that it’s the right choice for the F-47.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal told NOTUS he’d like a congressional hearing to increase scrutiny of the program to prevent cost overruns.

“We need more evidence that those issues have been resolved before we do a multi-billion, long-term commitment to a new weapons platform,” Blumenthal said.

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Ben T.N. Mause is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Torrence Banks is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.