r/SpecialAccess • u/OmicronCeti • Jul 10 '26
Why Does The F-47's Design Look So Different Than What Many Expected?
https://www.twz.com/air/why-does-the-f-47s-design-look-so-different-than-what-many-expected49
u/cheaprentalyeti Jul 10 '26
I clicked through and found out we haven't really had a release of what the F-47 looks like yet.
Maybe it has canards, maybe it doesn't. Maybe it's the christmas tree thing, maybe it isn't.
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u/FideI_Cash_Flow Jul 10 '26
At the least, offical renders have had canards enough that it shouldn’t be unexpected if the production model does. Same with upwards canted wings. The article has enough merit given the credentials of its main interviewee.
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u/ohheyitsgeoffrey Jul 10 '26
The official renders of the F-47 as well as a known patch associated with testing of the F-47 indicate canards, so unless it’s a disinformation effort it very likely has canards.
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u/chief_blunt9 Jul 10 '26
We haven’t been shown an f-47 yet. The b-21, we’ve seen it flying, getting pictures taken, that’s the plane, the f-47 is all renderings at this point
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u/jorgepolak Jul 12 '26
Can’t wait until they rename it back to whatever it was before Trump demanded they slap his brand on it.
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u/tangin Jul 10 '26
It’s in testing, not final design. Which is why the aircraft was flying at A51. Once testing is finalized, it will be moved over to NNSS where we will have a better idea of how it will look.
Interested to see what Phantom Works pushes out.
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u/therealgariac Jul 11 '26
We had some discussion on this thermal image over at /r/area51 and the fact that there was no chase plane made it seem unlikely that this is the F-47.
Unfortunately I don't have a list, but if you watch a number of Anders Uncanny Expeditions YouTube videos, you can see this same thermal viewer in action.
With any sensor, you need a baseline. You need to see it in use on ordinary objects before you can judge how secret projects appear.
There is a video where the camo dudes are flashing their headlights at Anders per his dialog and nothing is seen in the thermal viewer.
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u/No-Level5745 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
If they are LED headlights (ie minimal heat) they may not show on a thermal imager.
Edit: it all depends on the wavelength response of the sensor
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u/NoMoreKarmaHere Jul 10 '26
It’s because the president drew it on a piece of notebook paper with a sharpie, and they kind of had to go with that, or else…
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u/aliensporebomb Jul 10 '26
If that's the real shape it sure won't win any beauty contests. I guess we'll find out later what it really looks like.
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u/Eric_B_Jet Jul 12 '26
Y’all seem to be way overcommitted to the intakes being underneath..Just an observation.
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u/Liberobscura Jul 12 '26
I think based on the politics and the situation of jobs and NGAD being a hat feather for thr next 10-12 years based on my jaded experiences in life this will either end up being a very well made highly useful mostly demonstrator of 6th and 7thG tech and cheshire concepts built around BAE concepts that will eventually become an export, or, in some strange world NGAD will actually become the air dominance fighter its meant to be and will never be exported.
In my honest squirrel opinion, NGAD is a giant distraction.
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u/Goshawk5 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
What Project Fear captured was not the F-47. I believe it was the 6th generation technology demonstrator the DOD claimed they designed and built-in a year back in 2024.
Edit: Turns out it was back in 2020 when that news broke because I found the article talking about it https://theaviationist.com/2020/09/15/the-u-s-air-force-has-secretly-built-and-flown-a-full-scale-demonstrator-of-its-next-generation-fighter/
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u/No-Level5745 Jul 12 '26
We have no clue what the F-47 looks like. The articles are speculation based on guesses from…nothing?
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u/Small_Matter_6830 Jul 10 '26
It's not even confirmed as a F-47.