ARLINGTON- Boeing’s next-generation combat aircraft ambitions, where the company is advancing construction of a new classified factory beside the headquarters of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). The facility sits within Boeing’s fighter production campus, next to the company’s fighter delivery centre at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
Boeing has not officially linked the plant to the US Air Force’s F-47 programme, describing it only as an “advanced combat aircraft” assembly site. Even so, the factory near St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) is widely expected to build the Pentagon’s first frontline sixth-generation fighter.
Inside the Boeing New F-47 Factory
Work on the new factory began in 2024, after Boeing initiated the project in 2023, across the street from the St. Louis headquarters of BDS. Known internally as the Brownleigh Site, the $1.8 billion plant stands in the heart of Boeing’s combat aircraft production campus.
That campus already houses assembly lines for the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Boeing T-7A Red Hawk, along with several precision-guided munitions programmes.
The Boeing MQ-25 Stingray uncrewed refueller is assembled separately at a plant in nearby Mascoutah, Illinois.
“Momentum continues on our St. Louis expansion,” says Dan Gillian, general manager of Boeing’s air dominance unit. “We are expanding our defence footprint while supporting next-generation capabilities.”
Images released by Boeing show that exterior work on the 102,000sq m (1.1 million sq ft) factory is now largely complete. The roof, exterior panels and hangar doors are all installed. Redevelopment of a disused McDonnell Douglas manufacturing site known as the Northern Tract is also progressing, with the first steel support columns now in place, Flight Global flagged.
Boeing Stays Quiet on F-47 Link
Boeing has never officially confirmed that the Brownleigh Site will manufacture the F-47, and the company has long been cagey about the project. It continues to describe the facility only as an advanced combat aircraft assembly plant.
Active construction began in 2024, well before Boeing secured a competitive win for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) contract against rival Lockheed Martin.
The Brownleigh Site, along with the rest of Boeing’s fighter production campus and delivery centre, is adjacent to St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
Although not officially tied to the NGAD programme, the factory is expected to produce Boeing’s developmental F-47, which will be the Pentagon’s first frontline sixth-generation tactical jet.
During a 2024 visit to BDS headquarters, Flight Global reported that Boeing executives described the advanced combat aircraft plant as a “bet” on the company’s future.
A billboard outside the construction area featured a sixth-generation-style black jet, promoting Boeing’s commitment to fighter manufacturing.
That bet paid off. Boeing won the NGAD competition in 2025 and is now working toward the first flight of an F-47 prototype, currently planned for 2028. The company is also a presumptive finalist for the US Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter, alongside rival Northrop Grumman.
The expansion of Boeing’s industrial footprint in St. Louis has likely contributed to confident proclamations from BDS chief executive Steve Parker that the company can deliver both the F-47 and F/A-XX, should Boeing also win the navy programme. “Can Boeing do both? Absolutely,” Parker said at the 2025 Paris air show.
Parker affirmed that stance in a recent interview, calling the F-47 contract a “generational windfall” while declining to share specific progress updates on the secretive programme. “What I will tell you is that it’s going very well,” Parker says. “We’ll let our actions speak more so than words.”
F-47 Capabilities and Program Scope
The US Air Force has indicated it will field at least 185 F-47s. The jet is expected to have an unrefuelled combat radius of 1,000nm (1,850km), a top speed of Mach 2, and the ability to team with a new category of uncrewed fighters.
Those developmental drones include the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems FQ-42 and the Anduril Industries FQ-44.
Boeing Fighter Production Boost
Boeing is set to benefit from a large increase to the Air Force’s planned buy of F-15EX fighters.
The fiscal year 2027 Pentagon budget request would raise that fleet as high as 268 jets, lifting Boeing to full-rate production of 24 F-15EXs annually by 2028 to 2029.
Israel also aims to operate a total of 50 F-15IAs, an Israel-specific variant of the F-15EX.
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