Donald Trump has often been called narcissistic by mental health experts and political observers. But it looks like the President has turned this supposed narcissism up a notch, as he seems to have named the US Air Force’s new fighter jet after himself.
Donald Trump, while announcing that Boeing had been awarded the contract to build the American Air Force’s new fighter jet, revealed its name, F-47. This has raised eyebrows as Trump is the 47th President of America.
However, Donald Trump seemed to have come prepared to quash speculations surrounding the name of the fighter jet, claiming during a press conference that the name was picked by “the generals.”
“It will be known as the F-47s, the generals picked that title,” Donald Trump said. The jets are being built as a part of the Next Generation Air Dominance program and will replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptors.
The naming system for American fighter aircraft, called the Mission Design Series, conventionally uses the letter ‘F’ as a prefix. A number follows the letter, indicating the order in which the aircraft were made.
There have been occasions when protocol has been broken, though. For example, the ’35’ in ‘F-35’ is an out-of-sequence choice made by Major General Mike Hough. If the Mission Design Series was followed, it should’ve been christened ‘F-24’ instead.
While the plane’s final design remains classified at the moment, we can expect it to include advanced sensors, stealth, and cutting-edge engines.
“We’ve given an order for a lot. We can’t tell you the price,” Donald Trump said. He added that America’s “allies are calling constantly” and that “they want to buy them also.”
Commenting on bagging the federal contract, Boeing’s defense business head Steve Parker said, “We recognize the importance of designing, building, and delivering a sixth-generation fighter capability for the United States Air Force.”
Lockheed Martin put out a statement as well, saying, “In preparation for this mission, we made the most significant investment in the history of our defense business. While disappointed with this outcome, we are confident we delivered a competitive solution. We will await further discussions with the US Air Force.”
While Boeing’s share values went up by 5 percent after the news, Lockheed Martin’s fell by almost 6 percent.
The federal contract is also a significant boost for St. Louis, Missouri, as that is where Boeing’s fighter jet production facility is based. The manufacturing and engineering contract is worth more than $20 billion.
