Two months after he set the ball rolling on the development of the next-generation F-47 fighter jet, Donald Trump sprung another surprise on May 15 when he said he wants a twin-jet variant of the F-35, which would likely be called the F-55.
President Trump said he was interested in developing a twin-engine, upgraded variant of the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. He said the upgraded aircraft would be called the “F-55,” adding that an upgraded F-22 would be called the “F-22 Super.”
He said he had asked the US military to “look into the F-35.”
Speaking at a press conference in Qatar, which was held to announce the sale of Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways, Trump said, “We’re doing an upgrade, a simple upgrade, but we’re also doing an F-55. I’m going to call it an F-55, and that’s going to be a substantial upgrade, but it’s also going to be also with two engines because the F-35 has a single engine. I don’t like single engines.”
“We’re going to do an F-55, and I think, if we get the right price—we have to get the right price—that’ll be two engines and a super upgrade on the F-35,” Trump added. Notably, this is the first time any US President has talked about a twin-engine F-35 because the aircraft is designed as a single-engine stealth fighter with a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine.
This announcement comes nearly two months after he awarded Boeing the contract for the development of the F-47. According to new information revealed by the Chief of USAF, General David Allvin, the aircraft is expected to be operational by 2029, before the end of Donald Trump’s tenure as President. Thus, questions are raised about why the USAF would need another fifth-generation aircraft.
At the conference, Trump cited the safety benefit of having two engines instead of one. Another advantage of having a twin-engine F-35 is that the increased thrust might improve performance, and possibly increase the aircraft’s altitude, speed, and perhaps even its payload.
For instance, China’s J-35A, which is believed to be inspired by the F-35, distinguishes itself from the Joint Strike Fighter due to its twin engines.
While Lockheed Martin is currently working on the Block 4 upgrade for the F-35, whose foundation, the TR3 refresh, is under testing, this upgrade does not include re-engining of the aircraft. It is pertinent to note that equipping the F-35 with two engines would only be possible with redesigning the aircraft or creating an all-new aircraft.
Notably, the disadvantage of building a twin-engine aircraft trumps the advantages.
The F-55 could turn out to be a heavier fighter aircraft that is probably less maneuverable. Additionally, its development would negate the F-35’s commonality across its Air Force (F-35A), Marine Corps (F-35B), and Navy (F-35C) variants and significantly increase complexity and development time. This is because the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B variant is unlikely to be reconfigured to the twin-engine variant.
More importantly, the development of F-55 will significantly increase the cost of the F-35. Despite being praised for its critical role in US national security, the F-35 program has been consistently criticized for being the most expensive military endeavor in history, with the US Government Accountability Office estimating that its lifetime cost will exceed US$2 trillion.
Thus, developing a twin-engine variant of the F-35 would impose an unprecedented cost on the Pentagon, which has been making defense spending cuts.
“The twin-engine F-35, or F-55 as it will be known, would become a direct competitor to Boeing’s F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, and the F-47’s extremely low observable characteristics,” as argued by the Air and Space Forces Magazine in its report.
The announcement made by Trump is intriguing because it comes months after Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said that the F-35 is “expensive, complex,” and fast becoming “obsolete” in the age of drones.
Moreover, the feasibility and operational significance of developing a second variant of a fifth-generation fighter jet at a time when rivals are focusing on sixth-generation fighters could also be moot. China is already flying the prototypes of sixth-generation fighters.
Last month, Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Jim Taiclet said his company could upgrade the F-35 by integrating 80% of sixth-generation NGAD technology at half the cost. He said this upgrade will create what will be known as the “fifth-generation plus” variant of the F-35. However, the CEO did not mention a twin-engine variant of the F-35.
If the F-55 is indeed agreed upon, it would mean that Lockheed Martin, which lost the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) to Boeing, is back in the game.
Besides the F-35, Donald Trump stated that the F-22 is also getting a “super upgrade.” Trump called the F-22 “the most beautiful fighter in the world,” and said “we’re going to be doing an F-22 super” that would be “a very modern version” of the jet. He did not elaborate on what kind of upgrades would be part of this program.
The F-22 is no longer in production and is anticipated to be replaced by the F-47. However, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are currently upgrading the aircraft to maintain its air superiority, with a focus on extending service life into the 2040s.
The F-22 is being equipped with sophisticated missiles, infrared targeting pods, stealthy fuel tanks and pylons, advanced electronics, and other upgrades. Trump did not specify whether he was talking about these upgrades or an all-new upgrade program.
Following Trump’s remarks, Lockheed Martin, which produces both these stealth aircraft, said it wants to “thank President Trump for his support of the F-35 and F-22 and will continue to work closely with the Administration to realize its vision for air dominance.”
These plans, spelled out by Donald Trump, came after revelations that the F-35 was almost lost to a Houthi missile attack in Yemen.
Almost Lost The F-35
A recently published report in The New York Times revealed that the air defense system of the Yemen-based Houthi militia was close to hitting the F-35 and the F-16 fighter jets of the USAF.
“Several American F-16s and an F-35 fighter jet were nearly struck by Houthi air defenses, making real the possibility of American casualties, multiple U.S. officials said,” it noted.
The report sheds light on the vulnerability of the USAF’s ace stealth fighter jet in combat. American stealth jets are not as undetectable as they appear if the Houthis’ radars and air defense forces can spot an F-35 and perhaps even strike it with a surface-to-air missile.
“If Houthi air defense units can detect it, then surely the Chinese and Russians, with their much more advanced air defense systems, can also detect the F-35,” as recently explained by the EurAsian Times.
A potential loss of the F-35 in the Houthi fire would have been a major embarrassment for the US Navy.
It is believed that the threat to its expensive assets like the F-35, as well as the loss of three F/A-18 Super Hornets and seven MQ-9 Reapers in less than 6 months, likely led to a ceasefire against the Houthis, especially since Trump had earlier vowed to obliterate the group and rain down hell on them.
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