The U.S. Department of Defense has launched a market research project seeking sources for the development of facilities for the Boeing F-47 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
Posted on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), who oversee many large construction projects for the wider Department of Defense (DoD), the Feb. 2, 2026 notice asks for proposals from industry contractors for an F-47 bed-down project at Nellis Air Force Base.
Contractors able to meet the requirements can then be compiled into a Prequalified Sources List (PQSL) that will later be used as the starting point for full contract tender processes. The anticipated period of works runs from 2026 through to 2033, and contracts expected to be awarded under follow-on processes could range in value between $10,000,000 and $500,000,000.
The notice appears to be the first that mentions the next-generation Boeing F-47 fighter, suggesting that Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada – home of the famous Red Flag exercises – could be the first station to host significant numbers of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) jet. Initial testing will almost certainly still take place at Edwards AFB, California, though the small numbers of aircraft involved in this process can likely be accommodated by existing facilities there.
The #B21 Raider continues to conduct flight tests at Edwards with the B-21 Combined Test Force, including ground testing, taxiing, and flying operations. The Raider continues to make progress toward becoming the backbone of the #USAF bomber fleet. #AFMC @usairforce pic.twitter.com/u03HsnTKwd
— Edwards Air Force Base (@EdwardsAFB) May 22, 2024
No direct contracts will be awarded based on this notice, as it is solely intended to scope out the available market for future contractors who will be invited to bid for the contracts when they do become available. An industry day in Las Vegas, near Nellis AFB, on Mar. 5 will include discussion of this proposal as well as other future works at the base.
Phase I of the proposed developments at Nellis will include construction of new apron areas, maintenance hangar, squadron operations building, flight simulator facility, avionics laboratory, and communications equipment, as well as all the necessary infrastructure – water, drainage, blast deflectors – that go along with these.
Phase II will then see the development of a corrosion control facility equipped to care for the still relatively delicate radar cross-section coatings featured on stealth aircraft. Facilities for fuel storage and supply, weapons storage, and further maintenance areas will also be included in these works.
Finally, Phase III seeks the construction of a dormitory that can house up to 240 personnel.
Nellis AFB
As well as being the home of Red Flag and of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School – both of which see the Nevada base host a vast array of aircraft types – Nellis also hosts the headquarters of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group (TEG). Under the 53rd TEG’s umbrella is the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), which since 1969 has been the primary unit tasked with operational testing and evaluation of the U.S. Air Force’s newest fighter designs.
The need for speed! 💪
A @usairforce F-35A Lightning II, assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, takes off for a mission at @NellisAFB, Nevada pic.twitter.com/teJA9bOlNW
— F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office (@theF35JPO) June 29, 2023
Components of the squadron are dedicated to the operation of individual fighter types, including the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, as well as older types like the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and A-10 Thunderbolt II. It would be a natural move, then, for the F-47 to soon join the 422nd’s roster of aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force is still aiming for the F-47’s first flight to take place in 2028 and the first airframes began production in 2025. This already ambitious target, though having some risk mitigated by the amount of prototype testing known to have taken place in advance of Boeing being awarded the contract, is made even more interesting when you consider that the exact engine that will power the fighter has yet to be selected.
Boeing F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance #NGAD
🔸Mach 2+ speed
🔸Advances in VLO & Range relative to #F22
🔸A102 or A103 Adaptive Engine
🔸Supported by 5 yrs of full-scale X-plane demo
🔸EMD flight within four years
🔸LRIP possibly by 2029? pic.twitter.com/9ELVVzrAz6
— AirPower | MIL-STD (@AirPowerNEW1) March 21, 2025
Nellis is a huge facility and – despite being on the outskirts of Las Vegas – can offer many areas away from prying eyes. While arriving and departing aircraft will be clearly visible, more sensitive activities involved in supporting the new aircraft will be able to be hidden in plain sight camouflaged by the already sprawling and highly active airfield. Notably, despite having official renderings depicting the F-47, we’re still not entirely sure what the aircraft will look like.
After departing from Nellis, F-47s will have easy access to the vast areas of segregated airspace in the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The NTTR is probably the most well-equipped location in the world for evaluating the performance of stealth aircraft, with many facilities – both known to the public as well as others that are almost certainly unknown – in place across the range and regularly used ‘against’ aircraft flying from Nellis, Creech, Tonopah Test Range, and, of course, the famous base at Groom Lake (Area 51).
As well as U.S. systems, the range is littered with genuine examples of adversary equipment in the form of Russian-designed air defence radars and missile systems acquired from various sources throughout the world. Many of these are operational and can offer some insight into how U.S. aircraft designs would fare against air defence system that originate from very different technological and tactical concepts.
Nellis – and the other bases – are also home to an array of experienced, specialist aggressor units operating fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft. This may still include foreign aircraft types, as well as classified designs, operating from Groom Lake.
F-35 of the 65th Aggressor Squadron taxiing at Nellis AFB on Aug. 13, 2024. This was among the aircraft I badly wanted to see in action. Loved the fact it wasn’t equipped with RCS enhancers… pic.twitter.com/OxhO9Lf2pd
— David Cenciotti (@cencio4) August 24, 2024
Additionally, with the F-47’s planned close cooperation with unmanned aircraft in mind, Nellis is now home to an Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) projects.
Another milestone down in delivering CCA to our warfighters! We activated an Experimental Operations Unit @NellisAFB to be an operational squadron. This unit is dedicated to testing and refining human-machine teaming concepts to dominate the battlespace. https://t.co/HzBjdNSXjM pic.twitter.com/6wSqNRBIiA
— General Ken Wilsbach (@OfficialCSAF) June 6, 2025
This EOU would almost certainly end up working closely with any F-47 unit at Nellis as the USAF develops its practices and tactics for the rapidly evolving aerial theater.
