US Air Force Draft Puts $1.057 Billion F-47 Test Campus at Nellis

The U.S. Air Force released a draft proposal on October 23, 2026, for an F-47 Future Campus at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The proposed project carries an estimated cost of $1.057 billion and would use a phased design-build approach. The draft schedule places construction of initial facilities between November 2027 and March 2031.

The proposed F-47 Future Campus carries an estimated construction cost of $1.057 billion.

What has been confirmed

The details in the available source are reported from a draft proposal and are not officially confirmed. The draft describes a planned first phase with an operations and maintenance hangar, a reprogramming lab, a simulator facility, and an apron with sunshades. The Air Force reportedly plans to seek bids from one to four vendors, with an award targeted by February 2027 and design and preconstruction work running through November 2027. A later phase, planned through 2032, would add fuel-cell and low-observable corrosion-control hangars, a weapons-load training hangar, maintenance facilities, and a dining facility. The draft identifies Nellis as the site for F-47 operational testing, but does not establish where the Air Force will base the aircraft operationally.

Why it matters

The proposal lays out a dedicated test and support campus for a future Air Force fighter, including hangars, simulation, reprogramming, and maintenance spaces. For US aviation readers, the planned timeline also gives a clearer view of the infrastructure work that would precede the aircraft’s expected operational entry in the 2030s.

FlyMarshall context

A test location and an operational base serve different purposes. Nellis is identified in the draft as the F-47 operational testing site; the Air Force has not specified the aircraft’s operational basing location. A congressional report listed the future transition mission for the 90th and 525th Fighter Squadrons at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson as undetermined. The same report said F-22 squadrons at Langley-Eustis and Pearl Harbor-Hickam were slated to retain the F-22 mission through the report’s timeframe.

What happens next

The draft solicitation reportedly targets a contract award by February 2027. The Air Force has said the F-47 is expected to fly before the end of President Donald Trump’s current term and enter operations during the 2030s. The proposal and its schedule remain draft-stage details in the available reporting.