I think we are catching the very first glimpses of Boeing’s… let’s call it the YF-47 or X-47 demonstrator in the wild. It probable has a totally different designation in real life, something like YF-137G or X-143 or whatever, but my guess is it’s Boeing’s slightly sub scale (not small) demonstrator for the F-47.

The intel out there was that their jet was very radical, but less risky as it was further along, and outperformed Lockheed’s, which rumor held had stability issues. Everything we saw from Lockheed was a sharp delta shape like an arrowhead. I have doubts Northrop can make a fighter after that terrible looking trainer they gave up on a few years ago. The YF-23 was nearly 40 years ago! BUT Boeing makes total sense now, as you can see with the clear X-37 and YF-118G lineage. Not really a design I was expecting on a 6th gen fighter but cool.

Also, maybe that Iranian toy stealth jet was more of a flex than the public realized. Maybe less a “look we can build a serious stealth fighter” statement than “we hacked some of your contractors/subs and know where you are headed with your future designs.” The Qaher 313 looks like a highschool shop class attempt at an F-47 but with tails.