The US Air Force is preparing a $1.057 billion campus to test the F-47 at Nellis. Infrastructure, schedule, funding, and military stakes.
Summary
The US Air Force is preparing the construction of a campus dedicated to the operational testing of the Boeing F-47, its future sixth-generation fighter, at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. Valued at $1.057 billion, this project includes hangars, secure laboratories, a simulation center, and a vast apron. The solicitation published on October 30, 2026, anticipates an initial award in February 2027 and the delivery of the first facilities in March 2031. Certain additional buildings could be completed in 2032. The objective is not to design the aircraft on site, but to verify its effectiveness in combat-like conditions, train its crews, and develop its tactics. The $730.7 million requested in the 2027 budget covers only part of the envelope. The cost is technically justified, without ruling out risks associated with a program still in development.
The future American fighter will have a test campus at Nellis
On October 30, 2026, the US Air Force published an official solicitation for its “F-47 Future Campus.” The project is located at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) northeast of Las Vegas. It is primarily set to occupy the east side of the runways.
The choice is operational. Nellis hosts the US Air Force Warfare Center, the Weapons School, and units specialized in tactical testing. The base is already participating in the evaluation of aircraft such as the F-35 Lightning II.
The Nevada Test and Training Range offers approximately 31,000 km² (12,000 square miles) of restricted or shared military airspace, allowing exercises that combine fighters, bombers, electronic jamming, and simulated defenses.
The west side of the base is already saturated. Existing facilities are occupied and do not meet the surface area and security requirements of the new program. The project therefore aims to create an autonomous infrastructure, rather than redeveloping a few existing hangars.
The planned buildings go far beyond a simple hangar
The first phase includes an operations and maintenance complex of approximately 10,846 m² (116,745 ft²), a 3,642 m² (39,200 ft²) reprogramming laboratory, and a 3,800 m² (40,903 ft²) simulation building.
A apron of approximately 107,200 m² (1,154,000 ft²), equipped with shade shelters, will accommodate the aircraft and their support equipment.
A second phase remains optional: workshops for fuel systems, corrosion treatment, and stealth coating maintenance, weapons loading training, mechanic instruction, general maintenance, and dining facilities.
The software laboratory will be as important as the runways
On a sixth-generation fighter jet, performance depends as much on software as on the airframe.
The laboratory must notably allow for the adaptation of threat libraries, sensor parameters, and electronic warfare systems. Reprogramming serves to recognize new adversary radars and modify system responses without physically replacing its hardware.
Simulators will make it possible to rehearse complex missions, particularly with semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones, before testing them in flight.
These capabilities require highly secure networks, reliable power supply, and protected spaces to process classified data.
The timeline plans for work from 2027 to 2031
The 772d Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, associated with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, is seeking design-build teams. Initial submissions are expected by November 18, 2026. The administration prefers a consortium responsible for the entire project, but may select up to four teams.
The award is envisioned for February 5, 2027. Nine months of preparatory design would follow, then approximately forty months of work, from November 2027 to March 2031. Additional construction could extend the timeline into 2032.
The contract uses an Other Transaction Agreement procedure combined with progressive design-build.
It allows the military client and the contractor to refine the project together rather than freezing the plans entirely before construction. It is a lever for acceleration, but also a risk factor if needs evolve or costs are poorly controlled.
Teams will have to turn the F-47 into a combat system
Boeing won the F-47 development contract in March 2025 as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. This does not make the manufacturer the holder of the Nellis real estate contract: the companies in charge of the campus remain to be selected.
At Nellis, operational test pilots, engineers, mechanics, simulation specialists, electronic analysts, and instructors will need to determine how to employ the aircraft against realistic threats.
Units already present, including the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron and the Weapons School, provide the model for these activities. Their precise assignment to the F-47 has not been announced.
It will be necessary to test sensor fusion, data links, countermeasures, stealth maintenance, and interactions with accompanying drones. Exercises will compare advertised capabilities against results observed under jamming or in complex engagements.
The first flight of the F-47 remains announced for 2028. The Nellis campus is therefore not intended to be ready for this initial takeoff: developmental testing and operational evaluation correspond to different stages.
The future stationing of operational combat units has not been publicly decided either.
The one-billion-dollar budget covers buildings, networks, and security
Military documents estimate the total cost at $1.057 billion. They distinguish approximately 645 million for primary facilities and 247.5 million for supporting infrastructure.
Water, power, and HVAC utilities account for $133.4 million alone; roads and parking areas, 48.2 million.
Additionally, $44.6 million in contingency provisions, 60.9 million in supervision, 35.7 million in design, and 23.4 million in construction security monitoring are included.
Equipment valued at 84.8 million appears under other budget lines and should not be confused with the real estate allocation.
For 2027, the Air Force requested $730.7 million in appropriations, while asking for authorization covering the entire project. These are requests submitted to Congress, not proof that all work has already been funded or awarded.
The cost appears defensible, but the schedule remains risky
Devoting more than a billion to an infrastructure project for an aircraft that has not yet flown represents an industrial gamble.
The most visible risk would be delivering specialized buildings before the F-47 achieves sufficient maturity, or having to adapt them after configuration changes.
Conversely, waiting until the aircraft is ready would delay its operational evaluation by several years. Stealth coatings, classified systems, and simulation equipment require facilities designed specifically for them. The saturation of Nellis’s west side limits alternative solutions.
The cost is therefore not absurd on the scale of a strategic program. But whether it is reasonable will depend on three verifiable outcomes: delivery on schedule, adherence to budget, and actual utilization of the campus by test units.
The F-47 is ultimately intended to succeed the F-22 Raptor. The stake of the campus is precisely to verify that this successor can be employed in combat, and not merely to demonstrate that a new fighter can fly.