The Air Force wants up to four construction teams to build the base where its sixth-generation fighter will be put through operational testing, and it plans to pick them within about four months. A presolicitation notice posted Oct. 22 and a draft solicitation released Oct. 23 lay out an "F-47 Future Campus" at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., with a total project cost of about $1.057 billion, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. The service is structuring the job as a design-build effort and plans to award an other transaction agreement rather than a traditional construction contract, with construction finishing in early 2031.
The $1.057 billion figure covers construction, design, security and other expenses for the full project. Aviation Week, which reviewed the draft, described it plainly: "The service on Oct. 23 released a draft proposal for the “F-47 Future Campus” at Nellis, which will be a $1.057 billion construction project for the new fighter."
What the First Phase of the F-47 Campus Builds
The initial work sits largely on the east side of Nellis and covers the facilities the fighter needs before test squadrons can fly it day to day. According to the draft solicitation as reported by Aviation Week, phase one includes:
- A 116,745-square-foot operations and maintenance hangar combining flightline operations and maintenance
- A 39,200-square-foot reprogramming lab for updating the aircraft's systems
- A 40,903-square-foot simulator facility
- A 1.154 million-square-foot aircraft apron with sunshades
The reprogramming lab stands out. Air & Space Forces Magazine described it as a specialized laboratory for reprogramming the plane's systems, placed on the same campus as the flightline hangar.
The apron alone covers more than a million square feet. Sunshades over the parking area are part of the phase-one scope.
Which Hangars Come Later, Through 2032?
The presolicitation notice lists several facilities as "potential subsequent work." Aviation Week reported that a later phase, running through 2032, includes a fuel cell hangar, a low observable corrosion control hangar, a weapons load training hangar, a consolidated maintenance facility, a maintenance training facility and a dining facility.
The low observable corrosion control hangar reflects the maintenance burden of stealth aircraft. Air & Space Forces Magazine described that building as a hangar for corrosion control of the fighter's stealth coating. Stealth coatings require controlled environments for inspection and repair, and the Air Force is planning dedicated space for that work rather than sharing it with legacy fleets.
Because these buildings appear as potential follow-on work, firms selected for phase one could be positioned for a second round of construction if the Air Force exercises that scope. The draft does not guarantee it.
A February 2027 Award and a 40-Month Build
The schedule moves quickly for a billion-dollar military construction effort. Air & Space Forces Magazine laid out the timeline: "The Air Force plans to issue an initial award for the F-47 campus in February 2027, which would then kick off about nine months of design and preconstruction, and then about 40 more months of more intensive construction into early March 2031."
Under the draft solicitation, Aviation Week reported, the Air Force hopes to award the other transaction agreement to one to four vendors. Design and preconstruction would run through November 2027, when rapid construction would begin. Aviation Week described the approach as progressive design-build, which "aims to stand up the most critical parts of the site first."
That sequencing matches the aircraft's own clock. Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in September 2025 that the first F-47 was being built and would fly in 2028, and service officials have held to that schedule since. A campus finished in early 2031 would be ready as the fighter moves from initial flight testing toward operational test.
How the $730 Million Budget Request Set Up Nellis
The campus did not appear out of nowhere. The Air Force's fiscal 2027 budget proposal requested $730 million for hangars and other support infrastructure for the F-47 and revealed that operational testing would take place at Nellis. The draft solicitation confirms that choice. Nellis already hosts the combined developmental and operational test of the F-15EX, according to Aviation Week.
Other contracting activity points the same way. In August, the Department of the Interior awarded Versar Inc. a $1.9 million contract to develop an environmental impact statement for the Next Generation Air Dominance program, and that contract notice has since been updated to specify Nellis as the site, Aviation Week reported.
The Air Force chose Boeing to build the F-47 in March 2025. The fighter will replace the F-22 and is expected to carry advanced stealth, data sharing and electronic warfare capabilities, and to direct the semi-autonomous drones known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Allvin said in a May 2025 social media post that it would fly faster than Mach 2 and have a combat radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles.
Where Will the F-47 Be Based Operationally?
Nellis is the test site, not necessarily a home station. The Air Force has not specified how it will operationally base the aircraft. Aviation Week pointed to a new report to Congress on the fighter fleet through 2035: it lists the 90th Fighter Squadron and the 525th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, with a transition mission "to be determined," while F-22 squadrons at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, keep the F-22 mission.
If Elmendorf becomes an early operational base, it would need its own construction program, separate from the Nellis campus.
What It Means for Contractors
At roughly $1.057 billion, the Nellis campus is a major construction opportunity, and the window to position for it is short. Firms interested in the Nellis work should weigh several points:
- The vehicle is an other transaction agreement, not a FAR-based contract. Teams accustomed to standard military construction procurements should expect different terms and a more negotiated process. The Air Force wants qualified firms that can work quickly on design and construction.
- The award pool is small. The service plans to select one to four vendors. Prime-level competition will favor firms with large design-build capacity and experience with secure aviation facilities.
- Subcontract work is broad. Hangars, a reprogramming lab, a simulator building, a 1.154 million-square-foot apron and sunshade structures each draw on different trades, from concrete paving to specialized electrical and secure-facility construction.
- Follow-on scope exists. The fuel cell, low observable corrosion control and weapons load training hangars, plus maintenance, training and dining facilities, run through 2032 as potential subsequent work.
- Timelines are tight. With an award targeted for February 2027, firms have weeks, not months, to respond to the draft and build teams.
Companies tracking F-47 infrastructure should also watch for basing decisions beyond Nellis, which could generate separate construction solicitations at operational bases later in the decade.
