The biggest fighter jet deal in decades just landedand Boeing (NYSE:BA) is walking away with the win. On Friday, President Trump awarded Boeing the coveted $20 billion NGAD (The Next Generation Air Dominance) contract to build the Air Force's next-generation combat jet. Designed to fly alongside drones, the sixth-gen fighter will replace Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) F-22 Raptor and is rumored to feature next-level stealth, advanced sensors, and cutting-edge propulsion. This isn't just a contractit's the cornerstone of America's future air dominance strategy, and the company that owns it could command hundreds of billions in follow-on orders.

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For Boeing, this is the comeback it desperately needed. After years of turbulence across both commercial and defense operationsfrom 737 MAX production headaches to underperforming tanker and drone contractsthis win is a game-changer. The St. Louis-based fighter jet division, once struggling, now finds itself at the center of a multi-decade defense buildout. Investors wasted no time reacting: Boeing shares surged 4.5% on the news, while Lockheed Martin's stock dropped nearly 5.6% at 11.47am today. Losing the NGAD dealon top of getting cut from the Navy's next-gen stealth programleaves Lockheed's dominance in the high-end fighter space in serious doubt.

Behind the scenes, the winds of change were already blowing. Elon Musk, now an informal adviser to Trump, has openly criticized crewed fighter jets and pushed for drone-focused strategies. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has echoed similar cost-cutting and tech-forward views, especially as China and Russia accelerate their own sixth-gen prototypes. With the White House set to make the formal announcement public Friday morning, one thing is clear: Boeing isn't just backit's leading the charge into the next era of air warfare.