YF23 and YF-22

WATCH THESE PHOTOS FEATURING THE YF-23 AND YF-22 FLYING TOGETHER AND TELL US WHICH ADVANCED TACTICAL FIGHTER PROTOTYPE IS YOUR FAVOURITE

By Dario Leone
Jul 16 2017
Share this article

The extensive flight tests conducted demonstrated that the YF-23 was stealthier and faster while the YF-22 was more agile

The Northrop YF-23A and the Lockheed YF-22A, which of course are the two cool aircraft you see in the photos of this post, competed against each other in the late 1980s/early 1990s in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program.

As we have already explained the origins of the ATF program trace back to late 1970s, when a new generation of Soviet fighters and Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) prompted the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to find a replacement for the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter.

The Advanced Tactical Fighter entered the Demonstration and Validation phase in 1986. The prototype aircraft (YF-22 and YF-23) both completed their first flights in late 1990.

The extensive flight tests conducted demonstrated that the YF-23 was stealthier and faster while the YF-22 was more agile.

The YF-23A, unofficially dubbed the Black Widow II, emphasized stealth characteristics: in fact to lessen weight and increase stealth, Northrop decided against using thrust vectoring for aerodynamic control as was used on the Lockheed YF-22A. Northrop built two YF-23A prototypes.

Eventually the YF-22 was selected as best of the two and the engineering and manufacturing development effort began in 1991 with the development contract assigned to Lockheed/Boeing.

The aircraft received approval to enter low rate initial production (LRIP) in 2001. Initial operational and test evaluation by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center was successfully completed in 2004. Based on maturity of design and other factors the program received approval for full rate production in 2005 and today the F-22 Raptor is USAF’s air dominance fighter.

However, basing your opinion just on their look, can you tell us which one among these two futuristic fighter aircraft prototypes is your favourite?

We’re looking forward to read your choice in a comment to this article!

Photo credit U.S. Air Force

Source: U.S. Air Force


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.



    Share this article
    Back to top
    My Agile Privacy
    This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate. We and our selected ad partners can store and/or access information on your device, such as cookies, unique identifiers, browsing data. You can always choose the specific purposes related to profiling by accessing the advertising preferences panel, and you can always withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on "Manage consent" at the bottom of the page.

    List of some possible advertising permissions:

    You can consult: our list of advertising partners, the Cookie Policy and the Privacy Policy.
    Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices