The F-22 Raptors, from Lockheed Martin, is one of the most fearsome combat aircraft of today. Equipped with stealth technology, it is the flagship fifth-generation fighter of the United States Air Force. And although its development and manufacture has been plagued by criticism due to the high costs of the program, it has given ample evidence of its capabilities. But what many do not know is that this plane had a “brother” that never saw the light: the YF-23, from Northrop and McDonnell Douglas.
The YF-23 was a “technology demonstrator”; that is, a prototype. It was part of the same program that led to the creation of the F-22 Raptor, with which it competed directly to become the USAF’s next air superiority fighter. And despite the fact that it was on the verge of becoming a mass-produced aircraft, it managed to make an impact not only for its aesthetics, but also for its technical qualities. Reason why it has been rumored several times about the possibility of reviving it.
The origins of this development by Northrop and McDonnell Douglas go back to the early 1980s. At that time, the US Air Force began to consider the possibility of create a fighter jet with advanced features, that could face the new fighters of the Soviet Union. Both the MiG-29 Fulcrum and the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker were viewed from the West as large-calibre threats. Even with the potential to put the F-15 Eagle in trouble.
This is how the program was born Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF), for which the USAF issued a request for proposals to the arms industry in 1985. By October 1986, meanwhile, the story was narrowed down to two candidates: the YF-22, jointly developed by Lockheed, General Dynamics and Boeing; and the YF-23, for which Northrop partnered with McDonnell Douglas.
Both aircraft had to meet several crucial requirements to convince the US Air Force of their choice. The most important were three: that they were stealthy, easy to maintain, and that they had supercruise capability; that is, to fly steadily at supersonic speeds without using afterburners.
The YF-23 wanted to be the fifth generation fighter for the US Air Force.
The USAF gave the creators of both prototypes a period of 50 months to design, manufacture and test them. In the specific case of the YF-23, Northrop and McDonnell Douglas built two demonstration aircraft, which first flew in June and October 1990.
The fighter quickly drew attention for its appearance, especially its trapezoidal wings, diamond shapedand its V-shaped tail. The cockpit, meanwhile, was in a high position and close to the nose, to favor the pilot’s visibility at different angles.
Another characteristic element of the YF-23 were the exhaust outlets of the engines, which were in the upper part of the fuselage and separated from each other. This differed drastically from the YF-22—later F-22 Raptor—which carried them “stealthed” to enhance stealth qualities. However, Northrop and McDonnell Douglas chose to coat them internally with thermal tiles to dissipate the temperature of the motors and decrease the chances of being detected by heat-seeking missiles.
To reduce the equivalent radar section and to make the fighter stealthy, the weapons were stored internally between the nose and landing gear. Regardless, no missiles were fired during their test flights.
Regarding the motorization, the YF-23 prototypes used different options. One of the units was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney YF119and the other used two GE YF120. Both models were capable of producing 35,000 pounds of thrust with the afterburner activated.
Another notable feature of the aircraft was the implementation of serpentine-shaped air intakes. Although the concept was not new in the aeronautical field, and it had been used especially in passenger planes with three engines, in this case they had a different mission: to protect the axial compressors of the engines to prevent the YF-23 from being detected. by radars.
At the gates of seeing the light
Testing of the YF-23 and YF-22 prototypes continued until a winner was announced in April 1991. While the Northrop and McDonnell Douglas prototype displayed impressive features, the United States Air Force leaned towards the project led by Lockheed.
As much of the information remains confidential, the fine details of the ATF program’s model testing are unknown. The YF-23 is said to have been faster and used better stealth technology than the YF-22, but the authorities still opted for the latter. Why? The conclusions are kept secret, but it has emerged that, apparently, it was more agile, less risky and with better technical aspects in terms of design.
Thus, the YF-22 became the F-22 Raptor, which was manufactured from 1996 to 2011. While the YF-23 were transferred to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, without their engines, for various tests. However, they never materialized.
From then on they became museum pieces.. One of the prototypes is at the Western Museum of Flight, in California, and the other is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, in Ohio.
The unsuccessful plans to revive him
That the YF-23 failed to be the USAF’s fifth-generation fighter did not stop it from maintaining interest in reviving it. Although not in its original format.
In 2004, for example, Northrop Grumman proposed adapting the YF-23 to make it a stealth bomber. However, both the idea and the project came to nothing. Something similar happened with a supposed variant of the original fighter prototype for the United States Navy, although it did not prosper either.
Today, the F-22 Raptor isn’t the only fifth-generation fighter jet Americans own. In recent years, the F-35 Lightning II, developed as a multirole fighter, and not for air superiority. However, the project behind the latter has been plagued with setbacks, with technical glitches and harsh criticism for the exorbitant cost of the program.