Why Northrop’s YF-23 Lost Out to the F-22 in Advanced Tactical Fighter Competition

Meet the YF-23: While there is little doubt that the F-22 Raptor is the best air superiority fighter of its time, another airframe came close to once taking that title.

The Raptor was selected as the winner of the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) competition, beating out Northrop/McDonnel Douglas’ YF-23 prototype.

Although the runner-up airframe now rests in the collection of National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright/Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, the experimental aircraft should not be dismissed as a second-class fighter.

YF-23 experimental fighter jet

After American officials discovered that the Soviet Union had developed its Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter prototypes in the late 1970s, the U.S. Air Force became weary that the maneuverability edge its fighters once held over its USSR counterparts may be dwindling.

Specifically, the Air Force wanted to dedicate a program to craft a replacement airframe for the F-15 Eagle platform.

This new airframe, intended to go head-to-head with the Soviet Union’s new fighters, would have to prioritize air-to-air combat as its primary function. Within a few years, the Air Force announced it would hold a competition between the country’s leading aircraft manufacturers to develop this new fighter.

Video Above: Air Dominance and Air Force Innovation