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The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 is an American single-seat,
twin-engine A twinjet or twin-engine jet is a jet aircraft powered by two engines. A twinjet is able to fly well enough to land with a single working engine, making it safer than a single-engine aircraft in the event of failure of an engine. Fuel efficien ...
stealth
fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
technology demonstrator A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of ...
designed for the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
(USAF). The design was a finalist in the USAF's
Advanced Tactical Fighter The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter to counter emerging worldwide threats, including Soviet Sukhoi Su-27 ...
(ATF) competition, battling the
Lockheed YF-22 The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 is an American single-seat, twin-engine fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design was a finalist in the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter c ...
for a production contract. Two YF-23 prototypes were built, nicknamed "Black Widow II" and "Gray Ghost". In the 1980s, the USAF began looking for a replacement for its fighter aircraft, especially to counter the USSR's advanced
Sukhoi Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet ...
and
Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG- ...
. Several companies submitted design proposals; the USAF selected proposals from Northrop and Lockheed. Northrop teamed with
McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...
to develop the YF-23, while Lockheed,
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, and
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...
developed the YF-22. The YF-23 was stealthier and faster, but less agile than its competitor. After a four-year development and evaluation process, the YF-22 was announced the winner in 1991 and entered production as the
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...
. The U.S. Navy considered using the production version of the ATF as the basis for a replacement to the
F-14 The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...
, but these plans were later canceled. The two YF-23 prototypes are currently museum exhibits.


Development

American reconnaissance satellites first spotted the advanced Soviet
Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet ...
and
MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the Mi ...
fighter prototypes in 1978, which caused concern in the U.S. Both Soviet models were expected to reduce the maneuverability advantage of contemporary US fighter aircraft. In 1981, the USAF requested information from several aerospace companies on possible features for an
Advanced Tactical Fighter The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter to counter emerging worldwide threats, including Soviet Sukhoi Su-27 ...
(ATF) to replace the
F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
. After discussions with aerospace companies, the USAF made
air-to-air combat Air combat manoeuvring (also known as ACM or dogfighting) is the tactical art of moving, turning and/or situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Air combat manoeuvres ...
the primary role for the ATF.Sweetman 1991, pp. 10–13. The ATF was to take advantage of emerging technologies, including
composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...
s, lightweight
alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
s, advanced flight-control systems, more powerful propulsion systems, and
stealth technology Stealth technology, also termed low observable technology (LO technology), is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive and active electronic countermeasures, which covers a range of methods used to make personnel, aircraft, ships, subm ...
.Miller 2005, p. 11. In October 1985, the USAF issued a request for proposal (RFP) to several aircraft manufacturers. The RFP was modified in May 1986 to include the evaluation of prototype air vehicles from the two finalists. At the same time, the U.S. Navy, under the Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program, announced that it would use a derivative of the ATF winner to replace its
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
. The NATF program called for the procurement of 546 aircraft along with the USAF's planned procurement of 750 aircraft.Williams 2002, p. 5. In July 1986, proposals for Demonstration and Validation (Dem/Val) were submitted by Lockheed,
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
,
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...
, McDonnell Douglas, Northrop,
Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
and Rockwell; the latter two dropped out of competition shortly thereafter. Northrop’s design proposal (DP) was internally designated DP110. Following proposal submissions, Lockheed, Boeing, and General Dynamics formed a team to develop whichever of their proposed designs was selected, if any. Northrop and McDonnell Douglas formed a team with a similar agreement. The Lockheed and Northrop proposals were selected as finalists on 31 October 1986 for Dem/Val. Both teams were given 50 months to build and flight-test their prototypes, and they were successful, producing the Lockheed YF-22 and the Northrop YF-23. The YF-23 was designed to meet USAF requirements for
survivability Survivability is the ability to remain alive or continue to exist. The term has more specific meaning in certain contexts. Ecological Following disruptive forces such as flood, fire, disease, war, or climate change some species of flora, fauna, ...
,
supercruise Supercruise is sustained supersonic flight of a supersonic aircraft with a useful cargo, passenger, or weapons load without using afterburner (also known as "reheat"). Many supersonic military aircraft are not capable of supercruise and can only m ...
, stealth, and ease of maintenance. Supercruise requirements called for prolonged supersonic flight without the use of
afterburner An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and comba ...
s.Goodall 1992, p. 91. Northrop drew on its experience with the
B-2 Spirit The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. A subsonic flying ...
and
F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...
to reduce the model's susceptibility to radar and
infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
detection.Winchester 2005, pp. 198–199. The USAF initially required the aircraft to land and stop within , which meant the use of
thrust reversers Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft to ...
on their engines. In 1987, the USAF changed the runway length requirement to , so thrust reversers were no longer needed. This allowed the aircraft to have smaller engine
nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
housings. The nacelles were not downsized on the prototypes.Miller 2005, p. 23.Sweetman 1991, pp. 23, 43. The first YF-23 (
serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...
''87-0800''), Prototype Air Vehicle 1 (PAV-1), was rolled out on 22 June 1990; PAV-1 took its 50-minute
maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
on 27 August with Alfred "Paul" Metz at the controls.Goodall 1992, p. 99. The second YF-23 (serial number ''87-0801'', PAV-2) made its first flight on 26 October, piloted by Jim Sandberg. The first YF-23 was painted charcoal gray and was nicknamed "Black Widow II", after the
Northrop P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night fight ...
of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It briefly had a red hourglass marking resembling the marking on the underside of the
black widow spider ''Latrodectus'' is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. Howeve ...
before Northrop management had it removed.Goodall 1992, p. 120.Miller 2005, p. 37. The second prototype was painted in two shades of gray and nicknamed "Spider" and "Gray Ghost".Pace 1999, p. 50c.


Naval variant

A proposed naval variant of the YF-23 known as the NATF-23 was considered as an
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
replacement. The original YF-23 design was first considered but would have had issues with flight deck space handling, storage, landing, and catapult launching reasons requiring a different design. A NATF-23 wind tunnel test model DP527, tested for 14,000 hours, was donated by Boeing in 2001 to the Bellefontaine Neighbors Klein Park Veterans Memorial.


Design

The YF-23 (internally designated DP117K) was an unconventional-looking aircraft, with diamond-shaped wings, a profile with substantial area-ruling to reduce
aerodynamic drag In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fl ...
at
transonic Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach number, but transonic ...
and
supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
speeds, and an all-moving
V-tail The V-tail or ''Vee-tail'' (sometimes called a butterfly tail or Rudlicki's V-tailGudmundsson S. (2013). "General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures" (Reprint). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 489. , 9780123973290) of an aircraft ...
.Metz 2017, p. 31 The
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...
was placed high, near the nose of the aircraft for good visibility for the pilot. The aircraft featured a
tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
configuration with a nose
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
leg and two main landing gear legs. The weapons bay was placed on the underside of the fuselage between the nose and main landing gear.Goodall 1992, pp. 108–115, 124. The cockpit has a center stick and side throttle.Walkaround
yf-23.net
It was powered by two turbofan engines with each in a separate engine
nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
with
S-duct An S-duct (or ''Serpentine shape, serpentine inlet'') is a type of jet engine intake duct used in several types of trijet aircraft. In this configuration, the intake is in the upper rear center of the aircraft, above or below the Vertical stabilize ...
s, to shield engine
axial compressor An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...
s from radar waves, on either side of the aircraft's spine. The inlets were trapezoidal in frontal profile, with special porous panels in front to absorb the turbulent
boundary layer In physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is the thin layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface formed by the fluid flowing along the surface. The fluid's interaction with the wall induces a no-slip boundary condi ...
and vent it over the wings. Of the two aircraft built, the first YF-23 (PAV-1) was fitted with Pratt & Whitney YF119 engines, while the second (PAV-2) was powered by
General Electric YF120 The General Electric YF120, internally designated as GE37, was a variable cycle afterburning turbofan engine designed by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Figh ...
engines. The aircraft featured single-expansion ramp nozzles (SERN) and unlike the YF-22, does not employ
thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket, or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the v ...
. As on the B-2, the exhaust from the YF-23's engines flowed through troughs lined with tiles that are “transpiration cooled” to dissipate heat and shield the engines from
infrared homing Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...
(IR) missile detection from below. The
flight control surfaces Aircraft flight control surfaces are aerodynamic devices allowing a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude. Development of an effective set of flight control surfaces was a critical advance in the development of aircraft. Ea ...
were controlled by a central management computer system. Raising the wing flaps and
aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s on one side and lowering them on the other provided
roll Roll or Rolls may refer to: Movement about the longitudinal axis * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis ** Roll (aviation), ...
. The V-tail fins were angled 50 degrees from the vertical. Pitch was mainly provided by rotating these V-tail fins in opposite directions so their front edges moved together or apart. Yaw was primarily supplied by rotating the tail fins in the same direction. Test pilot Paul Metz stated that the YF-23 had superior high
angle of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...
(AoA) performance compared to legacy aircraft, with trimmed AoA of up to 60°."YF-23 would undergo subtle changes if it wins competition". ''Defense Daily'' 14 January 1991 Deflecting the wing flaps down and ailerons up on both sides simultaneously provided for
aerodynamic braking Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit (apoapsis) by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit (periapsis). The resulting drag slows the spacecraft. Aerobraking is ...
. To keep prototyping costs low despite the novel design, a number of "
commercial off-the-shelf Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...
" components were used, including an F-15 nose wheel, F/A-18 main landing gear parts, and the forward cockpit components of the
F-15E Strike Eagle The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without rely ...
.Jenkins and Landis 2008, p. 237.


Production F-23

The proposed production F-23 configuration (DP231 for the F119 engine and DP232 for the F120 engine) for full-scale development, or Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD), would have differed from the YF-23 prototypes in several ways. Instead of a single weapons bay, the EMD design would instead have two tandem bays in the lengthened forward fuselage, with the fore bay designed for short range
AIM-9 The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...
missiles; an M61 rotary cannon would be installed on the left side of the forward fuselage. The aircraft's overall length was slightly increased, volume was expanded, the nose was enlarged to accept mission systems, including the
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
, and the forebody chines were less pronounced and raised to the same height as the leading edge of the wing. The deletion of thrust reversers enabled the engine nacelles to have a smaller, more rounded cross-section and the space between them filled in to preserve area-ruling. The inlet design changed from the porous panels to a semicircular compression bump. The fuselage and empennage trailing edge pattern would also have fewer serrations and the engine thrust lines were toed in at 1.5° off center.


NATF-23

The NATF-23, the schematics of which surfaced in the 2010s, was different in many ways, the diamond wing was located as far back as possible, it has conventional twin tails instead of the ruddervator with serrations for low RCS and increased maneuverability at low speeds for aircraft carrier operations, folding wing capability for flight deck storage, reinforced landing gear, tailhook and canards for landing on
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s and thrust vectoring nozzles. The intakes were also different as they were a quarter circle with serrations and were to have an increased 48 ft wingspan and a 62 ft length.


Operational history


Evaluation

The first YF-23, with Pratt & Whitney engines, supercruised at Mach 1.43 on 18 September 1990, while the second, with General Electric engines, reached Mach 1.6 on 29 November 1990. By comparison, the YF-22 achieved Mach 1.58 in supercruise.Goodall 1992, pp. 102–03. The YF-23 was tested to a top speed of Mach 1.8 with afterburners and achieved a maximum angle-of-attack of 25°. The maximum speed is classified, though sources state a maximum speed greater than Mach 2 at altitude and a supercruise speed greater than Mach 1.6.Aronstein 1998, p. 136. The aircraft's weapons bay was configured for weapons launch, and used for testing weapons bay acoustics, but no missiles were fired; Lockheed fired
AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
and
AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...
missiles successfully from its YF-22 demonstration aircraft. PAV-1 performed a fast-paced combat demonstration with six flights over a 10-hour period on 30 November 1990. Flight testing continued into December.Miller 2005, pp. 36, 39. The two YF-23s flew 50 times for a total of 65.2 hours. The tests demonstrated Northrop's predicted performance values for the YF-23. The YF-23 was stealthier and faster, but the YF-22 was more agile.Goodall 1992, p. 110. The two contractor teams submitted evaluation results with their proposals in December 1990,Miller 2005, pp. 38–39. and on 23 April 1991,
Secretary of the Air Force A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
Donald Rice Donald Blessing Rice (born June 4, 1939) is a California businessman and senior government official. He has been president and chief executive officer of several large companies including RAND Corporation, and has sat on numerous boards of direc ...
announced that the YF-22 was the winner.Jenkins and Landis 2008, p. 234. The Air Force selected the YF119 engine to power the F-22 production version. The Lockheed and Pratt & Whitney designs were rated higher on technical aspects, were considered lower risks, and were considered to have more effective program management.Miller 2005, p. 38. It has been speculated in the aviation press that the YF-22 was also seen as more adaptable to the Navy's NATF, but by 1992 the U.S. Navy had abandoned NATF.Miller 2005, p. 76. Following the competition, both YF-23s were transferred to NASA's
Dryden Flight Research Center The NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. Its primary campus is located inside Edwards Air Force Base in California and is considered NASA's premier site for aeronautical rese ...
at
Edwards AFB Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is Ed ...
, California, without their engines. NASA planned to use one of the aircraft to study techniques for the calibration of predicted loads to measured flight results, but this did not take place."YF-23."
'' NASA Dryden Flight Research Center'', 20 January 1996. Retrieved: 25 June 2011.


Possible revival

In 2004,
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
proposed a YF-23-based bomber to meet a USAF need for an interim bomber, for which the FB-22 and
B-1R The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along with ...
were also competing. Northrop modified aircraft PAV-2 to serve as a display model for its proposed interim bomber. The possibility of a YF-23-based interim bomber ended with the 2006
Quadrennial Defense Review The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) was a study by the United States Department of Defense that analyzes strategic objectives and potential military threats. The ''Quadrennial Defense Review Report'' was the main public document describing the Uni ...
, which favored a long-range bomber with much greater range. The USAF has since moved on to the
Next-Generation Bomber The Next-Generation Bomber (NGB; unofficially called 2018 Bomber) was a program to develop a new medium bomber for the United States Air Force. The NGB was initially projected to enter service around 2018 as a stealthy, subsonic, medium-range, m ...
and
Long Range Strike Bomber The Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) is a development and acquisition program to develop a long-range strategic bomber for the United States Air Force, intended to be a heavy-payload stealth aircraft capable of delivering thermonuclear weapons. ...
program. Japan launched a program to develop a domestic 5th/ 6th generation (F-3) fighter after the US Congress refused in 1998 to export the
F-22 The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...
. After a great deal of study and the building of static models, the
Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin The Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin (, formerly the ATD-X) is a Japanese experimental aircraft for testing advanced stealth fighter aircraft technologies. It is being developed by the Japanese Ministry of Defense Technical Research and Development In ...
testbed aircraft flew as a technology demonstrator from 2016. By July 2018, Japan had gleaned sufficient information and decided that it would need to bring on-board international partners to complete this project. One such company that responded was
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
and there is speculation that it could offer a modernized version of the YF-23 to Japan.Mizokami, Kyl
"Now Northrop Grumman Wants to Build Japan's New Fighter Jet"
''Popular Mechanics'', 10 July 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.


Aircraft on display

Both YF-23 airframes remained in storage until mid-1996, when the aircraft were transferred to museums. * YF-23A PAV-1, Air Force serial number ''87-0800'', registration number N231YF, is on display in the Research and Development hangar of the
National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
near
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
."Northrop-McDonnell Douglas YF-23A Black Widow II"
''National Museum of the U.S. Air Force'', 6 November 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
* YF-23A PAV-2, AF ser. no. ''87-0801'', registration number N232YF, was on exhibit at the
Western Museum of Flight The Western Museum of Flight (WMOF) is an aviation museum located at Zamperini Field, the municipal airport in Torrance, California. WMOF is operated by the Southern California Historical Aviation Foundation. It houses not only historic aircraft, ...
until 2004, when it was reclaimed by Northrop Grumman and used as a display model for a YF-23-based bomber.Miller 2005, p. 39. PAV-2 was returned to the Western Museum of Flight and was on display as of 2010 at the museum's new location at
Zamperini Field Zamperini Field is a public airport three miles (5 km) southwest of downtown Torrance, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The airport is classified by the FAA as a Regional Reliever (not for interplanetarien vehicle) and ...
,
Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...
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Specifications (YF-23)


See also


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Aronstein, David C. and Michael J. Hirschberg. ''Advanced Tactical Fighter to F-22 Raptor: Origins of the 21st Century Air Dominance Fighter.'' Arlington, Virginia: AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics), 1998. . * Goodall, James C. "The Lockheed YF-22 and Northrop YF-23 Advanced Tactical Fighters". ''America's Stealth Fighters and Bombers, B-2, F-117, YF-22, and YF-23''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International Publishing, 1992. . * Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. ''Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters''. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2008. . * Metz, Paul. ''Air Force Legends Number 220. Northrop YF-23''. Forrest Lake, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2017 * Miller, Jay. ''Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor, Stealth Fighter''. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2005. . * Pace, Steve. ''F-22 Raptor''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. . * Sweetman, Bill. ''YF-22 and YF-23 Advanced Tactical Fighters''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International Publishing, 1991. . * Williams, Mel, ed. "Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor", ''Superfighters: The Next Generation of Combat Aircraft''. London: AIRtime Publishing, 2002. . * Winchester, Jim, ed. "Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23", ''Concept Aircraft''. Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books, 2005. .


External links


YF-23 photos on DFRC/NASA site

"YF-23 Black Widow II, Declassified: Web of Secrecy"
– documentary film (2000)



{{Stealth aircraft F-023 F-023 Stealth aircraft Northrop F-23 V-tail aircraft Twinjets Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1990 Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States