Fifth gen a/c of the US that never was

[IDonT]

YF23 (the F-22 rival)
Interestingly enough Northrop Grumman has submitted the a bomber design based on the F-23 under the USAF interim bomber requirement. Maybe we will see the F-23 again.
http://www.globalaircraft.org/photos/planephotos/f-23-1.jpg
http://www.globalaircraft.org/photos/planephotos/f-23-6.jpg
http://www.globalaircraft.org/photos/planephotos/f-23-3.jpg


X-32 (JSF that never was)
http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/types/usa/boeing/x-32/c22-621-19.jpg
http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/types/usa/boeing/x-32/c22-627-30.jpg

[IDonT]

RAH 66 (successor to the Apache - victim to budget cuts)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/rah-66-003.jpg

[Totoro]

I must say i prefered both yf23 and boeings proposal for jsf more than the actual planes that won. I guess a have a sweet spot for unconventional looking planes - the more futuristic it looks - the more i want it to win. :D I still cant get over the never to be navy a-12 avenger - that would have been one hell of a cool looking plane!

As much as id love to see black widow fly again, i simply cant see how on earth would they pick that over a f22 bomber variant. wouldnt the latter mean more compatibility with current production line, greater ease of production, lower price, etc? but anyway, last news i heard is that the FB-22 is not really gonan go forward. that most likely itll be a whole new design.

Comanche was supposed to compliment the apache as far as i know, not to replace it. It is, after all, a lighter helicopter in a different class. It is really too bad its been cancelled but what can ya do... lots of nice projects got shelved (ah, crusader...)

[netspider]

I must say i prefered both yf23 and boeings proposal for jsf more than the actual planes that won. I guess a have a sweet spot for unconventional looking planes - the more futuristic it looks - the more i want it to win. :D I still cant get over the never to be navy a-12 avenger - that would have been one hell of a cool looking plane!

As much as id love to see black widow fly again, i simply cant see how on earth would they pick that over a f22 bomber variant. wouldnt the latter mean more compatibility with current production line, greater ease of production, lower price, etc? but anyway, last news i heard is that the FB-22 is not really gonan go forward. that most likely itll be a whole new design.

Comanche was supposed to compliment the apache as far as i know, not to replace it. It is, after all, a lighter helicopter in a different class. It is really too bad its been cancelled but what can ya do... lots of nice projects got shelved (ah, crusader...)

YF-23 is indeed a cool looking plane, but X32? Are you sure? This might be the ugliest plane I have seen. I just did a search on Internet, looks like people were saying this about X32 - "Boeing made a plane only its mother will like". huh.

[EternalVigil]

Yes the US is making a new bomber with the stealth of the B2 and faster than the B1-b. Early reports say that they want a mach 3 bomber with the speeds along the line of a SR-71.

[swimmerXC]

FB-22?
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/4161/fb22bomberdesign3fq.jpg

[renmin]

WOW! Looks like your every day Concorde fused with a YF-23. I supose this bomber can reach supersonic speeds? It sure looks like it.

[IDonT]

The F-23 does look cool. It's the type of aircraft that Batman would use as the Batwing. lol

Anyway here is the article
http://aviamagazine.xs4all.nl/news/readnews.asp?id=46

Northrop Grumman's long-abandoned YF-23A advanced tactical fighter (ATF) leaves museum and could be heading for bomber contest on which we reported last week. The company recently retrieved the second of the two YF-23A "Black Widow II" prototypes from the Western Museum of Flight in Hathorne, California. Officially the aircraft will be used for a air fair in August. However, the restoration is also thought to include several changes, including new cockpit displays and other possible cosmetic modifications.

Northrop Grumman confirms restoration is taking place, but declines to comment on whether the revived YF-23A is linked to any USAF proposal. But sources close to the studies, say Northrop Grumman now includes a YF-23-based "regional" bomber concept among its raft of proposals.

The distinctive, rhomboid-winged YF-23A lost out to Lockheed Martin's YF-22 in the ATF competition in 1991, but proved a valuable technology testbed for Northrop Grumman, which gave it all-aspect stealth. The company says it "drew upon a wide range of experience for its response to the interim bomber RFI, and the YF-23 is one".

[tphuang]

hehehe, does anyone know how the stealthiness of YF-23 compare to F-22? I remember reading that 23 was supposed to be even more stealthy. However, it looks from that picture that F-22 is more stealthy (from my untrained eyes). Definitely a sexy fighter, still not as pretty as F-22 though.

[Totoro]

I know some people have called f32 ugly, but to me its not. some people think A-10 or mi-24 to be ugly - i think they're some of most beautiful aircraft out there. The more unconventional looking for their time - the cooler they are in my eyes. I happen to think the huge belly of f32 is... interesting. :) Coupled with general flying wing desing - its more attractive to me than f35. I even thought that mcdonnell douglas competitor for what was then called JAST program was prettier than f35.

I've been doing some research about the interim bomber requirement and basically - what usaf wants is above anything either fb22 or fb23 could offer. What they want - basically - is a faster b2, with perhaps losing some stealth while gaining the speed. The proposed planes, with the exception of B-1R, just can't compete in range. The sheer number of usaf bombers is in danger, really, with the b52 fleet getting old and slowly retired (30 more retired from this year), with problems in wing construction on b-1B. Calls for b-2 production line to be reopened are renewed. Back in 1997 the manufacturer said it'd need 4-6 billion to reopen the line but then could produce a new b-2 for 750 million a piece, a big save from original 2 + billion a piece.

I do find it ironic though, that the new requirement pretty much is getting back to what yb-70 was (without stealth), decades ago. that was another absolutely stunning plane, far ahead of its time, that i totally would have loved if it entered service.

[walter]

hehehe, does anyone know how the stealthiness of YF-23 compare to F-22? I remember reading that 23 was supposed to be even more stealthy. However, it looks from that picture that F-22 is more stealthy (from my untrained eyes). Definitely a sexy fighter, still not as pretty as F-22 though.

I don't have numbers, but I have also read that the YF-23 had a slight edge in stealth over the YF-22. The YF-22 had the edge in overall manoeuverability, owing in large part to its 2d thrust vectoring nozzles--the YF-23 had no thrust vectoring. A production variant of the YF-23 also would have had slightly more range and payload and slightly higher max speed vs. today's F-22. In the end the USAF picked the YF-22 and the P&W F119 because both were seen as lower risk vs. their competition from northrop and GE.

A decent source, although having mostly to do with organizational aspects and less technical, is Advanced Tactical Fighter to F-22 Raptor: Origins of the 21st Century Air Dominance Fighter published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).