Even if the faster, stealthier YF-23 Black Widow II had won the competition against the F-22, it still would have been a failure. The “Black Widow” was the superior aircraft, better suited for modern ...

While many aviation fans believe the faster, stealthier YF-23 should have won the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition, a new analysis details the four key reasons it lost to the F-22. -The YF-22’s ...

-The YF-23 competed in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program during the Cold War but lost to Lockheed’s YF-22, which became the F-22 Raptor. The YF-23 was admired for its stealth, speed ...

The YF-23 had a top speed of 1,451mph to the YF-22’s 1,599mph, but the Northrop design had a longer range and a higher ceiling – 2,796 miles maximum range and a ceiling of 65,000 feet.

The YF-23 had a greater flight range, giving the fighter the potential to strike much further targets. The F-22 Raptor had a more conventional design and more effective program management, and was ...

Northrop Grumman's long-abandoned YF-23A advanced tactical fighter (ATF) is emerging as the possible basis for a surprise contender for the US Air Force's interim bomber requirement.

Northrop's YF-23 was first to fly, spending 15 minutes in the air on August 27, 1990. Lockheed's YF-22 was unveiled on August 29 and flew for the first time a month later.

The YF-23, arguably far more futuristic looking than the F-22, never made it to production, but the two prototypes still exist, and one of them is in Torrance at the Western Museum of Flight.