Boeing’s X-32 Lost to the F-35 Because of Hot Exhaust, a Giant Radar Signature, and an Ugly Face — Now One of Only 2 Ever Built Is Falling Apart

Boeing’s X-32 Lost to the F-35 Because of Hot Exhaust, a Giant Radar Signature, and an Ugly Face — Now One of Only 2 Ever Built Is Falling Apart

The X-32 is one of the more intriguing “what if” stories from the first decade of the post-Cold War era. Designed in the 1990s as Boeing’s entry into the U.S. military’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition, it ultimately lost to what we now know as the F-35 Lightning II. Looking Back: The Why and the Wherefore The raison d’être of the JSF program was to develop a stealth-enabled, lightweight air-to-air fighter and ground-attack aircraft desig…