What If The YF-23 Black Widow II Had Beaten The F-22 Raptor? How One 1991 Decision Built Today’s Air Force

What If The YF-23 Black Widow II Had Beaten The F-22 Raptor? How One 1991 Decision Built Today’s Air Force

On April 23, 1991, Secretary of the Air Force Donald Rice announced that the Lockheed YF-22 had won the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition, and the Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II went from contender to museum piece in a single press conference. The flight tests had confirmed Northrop’s own predictions: the YF-23 was stealthier and faster, while the YF-22 was more agile, and the Air Force took the agile one. Thirty-five years later, with the F-…