Is this the only fighter that could beat the F-22?

In the decade and a half since it first entered service, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor has been an air superiority fighter without equal, but that hasn’t always been the case. For a short time in the 1990s, the YF-22 that would lead to the operational F-22 may have met its match in the form of Northrop’s YF-23.

🎥 Other videos you might like:
How the A-10 Warthog can win a dogfight
Why the Navy never put F 22s on carriers

📰 Sandboxx News articles you might like:
Recruiting a next generation fighter pilot
The F-22 Raptor almost had a stealth bomber sibling
Why Israel’s plan to get the F-22 probably won’t fly

📱 Follow Sandboxx on social

📱Follow Alex Hollings on social

[iainbaker]

Imagine if the USAF chose the F-22 and the navy chose the F-23. It would be similar to the F-15 and F-14 situation - each service having one of the best aircraft in the world optimised for their specific needs.

[brrrtnerd]

Some of the things lobbed at Northrop at the time, could be said about LM now; however, factoring in both companies missteps, and bungles, at the end of the day they do manage to meet the required metrics. Not gonna get into things that keep dogging the F-35, but its capabilities keep expanding and improving. Basically, I am a YF-23 fan, rooted for it when I learned of the program originally. At the end of the day though, the F-22 doesn't disappoint and has served the Air Force well. So this is just an emotional decision . . . YF-23 hell yeah!!!

[caleblarsen]

I think Northrop learned their lessons with the B-2. That's why the B-21 is on schedule. I feel pretty certain that the F-23 would have been on time and on budget (or at least pretty close) just because of the lessons that Northrop had already learned.

But that's hindsight 20/20, and the Raptor is a kick butt machine of death. Honestly, America won in that contest.

[Yuki_Ika]

the YF-23 is my favorite warplane of all time (even if it did not serve in any wars), everything about it is beautiful! I believe that the lessons learned from the YF-23 will inspire designs of future aircraft of America and it's allies, perhaps even a modernized YF-23 will come into service one day as a 6th generation fighter!

[jehb]

Another thing that didn't help the yf23 was the fact that the Air Force was still royally pissed at Northrop for the snowballing cost of the b-2 spirit and felt they couldn't trust them to deliver the YF 23 on budget even though the costs of the F-22 snowballed out of control to the I watering 182 million per plane cost of the raptor

[danielm]

I kind of doubt anyone here has seen it, but the anime "Macross Plus" was inspired by this competition.
The amazing thing is that the 23 was so good if they started producing it now (not a bad idea considering China), it would still be at the top of the food chain along with the 22. I remember hearing some speculation a while back that Japan had been considering buying the rights to build the 23, obviously nothing came of that. I honestly think given the world climate in 2021, bringing back the 23 as a production fighter would be a very good tactical choice.

[RipperFV]

I'd actually like to see a larger version of the YF-23 that could take over the role of the F-111. That mid range tactical strike hasn't been replaced, well only about 80% replaced with the F-15E.

[krystalbrooks]

Thank you, I was in high school during all this out at Edwards. You reported this story how I remember it and the stories you heard from those on both teams.

[kidwajagstang]

From what I remember, the f-22 was actually outfitted with the yf-23’s avionics after Lockheed won the bid. At some point around the 7:00-7:30 mark you said the YF-22 had superior avionics when I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case..

[kmsbismarck]

Just imagine if the USAF had the choice to pick both of these legendary jets, the US would dominate the skies with 2 Air Apex predators

[angelarch]

I was hoping the YF-23 would win the ATF at the time. So sad that the US can create the 2 best fighter planes in the world, and then only build one of them-- I wish they could build both, like if maybe the Navy could pick it up! Seems like such a sad waste of technology :(

[ericanthonyvillar]

This is the most accurate and fairest assessment of the 1990s ATF competition. Kudos and keep it up!

[tc]

I'm happy to see that Sandboxx was able to talk about the YF-23. In my civillian eye an amazing plane. Thank you for your great video

[callenclarke]

Listen, this is first-rate content. Every word of this presentation is well placed. Aside from the arguments in the script, the footage is simply mesmerizing. I felt like I was watching 60-Minutes for Defense Technology. Goodness. Well done.

Some of those shots (like the vector nozzles moving) I thought: 'Ooh! Are we supposed to be seeing this?'

[dodoubleg]

Enjoyed the Rocky comparison, & of course the vid as well. 😉👍✌️

[williamtell]

Guuuhreat channel! Thanks for the vids, catching up on your old ones.

[tommyjohnson]

Very good program. I love fighter planes with F-15 as my favorite.

[yourfriend]

Decades old yet feels like these air craft sound still new to this day.

[jordansenna]

Plot twist: The U.S. has actually had dozens of YF-23s built in secret and just haven't used them yet

[zandarrthegreat]

Awesome channel! Thanks for the great videos.