The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 is an American single-seat, twin-engine, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design team was a finalist in the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) demonstration/validation competition, battling the YF-22 team for full-scale development and production. Two YF-23 prototypes were built.

In the 1980s, the USAF began looking for a replacement for its F-15 fighter aircraft to more effectively counter the Soviet Union's advanced Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29. Several companies submitted design proposals; the USAF selected proposals from Northrop and Lockheed. Northrop teamed up with McDonnell Douglas to develop the YF-23, while Lockheed, Boeing, and General Dynamics developed the YF-22. The YF-23 was stealthier and faster, but less agile than its competitor. After a four-year development and evaluation process, the YF-22 team was announced as the winner in 1991 and developed the F-22 Raptor, which first flew in 1997 and entered service in 2005. The U.S. Navy considered using a naval version of the ATF as a replacement to the F-14, but these plans were later canceled due to escalating costs.

After flight testing, both YF-23s were placed in storage while plans were considered by various agencies to use them for further research, although none proceeded. In 2004, Northrop Grumman used the second YF-23 as a display model for its proposed regional bomber aircraft, but this project was dropped because longer range bombers were required. The two YF-23 prototypes are currently exhibits at the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the Western Museum of Flight respectively.

Prototype Air Vehicle 2 (PAV-2) joined the flight program on October 26th, 1990, with Jim Sandberg taking the GE powered aircraft on its first flight. Flights progressed rapidly with PAV-1 testing going well until October 30th, when Bill Lowe experienced a shattered forward windscreen at Mach 1.5 during flight number 16. The glass outer layer of the windscreen cracked and the inner polycarbonate layer remained intact allowing for a safe landing. The same scenario repeated on PAV-2 nearly a month later.

This particular 1:72 scale replica of a US Northrop Grumman/ McDonnell Douglas YF-23 air superiority fighter that was nicknamed "Gray Ghost" and embroiled in a fly-ooff against the Lockheed-Martin F-22 during 1990. Pre-order! Ship Date: April 2025.

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-1/2-inches
Length: 10-1/4-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Fly Off" - By November 1984, concept exploration had allowed the SPO to narrow its requirements and release the Statement of Operational Need, which called for a 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) takeoff weight fighter with stealth and excellent kinematics, including prolonged supersonic flight without the use of afterburners, or supercruise. In September 1985, the USAF issued the request for proposal (RFP) for demonstration and validation (Dem/Val) to several aircraft manufacturers with the top four proposals, later cut down to two, proceeding to the next phase; in addition to the ATF's demanding technical requirements, the RFP also emphasized systems engineering, technology development plans, and risk mitigation. The RFP would see some changes after its initial release; following discussions with Lockheed and Northrop regarding their experiences with the F-117 and ATB/B-2, stealth requirements were drastically increased in December 1985. The requirement to include the evaluation of prototype air vehicles from the two finalists was added in May 1986 due to recommendations from the Packard Commission. At this time, the USAF envisioned procuring 750 ATFs at a unit flyaway cost of $35 million in fiscal year (FY) 1985 dollars (equivalent to $84,207,989 in 2023). Furthermore, the U.S. Navy, under the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program, eventually announced that it would use a derivative of the ATF winner to replace its F-14 Tomcat and called for the procurement of 546 aircraft.

Northrop's work on the HSF would pay off for the Dem/Val RFP. By January 1986, the HSF would evolve into Design Proposal 86E (DP86E) as a refined and well-understood concept through extensive computational fluid dynamics simulations, wind tunnel testing, and RCS pole testing and became Northrop's preference for its ATF submission. Furthermore, Northrop's ability to design and analyze stealthy curved surfaces, stemming back to its work on Tacit Blue and the ATB/B-2, gave their designers an early advantage, especially since Lockheed, the only other company with extensive stealth experience, had previously relied on faceting as on the F-117 and lost the ATB to Northrop as a result. That loss, along with the poor aerodynamic performance of their early faceted ATF concept, forced Lockheed to also develop designs and analysis methods with curved stealthy surfaces. Northrop's HSF design would be refined into DP110, which was its submission for the Dem/Val RFP.

In July 1986, proposals for Dem/Val were submitted by Lockheed, Boeing, General Dynamics, McDonnell Douglas, Northrop, Grumman and Rockwell; the latter two dropped out of the competition shortly thereafter. As contractors were expected to make significant investments for technology development, companies forming teams was encouraged by the SPO. Following proposal submissions, Lockheed, Boeing, and General Dynamics formed a team to develop whichever of their proposed designs was selected, if any. Northrop and McDonnell Douglas formed a team with a similar agreement.

Lockheed and Northrop, the two industry leaders in stealth aircraft, were selected as finalists on October 31st, 1986, for Dem/Val as first and second place, although the approaches to their proposals were markedly different. Northrop's refined and well-understood design proposal was a significant advantage, especially in contrast to Lockheed's immature design, but the Lockheed proposal's focus on systems engineering rather than a point aircraft design actually pulled it ahead. Both teams were awarded $691 million in FY 1985 dollars (equivalent to $1,662,506,297 in 2023) and given 50 months to build and flight-test their prototypes. Concurrently, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric were contracted to develop the engines for the ATF engine competition. Because of the late addition of the prototyping requirement due to political pressure, the prototype air vehicles were to be "best-effort" machines not meant to perform a competitive fly off or represent a production aircraft that meets every requirement, but to demonstrate the viability of its concept and mitigate risk.