Advanced Tactical Fighter
Encyclopedia
The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter
Air superiority fighter
An air superiority fighter is a type of fighter aircraft intended to gain air superiority in a war, by entering and seizing control of enemy airspace. Air superiority fighters are designed to effectively engage enemy fighters, more than other types of aircraft...

 to counter emerging worldwide threats, including Soviet Sukhoi Su-27
Sukhoi Su-27
The Sukhoi Su-27 is a twin-engine supermanoeuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large United States fourth generation fighters, with range, heavy armament, sophisticated avionics and high manoeuvrability...

 and Mikoyan MiG-29
Mikoyan MiG-29
The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a fourth-generation jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union for an air superiority role. Developed in the 1970s by the Mikoyan design bureau, it entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983, and remains in use by the Russian Air Force as well as in many other...

 fighters under development in the 1980s. Lockheed and Northrop were selected in 1986 to develop the YF-22 and the YF-23 demonstrator aircraft. These aircraft were evaluated in 1991 and the Lockheed YF-22 was selected and later developed into the F-22 Raptor.

Background

In 1981, USAF began forming requirements for a new air superiority fighter intended to replace the capability of the F-15 Eagle. In June 1981 a request for information (RFI) for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) was published by the Air Force. Design concepts were provided by defense contractor
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...

s. The common areas among the concepts were Stealth
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...

, STOL
STOL
STOL is an acronym for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.-Definitions:There is no one accepted definition of STOL and many different definitions have been used by different authorities and nations at various times and for a myriad of...

 and supercruise
Supercruise
Supercruise is sustained supersonic flight of an aircraft with a useful cargo, passenger, or weapons load performed efficiently and without the use of afterburners ....

. It was envisioned that the ATF would incorporate emerging technologies including advanced alloys and composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...

, advanced fly-by-wire
Fly-by-wire
Fly-by-wire is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires , and flight control computers determine how to move the actuators at each control...

 flight control systems, higher power propulsion systems, and low-observable, or stealth technology
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...

.
In September 1983, study contracts were awarded to seven airframe manufacturers for further definition of their designs. By late 1984, ATF requirements had settled on a fighter with a maximum takeoff weight of 50000 pounds (22,679.6 kg), a mission radius of 800 miles (1,287.5 km), supercruise speed of Mach 1.4-1.5 and the ability to use a 2000 feet (609.6 m) runway. A request for proposals (RFP) for the fighter's engine, called the Joint Advanced Fighter Engine (JAFE), was released in May 1983. Pratt & Whitney and General Electric received contracts for the development and production of prototype engines in September 1983.

Request for proposals

A request for proposals (RFP) for the fighter was issued in September 1985. In May 1986, the Air Force changed the RFP so that final selection would involve flying prototypes. In July 1986, proposals were provided by Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

, General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

, Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...

, Northrop
Northrop Corporation
Northrop Corporation was a leading United States aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman in 1994. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, although only a few of these have entered service.-History:Jack...

, and McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...

. Two contractors, Lockheed and Northrop were selected in October 1986 to undertake a 50 month demonstration/validation phase, culminating in the flight test of two prototypes, the YF-22 and the YF-23. Under terms of agreements between Lockheed, General Dynamics, and Boeing, the companies agreed to participate in the development jointly if only one company's design was selected. Northrop and McDonnell Douglas had a similar agreement.

Because of the added weight for thrust vectoring/reversing nozzles and related systems on the F-15 S/MTD research aircraft, the Air Force changed the runway length requirement to 3000 feet (914.4 m) and removed the thrust reversers on the ATF in late 1987. Two examples of each prototype were built for the Demonstration-Validation phase: one with General Electric YF120
General Electric YF120
|-See also:-References:* Technology News Flight International 23/09/03 .-External links:* . Press release GE Aviation .*...

 engines, the other with Pratt & Whitney YF119
Pratt & Whitney F119
|-See also:-External links:* *...

 engines.

The first YF-23 made its maiden flight on 27 August 1990 and the first YF-22 first flew on 29 September 1990. Flight testing began afterwards and added the second aircraft for each competitor in late October 1990. The first YF-23 with P&W engines supercruised at Mach 1.43 on 18 September 1990 and the second YF-23 with GE engines reached Mach 1.6 on 29 November 1990. The YF-22 with GE engines achieved Mach 1.58 in supercruise. Flight testing continued until December 1990. Following flight testing, the contractor teams submitted proposals for ATF production.

Selection

Following a review of the flight test results and proposals, the Air Force announced the Lockheed YF-22 with Pratt & Whitney engines as the competition winner on 23 April 1991. The YF-23 design was more stealthy and faster, but the YF-22 was more agile. The US Navy had begun considering a version of the ATF called Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) in 1986. It has been speculated in the aviation press that the YF-22 was also seen as more adaptable to the NATF. The Navy abandoned NATF by 1992.

The Lockheed team was awarded the contract to develop and build the Advanced Tactical Fighter in August 1991. The YF-22 was modified into the production F-22 Raptor version. The Northrop YF-23 design was later considered by the company for modification as a bomber, but the proposals have not come to fruition.

External links

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