Northrop / McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow II PhotosNorthrop / McDonnell Douglas YF-23 "Black Widow II" - unofficially named after Northrop P-61 Black Widow - was a fighter prototype designed for U.S. Air Force. It was passed over in favor of the YF-22 that has entered production as the F-22 Raptor.
The YF-23 was designed with stealth as a high priority and was a highly unconventional aircraft, searching with diamond-shaped wings blended with the fuselage and tail-V. The YF-23A met the requirements of the USAF for survival, supersonic cruise, stealth and ease of maintenance. However, the YF-22A was more maneuverable than the YF-23A and won the contest in April 1991. Another factor was that the YF-22A is also seen as more adaptable to navalized Navy's Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF), but as it turned out NATF left the Navy a few months later.
