Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twinjet fighter aircraft with swept wings designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered production, its design was adapted for the subsequent supersonic F-101 Voodoo.
The Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor is a mixed-propulsion prototype interceptor aircraft, developed by Republic Aviation. The aircraft would use a jet engine for most flight, and a cluster of four small rocket engines for added thrust during climb and interception. The design was largely obsolete by the time it was completed due to the rapidly increasing performance of contemporary jet engines, and only two prototypes were built. One of these was the first American fighter to exceed Mach 1 in level flight.
The Northrop F-89 Scorpion is an all-weather, twin-engined interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the first jet-powered aircraft to be designed for the interceptor role from the outset to enter service, as well as the first combat aircraft to be armed with air-to-air nuclear weapons in the form of the unguided Genie rocket. The name Scorpion came from the aircraft's elevated tail unit and high-mounted horizontal stabilizer, which kept it clear of the engine exhaust.
The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 is an American single-seat, twin-engine, stealth fighter technology demonstrator prototype designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design team, with Northrop as the prime contractor, 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.
The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter-interceptor, and the company's last aircraft project. Designed as a replacement for the World War II–era propeller-driven P-61 Black Widow night/interceptor aircraft, the XF-87 lost in government procurement competition to the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. The loss of the contract was fatal to the company; the Curtiss-Wright Corporation closed down its aviation division, selling its assets to North American Aviation.
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto is a 1950s United States experimental jet aircraft with a slender fuselage and a long tapered nose, manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Its primary mission was to investigate the design features of an aircraft suitable for sustained supersonic speeds, which included the first use of titanium in major airframe components. Douglas designed the X-3 with the goal of a maximum speed of approximately 2,000 mph (3,200 km/h), but it was seriously underpowered for this purpose and could not even exceed Mach 1 in level flight. Although the research aircraft was a disappointment, Lockheed designers used data from the X-3 tests for the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter which used a similar trapezoidal wing design in a successful Mach 2 fighter.
The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 is an American single-seat, twin-engine, stealth fighter technology demonstrator prototype designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design team, with Lockheed as the prime contractor, was a finalist in the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) competition, and two prototypes were built for the demonstration/validation phase. The YF-22 team won the contest against the YF-23 team for full-scale development and the design was developed into the Lockheed Martin F-22. The YF-22 has a similar aerodynamic layout and configuration as the F-22, but with notable differences in the overall shaping such as the position and design of the cockpit, tail fins and wings, and in internal structural layout.
The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a United States Air Force requirement for a long-range penetration fighter and bomber escort. The same requirement produced the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo. Lockheed received a contract for two prototype XP-90s. The design was developed by Willis Hawkins and the Skunk Works team under Kelly Johnson. Two prototypes were built. Developmental and political difficulties delayed the first flight until 3 June 1949, with Chief Test Pilot Tony LeVier at the controls. Embodying the experience gained in developing the P-80 Shooting Star, the XF-90 shared some design traits with the older Lockheed fighter, albeit with swept-wings; however, this latter design choice could not sufficiently make up for the project’s underpowered engines, and the XF-90 never entered production.
The North American YF-93 was an American fighter development of the F-86 Sabre that emerged as a radically different variant that received its own designation. Two were built and flown before the project was eventually canceled.
The Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer was a late 1960s company-funded proposal for a fighter aircraft based on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The CL-1200 was conceived and marketed mainly for and to non-US military services, as an export product. As such it would have competed with combat-proven designs like the Dassault Mirage III, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, and Northrop F-5E Tiger II. The CL-1200 competed unsuccessfully against proposed fourth generation designs, under the US government's Lightweight Fighter program, which would eventually result in the General Dynamics F-16 and Northrop F-17 Cobra.
The General Electric F404 and F412 are a family of afterburning turbofan engines in the 10,500–19,000 lbf (47–85 kN) class. The series is produced by GE Aerospace. Partners include Volvo Aero, which builds the RM12 variant. The F404 was developed into the larger F414 turbofan, as well as the experimental GE36 civil propfan.
The Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program was a United States Air Force technology evaluation program initiated in the late 1960s by a group of officers and defense analysts known as the "Fighter Mafia". It was spurred by then-Major John Boyd's 'energy-maneuverability' (E-M) theory, which indicated that excessive weight would have severely debilitating consequences on the maneuverability of an aircraft. Boyd's design called for a light-weight fighter with a high thrust-to-weight ratio, high maneuverability, and a gross weight of less than 20,000 lb (9,100 kg), half that of its counterpart, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. It resulted in the development of the General Dynamics YF-16 and Northrop YF-17. Late in the program, in 1974, with the promise of European sales, the Air Force changed the program name to Air Combat Fighter (ACF), and committed to purchasing 650 models of the YF-16, adopted as the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The U.S. Navy adopted a modified version of the YF-17 as the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
The General Electric YF120, internally designated as GE37, was a variable cycle afterburning turbofan engine designed by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program. It was designed to produce maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class. Prototype engines were installed in the two competing technology demonstrator aircraft, the Lockheed YF-22 and Northrop YF-23.
VFAX for Naval Fighter Attack Experimental was actually two specifications for two US Navy fighter projects. The first was for a low cost lightweight complement for the General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B which could replace the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II for air superiority, escort, and ground attack missions in the early 1960s. This role was dropped in favor of the VFX aircraft, which emerged as the F-14 Tomcat. The second VFAX evolved when the VFX proved too costly to replace all existing USN fighters and attack aircraft, and the Navy was invited to take part in the USAFs Lightweight Fighter Program (LWF). The Navy chose the YF-17, the loser of the LWF contest as its Navy Air Combat Fighter, as it was inherently more suitable to naval operations than the winning General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon; it was redesigned to become the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
The Lockheed XF-104 Starfighter was a single-engine, high-performance, supersonic interceptor prototype for a United States Air Force (USAF) series of lightweight and simple fighters. Only two aircraft were built; one aircraft was used primarily for aerodynamic research and the other served as an armament testbed, both aircraft being destroyed in accidents during testing. The XF-104s were forerunners of over 2,500 production Lockheed F-104 Starfighters.
The General Electric YJ101 was an afterburning turbojet engine, as signified by its "J" designation, in the 15,000 lbf class. It was designed for the Northrop P-530 Cobra but its initial application was the Northrop YF-17 entry in the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) competition. It was subsequently developed into the widely used General Electric F404.
The Northrop Delta was an American single-engined passenger transport aircraft of the 1930s. Closely related to Northrop's Gamma mail plane, 13 were produced by the Northrop Corporation, followed by 19 aircraft built under license by Canadian Vickers Limited.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8 was a supersonic jet fighter developed in the Soviet Union, intended to replace the MiG-21. Only two prototypes were built in 1960–61. The original MiG-21's air intakes were moved under the fuselage, freeing up the nose where a larger and more powerful radar, able to deliver longer range air-to-air missiles, could be built in. Canards were built to both sides of the nose, in front of the cockpit,.
The Vought/General Dynamics Model 1600 series was a fighter aircraft proposal for the United States Navy's Navy Air Combat Fighter (NACF) program. The Model 1600 was a carrier-based derivative of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, but lost to the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
