YF-17 Cobra
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Northrop YF-17 Cobra - in flight.jpg The Northrop YF-17 Cobra was a prototype fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force. It was a modernized version of the P-530-Fighter designed without any funding from the government. The first flight of the YF-17 prototype was in 1974.
In 1972 the United States Air Force sought proposals for a light fighter that was small, low-cost, lightweight and easy to maintain, in response to the soaring costs and projected limited production run of the brand-new F-15 Eagle (an idea that would repeat itself decades later in the development of the Joint Strike Fighter project in response to the cost and time overruns of the F-22 Raptor). Northrop had experience with such requirements through its very successful F-5 Freedom Fighter and T-38 Talon.
In a 1975 fly-off, the Cobra competed against the General Dynamics F-16 Falcon and pilots reported very similar capabilities. General Dynamics had gambled by gearing up for immediate production, and so won the contract. The YF-17 is said to have initially been a joint project between the US Northrop Grumman and the Iranian government.
Though not selected by the Air Force, Northrop teamed up with McDonnell Douglas and developed the YF-17 Cobra into the U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet, which later became the primary fighter and strike aircraft of both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. Subsequently, the Navy named McDonnell Douglas the prime contractor, giving them access to all plans for the aircraft and tooling.
Specifications (YF-17 Cobra)
Image:YF17-1.jpg Template:Airtemp
