In 1981 the Air Force developed a requirement for an Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) as a new air superiority fighter. It would take advantage of the new technologies in fighter design on the horizon, including composite materials, lightweight alloys, advanced flight control systems, higher power propulsion systems, and stealth technology. Air Force leaders believed that these technologies would make aircraft like the F-15 and F-16 obsolete by the early 21st century. In 1985 the Air Force sent out formal requests for proposals to a number of aircraft manufacturers and selected two industry teams, one led by Lockheed, and the other by Northrop, to build the prototypes. The Lockheed and Northrop teams each built two prototypes, one with General Electric YF120 engines and one with Pratt & Whitney YF119 engines. The Lockheed aircraft was designated YF-22 and the Northrop Aircraft was YF-23. After extensive flight tests the Lockheed-Boeing-General Dynamics team won the airframe competition and Pratt & Whitney the engine contract.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 43 ft. 0 in.
Length: 64 ft. 2 in.
Height: 17 ft. 9 in.
Armament: One M61 A2 20-millimeter cannon; internal stations can carry AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared (heat seeking) air-to-air missiles and AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided air-to-air missiles or 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM)
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney YF119-PW-100L engines. (The museum aircraft originally flew with General Electric YF-120-GE-100 engines.)
Crew: One

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: Mach 2+
Service Ceiling: Above 50,000 ft.