YF-22 Lightning II

YF-22 Lightning II
Role	Air Superiority Fighter
Variants	F-22A Raptor

The YF-22 Lightning II is a prototype fighter aircraft built by Martin Lockheed Martin

Description

The YF-22, officially nicknamed "Lightning II" (and also nicknamed Rapier & SuperStar) was an experimental fighter developed for the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program in the late 1980s to replace the F-15C Eagle and F-117A Nighthawk. The YF-22 would square off against the rival Northrop-McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow II in the early 1990s. Both planes were far more advanced than anything else flying at the time and they both performed with flying colors. Although many claimed that the YF-23 was a better performer, it, in reality, wasn't any better. In fact, no one can actually confirm whether it was or not. On the other hand, the YF-22 gave an equally - if not arguably better - performance than its rival. The YF-22 was tested in many important areas of flight, and unlike it's rival, the YF-22 also was tested successfully in aerial refuelling, missile firing and extreme maneuvering, something the Northrop team did not do, not only that, the YF-22 was also able to carry more weapons and it had more advanced technology. The YF-23s speed advantage was possibly noone, because they had the same engines and compreable weights and the Raptors speed is still classified what means that the F-22 must reach the same speeds.

In the end, despite the stealthier YF-23's own successful performance, the more agile YF-22 was instead selected by the Pentagon over the rival YF-23. It was rumored that the decision was made to reward Lockheed for their on-time and under-budget delivery of the F-117A Nighthawk. In reality, it was due to the YF-22's ease of manufacture and better adaptability to the Navy's NATF program that was going on at the time. Although the NATF was cancelled, the victorious YF-22 would eventually evolve into the USAFs new 5th generation fighter, the F-22 Raptor.

Several changes were made between the YF-22 and the F-22A. These include a larger nose for the more advanced radar, slight change in the weapons bays size and shape, a moved back cockpit, larger control surfaces, and changing of the tailplane and nozzles to make them slightly stealthier. One of the only noticeable changes to an untrained eye is that the production F-22 lacked the airbrake of the YF-22, and supplemented it with the use of different control surfaces.

Aces

• Hal: (STFS/AC)
• Z.O.E. Colonel: (Z.O.E Squadron) (URF/AC2)

Armaments

• Gun: 1x 20mm M61A2 Lightweight Vulcan cannon
• Missile: 2x AIM-9L Sidewinder

Statistics

Air Combat

• Stability: 50

• Defense: 90
• Offense: 20
• Power: 100
• Mobility: 100

Ace Combat 2

• Power: 80
• Defense: 50
• Mobility: 70
• Stability: 100
• Climbing Ability: 90
• Air-to-Air: 80
• Air-to-Ground: 80

Trivia

• In Air Combat and Ace Combat 2 the plane is called the F-22, even though the plane is actually the YF-22.
• In Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, the fully developed F-22 is used instead of the YF-22. This is strange, seeing that ACZ takes place in an earlier period and AC2, which has the YF-22, takes place years later. How the more developed F-22 was used in an earlier time period, but not in a later period is unknown.

Gallery

• 

  YF-22 from Ace Combat 1/Air Combat

• 

  YF-22 from the Ace Combat 2 intro

• 

  Zone of Endless Colonel YF-22

• 

  One of the F-22A Raptor 's alternate paint schemes in some games resemble the YF-22

Sources

• Air Combat
• Ace Combat 2

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/index.html
• Wikipedia