Northrop NATF-23
Naval Black Widow that never left the drawing board: carrier stealth fighter, cancelled in 1991.
- Never built
- Variable-sweep wing study
- Carrier proposal
- Diamond planform
Specification
- Origin
- United States
- Manufacturer
- Northrop
- Role
- Stealth multirole
- Generation
- 5
- Combat type
- Air
- Spawn code
- natf23
On the server
The NATF-23 was Northrop proposal for the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter, a carrier capable derivative of the YF-23 studied around 1990. The concept kept the diamond wing planform and the two canted ruddervators, but added the structure, folding surfaces and low speed control needed to land on a deck, with variable geometry wings examined as one route to acceptable approach speeds. The Navy programme was cancelled in 1991 and no NATF was ever built or flown. On MCS it flies as the aircraft the drawings describe: a large, very fast, low observable fighter that prioritises speed and signature over the ability to turn tightly. It reaches its firing position before the enemy has a picture and it leaves the same way. Anything that gets inside it will out-turn it. Recommended for pilots who liked the YF-23 and want a heavier, naval flavoured version of the same idea.