The Advanced Tactical Fighter competition is often remembered as a clean win for the F-22 Raptor, but the losing prototype, ...

-Northrop’s YF-23 dazzled with speed and stealth, but Lockheed’s YF-22 won the Advanced Tactical Fighter crown for pragmatic reasons. -Beyond thrust-vector agility and a more mature avionics suite, ...

The YF-23’s emphasis on stealth and long-range engagements over dogfighting cost it the race with the YF-22—but in hindsight, its vision was the more influential one.

Japan, Britain, and Italy will have difficulty moving forward on a sixth-generation fighter because of the sheer complexity of designing one from scratch. But they could start with the proven ...