Quote Originally Posted by niky
Northrop makes some excellent aircraft, but they have been unfairly beaten at competitions for USAF contracts for two of their recent developments, the F20 Tigershark and the F23 fighter (Lockheed won with the F22).
If you think the ATF competition was unfair, mas matindi yung competition sa JSF, which Lockheed won again. The stakes were a lot bigger, as the Joint Strike Fighter winner will equip the USAF, USN, USMC, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force with a projected total of 6,000 planes in 40 years. Winner takes all, ika nga. The JSF plane has one distinct feature in addition to the ATF winner, the F/A-22 Raptor ... Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL)

I saw the program, nung competition between Lockheed's X-35 and Boeing's X-32. Lockheed's X-35 won because it delivered the required performances on time. The clincher was the V/STOL ... at the deadline, the X-35 can go from supersonic to V/STOL and vice versa, during the same flight. Boeing's X-32 was not able to do that without landing and modifying the plane.