Quote Originally Posted by StraightSix
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.
Actually, I do like the ATF winner, but the F-23 was arguably the stealthier, more sophisticated and more modern aircraft. The F22 won on good looks and dogfighting ability. Basically, it appealed to the little boy in the generals who were judging the aircraft. :lol:

Yung unfair was the F20 - F16 competition. The F20 was built for ultra-quick response time (if they were stationed near New York, they could have theoretically been scrambled to the WTC site ten to fifteen minutes earlier than F16s) and, being based on the F5, would have been a devastatingly good dogfighter.