F-23 BLACK WIDOW FANS UNITE...HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL IN F/B-23

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - F-23 BLACK WIDOW FANS UNITE...HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL IN F/B-23

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:14:58 AM EDT

Air force mulls strike options

The US Air Force is expected to launch an analysis of alternatives on long-range strike options next month.

Northrop Grumman formally debuted a model and concept drawing of its proposed F/B-23 – a bomber variant of the YF-23 prototype that lost the air force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter competition in the early 1990s – at the Air Force Association convention.

SOURCE:Flight International

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:16:01 AM EDT

[#1]

Does it have iPod integration?

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:27:48 AM EDT

[#2]

It does look similar but the entire fuselage is new. Might as well give it a new designator. Or are we trying to convience congress it already flew two prototypes??

Looks bad ass, longer forward area and slightly humped/bulged back. Would be a great replacement for F-117's in strike role.

F/A-22s
F/B-23s
F-35s

Now we need to build more B-1's or B-2's and we are set!

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:30:11 AM EDT

[#3]

That would be awesome

I hope congress will fund it

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:30:55 AM EDT

[#4]

That is one bad ass looking plane. I swear it looks like the Centurion from the old and very good computer game, Privateer.

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:35:55 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
That is one bad ass looking plane. I swear it looks like the Centurion from the old and very good computer game, Privateer.

best... game... ever...

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:37:07 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Does it have iPod integration?

Only on the F-23I version.

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:51:13 AM EDT

[#7]

What happened to the FB-22? Not the FA-22, the FB-22 that was supposedly being tested as a supersonic strike bomber.

Here is the YF-23 prototype fighter

Posted: 9/20/2005 11:58:06 AM EDT

[#8]

Pipe dream… the F-22 and F-35 are barely surviving budget cut this thing ain’t got a chance in hell.

Posted: 9/20/2005 12:24:39 PM EDT

[#9]

Ok, one..two, yup, both fans are here.

What do you want them to "unite" for?

Posted: 9/20/2005 12:28:05 PM EDT

[#10]

I think the Marines need that money more than the AF does.

Posted: 9/20/2005 12:29:29 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
What happened to the FB-22? Not the FA-22, the FB-22 that was supposedly being tested as a supersonic strike bomber.

It's still in the running, as is Boeing's B-1R, blended wing bomber, etc. This is just Northrop-Grummans
entry for competition. FB-22 is still a "paper" plane, as is the F/B-23 RTA. FB-22 has not been tested. IIRC the two F-23's that were in sotrage and on display were "recalled" by North-Grumm last year. Things that make you go hmmmmmm?

Posted: 9/20/2005 12:32:13 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Ok, one..two, yup, both fans are here.

What do you want them to "unite" for?

It s'posed to be a catchy title, not literal. Give it time there will be plenty of fans of the plane peeking in. However it will not be as many as Super-Hornet haters.

Posted: 9/20/2005 1:16:43 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Pipe dream… the F-22 and F-35 are barely surviving budget cut this thing ain’t got a chance in hell.

+1 the shortsighted attitude in the govt toward airpower is just amazing

Posted: 9/20/2005 1:17:46 PM EDT

[#14]

I love the YF-23.

Posted: 9/20/2005 1:26:37 PM EDT

[#15]

But will it be better than the original? .

P-61 Black Widow Night Fighter

Posted: 9/20/2005 1:35:48 PM EDT

[#16]

That is one bad ass looking aircraft, much better looking than the FB-22 concept.

Posted: 9/20/2005 1:48:07 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
But will it be better than the original? .
www.aviationart.homestead.com/files/P_61BlackWidow72.jpg
P-61 Black Widow Night Fighter

If it ever exists in an operational capacity it will be on a different scale for its time. P-61 looks like a modded B-24.

Posted: 9/20/2005 7:50:04 PM EDT

[#18]

F/B 23 seems like a really good idea - 1st let's get squadrons of F-22's and F-35's online -- then we can consider an f-117 replacement like the kick ass F/B-23 or even the F/B-22 projects.

Posted: 9/20/2005 7:52:52 PM EDT

[#19]

I like it.

As long as we get real numbers of them, and the F-22, and the F-35.

Posted: 9/21/2005 5:52:43 AM EDT

[#20]

The way they stretched the old F-23 fuselage out, I bet that thing could carry a fair amount of ordnance.

BTW, does anyone have an artist's rendering of what the B-1R concept may look like? I've never seen one yet.

Posted: 9/21/2005 6:10:31 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
P-61 looks like a modded B-24.

You might want to have your vision checked.

Posted: 9/21/2005 6:17:28 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
P-61 looks like a modded B-24.

Nah. Far from it.

Speaking of orginals, and since I don't get cable, I've heard there were two intact p-61s found in Europe?

Also, what are the two Sreial Numbers of the YF-23s?

Posted: 9/21/2005 6:19:01 AM EDT

[#23]

"Aircraft shall have iPOD integration. iPOD integration shall allow no less than 256MB of storage space for MP3s."

Posted: 9/21/2005 6:23:54 AM EDT

[#24]

I always thought the F-23 was the better plane anyway.

Posted: 9/21/2005 6:57:07 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
The way they stretched the old F-23 fuselage out, I bet that thing could carry a fair amount of ordnance.

BTW, does anyone have an artist's rendering of what the B-1R concept may look like? I've never seen one yet.

+1 for concept images. I wasn't aware of the new B-1 as having a "blended wing". Sounds interesting. Only thing I'd heard was something about replacing the B-1s engines with the same engines that the F/A-22 uses.

Posted: 9/21/2005 7:10:18 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Quoted:
The way they stretched the old F-23 fuselage out, I bet that thing could carry a fair amount of ordnance.

BTW, does anyone have an artist's rendering of what the B-1R concept may look like? I've never seen one yet.

+1 for concept images. I wasn't aware of the new B-1 as having a "blended wing". Sounds interesting. Only thing I'd heard was something about replacing the B-1s engines with the same engines that the F/A-22 uses.

No blended wing for the B-1. Boeing has another entry that looks like a flying wing called the blended wing bomber. Here is a concept pic of the BWB(tanker version).

Posted: 9/21/2005 7:25:08 AM EDT

[#27]

Yeah, sounds like the B-1R won't have a blended wing. Here's Boeing's entries for the new interim bomber:

# Boeing. The director of global strike integration, Rich Parke, noted that his company had submitted six proposals. These included a Prompt Global Strike Missile using decommissioned ICBMs; an X-45D direct-attack unmanned combat air vehicle with increased range and payload; a blended wing body arsenal ship aircraft that could hold 96 cruise missiles; and a “B-1R” bomber. Parke said the B-1R (R stands for “regional”) would be a Lancer with advanced radars, air-to-air missiles, and F/A-22 engines. Its new top speed—Mach 2.2—would be purchased at the price of a 20 percent reduction of the B-1B’s combat range.

That must be where the "blended wing" thing came from. That's actually an entirely new design.

But a B-1B with F-22 engines that could fly at Mach 2.2 would be a bitching hot aircraft!

Posted: 9/21/2005 1:26:12 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Yeah, sounds like the B-1R won't have a blended wing. Here's Boeing's entries for the new interim bomber:

# Boeing. The director of global strike integration, Rich Parke, noted that his company had submitted six proposals. These included a Prompt Global Strike Missile using decommissioned ICBMs; an X-45D direct-attack unmanned combat air vehicle with increased range and payload; a blended wing body arsenal ship aircraft that could hold 96 cruise missiles; and a “B-1R” bomber. Parke said the B-1R (R stands for “regional”) would be a Lancer with advanced radars, air-to-air missiles, and F/A-22 engines. Its new top speed—Mach 2.2—would be purchased at the price of a 20 percent reduction of the B-1B’s combat range.

That must be where the "blended wing" thing came from. That's actually an entirely new design.

But a B-1B with F-22 engines that could fly at Mach 2.2 would be a bitching hot aircraft!

Yeah, I had just seen "blended wing" in an earlier post.

"advanced radars, ait-to-air missiles, and F/A-22 engines" sounds like something out of a Dale Brown novel. I just finished one of his books where they had modified B-1s carrying air-to-air missiles, anti-balistic missile missiles, and cruise missiles. The idea was to have the B-1s penetrate an enemy's airspace and shoot down ballistic missiles in the boost phase and then attack the launchers with the cruise missiles.

Posted: 9/21/2005 1:29:10 PM EDT

[#29]

I liked the F-23 but damn that thing was WAAAAAAYYYYYY too big.

Posted: 9/21/2005 1:40:51 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
I liked the F-23 but damn that thing was WAAAAAAYYYYYY too big.

Not that big.

Posted: 9/21/2005 1:41:21 PM EDT

[#31]

Only one was recalled, it was painted up and used as a prop for Northrup-Grummans anniversary.
It is supposed to be returned to the Hawthorne, Ca Western Museum of Flight in 2006.

The other YF-23 is still at Wright-Patterson.

Quoted:
IIRC the two F-23's that were in sotrage and on display were "recalled" by North-Grumm last year. Things that make you go hmmmmmm?

Posted: 9/22/2005 1:25:41 PM EDT

[#32]

Air Force To Begin Long-Range Strike Study In October
09/22/2005 10:11:05 AM
By Marc Selinger

A study of options to modernize the U.S. Air Force's long-range strike capabilities is scheduled to begin next month, according to a spokeswoman at Air Combat Command.

The study, or analysis of alternatives (AOA), is expected to last a year.

Several contractors have been exploring long-range strike concepts that could undergo further review as part of the AOA. Northrop Grumman, for instance, has been looking at ideas to upgrade the B-2 bomber, develop missiles and unmanned combat aircraft, and modify the YF-23, which lost an Air Force fighter competition to Lockheed Martin's YF-22, said Gene Fraser, vice president of long-range strike integrated systems at Northrop Grumman.

The Air Force wants to start fielding new capabilities in about 2018, but it is unclear whether it will be able to afford to develop them amid growing federal budget constraints.

Aviation Week.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - F-23 BLACK WIDOW FANS UNITE...HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL IN F/B-23

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