Can India Use YF-23 as the Base for its 6th Generation Aircraft?

 

 

YF 23 Black Widow

As the world moves forward in aircraft technology, it is developing one generation of aircraft after another and even as one generation is being mass-produced, planning for the next generation has moved forward from paper to prototype. USA was the torch bearer in 5th generation aircraft when it came out with F 22 Raptor in 1997. F 22 Raptor by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, General Dynamics defeated Northrop Grumman and McDonnell Douglas YF 23 Black Widow in ATF competition, but it was expensive. So much so that after 189 units it was decided by US DoD that a much cheaper option was needed, thus came put the F 35 in 2010 and today it is the only mass-produced 5th generation aircraft.

As more numbers are built, the cost of production and per unit cost as well as the cost per hour flight of F 35 is slated to go down even more from the current rate. The complexities with 5th generation aircraft were such that Europe actually gave it a miss; Russia is still struggling with its Su 57 and Su 75; China with J 20 and J 31 is yet to even prove stealth; even Turkey’s KAAN or South Korean KF 21 aren’t up to the mark; and least can be said about India’s AMCA. Though India did try to catch the 5th generation bus with Su 57/PAK FA but work share pangs and ToT issues meant India was forced to try to fly solo with AMCA.

AMCA

As things stand AMCA MK1 is not expected to come out before 2035 and MK2 will be at least 5 more years away, i.e., only by 2040; around the time when the oldest Su 30 MKI will be ready to retire but it is unlikely to be, before 2050. Anyways the fact is, when India will take baby steps into 5th generation aircraft with rollout around 2035, the world will have already stepped into 6th generation aircraft and this time Europe will take the lead with Tempest, a multination effort and a couple more with the USA coming out with NGAD only by 2040.

So, it is important that India takes steps early or as soon as possible so as to not miss the 6th generation aircraft bus this time, even as AMCA is still on paper. The best way to do that is to follow the idea of buy, borrow or steal. While 1 and 3 are not viable 2 is very much workable. India can opt to borrow the design schematics (basically the entire blueprint) of YF 23 Black Widow, which lost to F 22 Raptor besides doing a 3D mapping of the 2 specimens of YF 23 on display. After getting that India can start work on its own 6th generation aircraft, incorporating into it many of the technologies; it is able to master along the way as it develops the 5th generation AMCA MK1/MK2. Many may say that YF 23 Black Widow, is 1990s technology. Yes indeed, but even then, it was a much better design than F 22 Raptor, and we can use the basic design schematics and concepts of the aircraft and make changes as per the requirement to develop our own 6th generation aircraft and try to roll it out within 15 years of rolling out AMCA.

F 22 Raptor

Many will object to that kind of use, but the fact is YF 23 Black Widow, WAS WAY AHEAD OF TIME and was in fact in most aspects and considerations a much better aircraft than F 22 with the only issue being a slight drawback in agility than F 22. It is still, said that YF 23 Black Widow lost to F22 Raptor ONLY BECAUSE OF 2 REASONS. The first being that Northrop was already in the doghouse for numerous cost overruns on Northrop B2 Spirit (each costing US$ 2 billion ultimately) and that Lockheed Martin was able to better market the F 22 Raptor to USAF and DoD for selection under ATF.

So how good was YF 23 Black Widow? But before that do keep in mind that the 5th generation F 35 B VSTOL aircraft used by USMC is a direct copy of the Russian Yakovlev/Yak 141, a 4th generation aircraft. After the collapse of the Soviet Union when Yak 141 was still under development Lockheed saw an opportunity and reportedly funded 40% of the project in the late 1990s for further development. Although the Yak 141 despite being almost fully developed never made it to the production floor as Russia had no money for that or any capable aircraft carrier from where it could take off or to put it simply Boris Yeltsin had no interest. So, if anyone thinks what is the point of using the YF 23 Black Widow as the base for India’s 6th generation aircraft, they should keep the Yak 141/F 35B in mind.

As a matter of fact, YF 23 had a much better supersonic cruise performance, was stealthier than F 22 (though some may say F 22 has a blended horizontal wing-body fuselage, while YF 23 had an angular and jagged fuselage with protruding engine exhaust) and was only slightly less manoeuvrable at extremely low airspeeds. Interestingly, both F 22 and YF 23 had the exact same trimmed AoA of 60° and YF 23 could do it without thrust vectoring. Its V-tails were very powerful especially when coupled to an unstable airframe. How the 6th generation tail-less aircraft (generally accepted concept) will be derived from a 5th generation aircraft; is that probably it will need a lot of work in computer modelling for aero dynamics and more (although Russia’s MiG 41 6th generation aircraft will have a tail). Do note that an operational F 23 that carried internally 8 air-to-air missiles like F 22 might have offered better performance and range than the Raptor currently does. So, any aircraft derived from it could, should and would be able to excel even as a 6th generation aircraft.

The YF 23 had a superior thrust-to-weight ratio at 1.36 than F 22’s 1.08. Though it doesn’t mean F 22 Raptor was a bad aircraft, as said before USAF chose it because it was less expensive than YF 23. As said earlier YF 23 and F 22 had the same max. speeds of Mach 2.25, but F-22 showed better super cruise ability even at Mach 1.8 compared to YF 23s' best at Mach 1.6. The speed at super cruise allows aircraft more time over targets and an ability to manoeuvre for longer periods without afterburner. The YF 23's massive tailerons even allowed better thrust vectoring than F 22, many even say its radar cross section was better in comparison to F 22.

Su 30 MKI

So even though YF 23 Black Widow lost the 5th generation race to F 22, it is still a viable aircraft that India can use as a base to develop its own 6th generation aircraft. The only point of contention is whether the USA, US DoD, USAF, and Northrop Grumman will allow that. Do note that if this is done somehow, India will benefit a lot, and in all probability learning from this will be able to develop a 7th generation aircraft from scratch by 2065 without any outside help. Let us hope someone somewhere in India gives this a thought as a means to make up for the lost time. Also, do keep in mind that India is developing the Tejas MK1/MK1A to replace MiG 21s; Tejas MK2/MWF to replace the Jaguars/Mig 29s/Mirage 2000s in service; AMCA MK1/MK2 to augment the Dassault Rafales; TEDBF to replace Mig 29Ks (though it will be a much better idea to develop its AF version too, so as to augment IAF numbers and for sake of amortization); in the same sequence, the 6th generation aircraft may well be used to replace the Su 30 MKIs.