Lockheed YF - 22 The Lockheed / Boeing / General Dynamics YF - 22 was a single - seat , twin - engined prototype fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . The YF - 22 was a finalist in the USAF ' s Advanced Tactical Fighter competition ; two prototypes were built . The YF - 22 won the contest against the Northrop YF - 23 , and entered production as the Lockheed Martin F - 22 Raptor . The YF - 22 is aerodynamically similar to the F - 22 , but with differences in the position and design of the cockpit , tail fins and wings , and in internal structural layout . In the 1980s , the USAF began looking for a replacement for its fighter aircraft , especially to counter the advanced Su - 27 and MiG - 29 . A number of companies , divided into two teams , submitted their proposals . Northrop and McDonnell Douglas submitted the YF - 23 . Lockheed , Boeing and General Dynamics proposed and built the YF - 22 , which , although marginally slower and having a larger radar cross - section , was more agile than the YF - 23 . Primarily for this reason , it was picked by the Air Force as the winner of the ATF in April 1991 . Following the selection , the first YF - 22 was retired to a museum , while the second prototype continued flying until an accident relegated it to the role of an antenna test vehicle . Design and development . In 1981 , the U . S . Air Force developed a requirement for an Advanced Tactical Fighter ( ATF ) as a new air superiority fighter to replace the F - 15 Eagle and F - 16 Fighting Falcon . This was made more crucial by the emerging worldwide threats , including development and proliferation of Soviet Su - 27 " Flanker " - class fighter aircraft . It would take advantage of the new technologies in fighter design on the horizon including composite materials , lightweight alloys , advanced flight - control systems , more powerful propulsion systems and stealth technology . < ref name = " YF F / S " > < / ref > In 1985 the Air Force sent out technical requests for proposals to a number of aircraft manufacturing teams . A request for proposal ( RFP ) was issued in July 1986 , and two contractor teams , Lockheed , Boeing and General Dynamics , along with Northrop and McDonnell Douglas , were selected on 31 October 1986 to undertake a 50 - month demonstration phase , culminating in the flight test of two prototypes , the YF - 22 and the YF - 23 . The YF - 22 was designed to meet USAF requirements for survivability , supercruise , stealth , and ease of maintenance . Because Lockheed ' s design was selected as the winner , the company , through its Skunk Works division , assumed leadership of the program . It would be responsible for the forward cockpit and fuselage , as well as final assembly at Palmdale , California . Meanwhile , the wings and aft fuselage would be built by Boeing , with the center fuselage , weapons bays , tail and landing gears built by General Dynamics . Compared with its counterpart , the YF - 22 has a more conventional design – its wings have larger control surface s , such as full - span trailing edge , and , whereas the YF - 23 had two tail surfaces , the YF - 22 had four , which made it more maneuverable than its counterpart . Two examples of each prototype were built for the Demonstration - Validation phase : one with General Electric YF120 engines , the other with Pratt & Whitney YF119 engines . The YF - 22 was given the unofficial name " " Lightning II " " after Lockheed ' s World War II - era fighter , the P - 38 Lightning , which persisted until the mid - 1990s when the USAF officially named the aircraft " " Raptor " " . The F - 35 later received the " Lightning II " name in 2006 . Two aircraft were built . The first YF - 22 ( serial number " 87 - 0700 " , N22YF ) , with the GE YF120 , was rolled out on 29 August 1990 . PAV - 1 first flew on 29 September 1990 , taking off from Palmdale piloted by David L . Ferguson . During the 18 - minute flight , PAV - 1 reached a maximum speed of and a height of , before landing at Edwards AFB . Following the flight , Ferguson said that the remainder of the YF - 22 test program would be concentrated on " . . . the manoeuvrability of the aeroplane , both supersonic and subsonic " . The second YF - 22 ( PAV - 2 , s / n " 87 - 0701 " , N22YX ) , made its maiden flight on 30 October at the hands of Tom Morgenfeld . Operational history . Evaluation . During the flight test program , unlike the YF - 23 , weapon firings and high ( 60° ) angle of attack ( AoA , or high - Alpha ) flights were carried out on the YF - 22 . The aircraft fired AIM - 9 Sidewinder and AIM - 120 AMRAAM missiles from internal weapon bays . The first prototype , PAV - 1 , achieved Mach 1 . 58 in supercruise , while PAV - 2 reached a maximum supercruise speed of Mach 1 . 43 . Flight testing continued until 28 December 1990 , by which time 74 flights were completed and 91 . 6 airborne hours were accumulated . Following flight testing , the contractor teams submitted proposals for ATF production . On 23 April 1991 , the YF - 22 was announced by Secretary of the Air Force Donald Rice as the winner of the ATF competition . The YF - 23 design was stealthier and faster , but the YF - 22 was more agile . It was speculated in the aviation press that the YF - 22 was also seen as more adaptable to the Navy ' s Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter ( NATF ) , but the US Navy abandoned NATF by 1992 . Instead of being retired , as with the case of PAV - 1 , PAV - 2 subsequently flew sorties following the competition – it amassed another 61 . 6 flying hours during 39 flights . On 25 April 1992 , the aircraft sustained serious damage during a landing attempt as a result of pilot - induced oscillations . It was repaired but never flew again , and instead served as a static test vehicle thereafter . In 1991 , it was anticipated that 650 aircraft would be procured . F - 22 production . As the Lockheed team won the ATF competition , it was awarded the engineering , manufacturing and development ( EMD ) contract , which would ultimately allow it to proceed with production of operational aircraft . The EMD called for seven single - seat F - 22A and two twin - seat F - 22Bs . On 9 April 1997 , the first of these , " Spirit of America " , was rolled out . During the ceremony , the F - 22 was officially named " " Raptor " " . Due to limited funding , the first flight , which had previously been scheduled for mid - 1996 , occurred on 7 September . Flight testing for the F - 22 continued until 2005 . On 15 December 2005 the USAF announced that the Raptor had reached its initial operational capability ( IOC ) . In many respects , the YF - 22s were different from production F - 22s . Contrary to the F - 117 Nighthawk , which was initially difficult to control because of small vertical stabilizers , Lockheed over - specified the fin area on its YF - 22 . Therefore , the company reduced the size of those on F - 22s by 20 – 30 percent . Lockheed recontoured the shape of the wing and stabilator trailing edges to improve aerodynamics , strength , and stealth characteristics ; the wing sweep was reduced by 6° from 48° . Finally , to improve pilot visibility , the canopy was moved forward 7 inches ( 178 mm ) , and the engine intakes were moved rearward 14 inches ( 356 mm ) . Specifications ( YF - 22 ) . Note some specifications are estimated .