https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... ng-program
Por cierto, mirad: http://nobarrelrolls.blogspot.com/2019/ ... ya-7f.html
"Blog dedicado a aviones prototipos, abandonados o poco conocidos."
Veteran flight tester on how the YA-7F Strikefighter was really a jet recycling program
The YA-7F program aimed to field a new battlefield interdiction jet for pennies on the dollar by using spare engines and airframes. And it worked.
The YA-7F Strikefighter program looked to do something breathtakingly logical: take existing largely surplus A-7 Corsair II attack jets that lacked speed, maneuverability, and more advanced capabilities and turn them into a more agile supersonic night-fighting battlefield interdiction jets for pennies on the dollar compared to what a new airframe would cost. By all accounts, the YA-7F team was successful at doing just that, but they were fighting a losing battle due to a number of factors, the biggest of which was the latest rendition of the F-16, the Block 40/42 F-16CG/DG, and the love of pointy-nosed fighter jets among the Air Force brass. The fact that big defense contractors wouldn't make a windfall revamping surplus A-7s probably also had something to do with it.
In the end, the far more expensive and sexy F-16, which was born a fighter, would be chosen over the utilitarian YA-7F for the nighttime battlefield interdiction mission, but in retrospect, that may not have been the best choice, at least entirely...
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The basic requirement for the flight tests was “fly no worse than the A-7D” and it was achieved...
All in all, the YA-7F did what it was supposed to do and did it well. The modification team and test team ran a fairly fast, efficient, and comprehensive program, and the transition to production would have resulted in a solid Close Air Support/Battlefield Area Interdiction capability. It was originally called the “A-7 Plus” by LTV, its manufacturer (occasionally some wit would call it the “F-8 Minus”) before it received its official designation. But a fleet of A-7Fs was not to be, because the Guard was holding out for moving up to the F-16, which is inherently far more multi-role capable than the unlovely YA-7F variant of the SLUF (slightly longer ugly fellow).
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... ng-program
Por cierto, mirad: http://nobarrelrolls.blogspot.com/2019/ ... ya-7f.html
"Blog dedicado a aviones prototipos, abandonados o poco conocidos."