Boeing 908-909
The Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program was a United States Air Force technology evaluation program initiated in the late 1960s by a group of officers and defense analysts known as the "Fighter Mafia". One of the objectives of the LWF contest was to evaluate different new approaches to the same problem. Both the Boeing and the GD YF-16 were quite similar.
The Boeing submission was sleeker, but didn't have the blended wing and glove roots of the GD LWF. Among the Boeing Model 908-909 features include a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility and a Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engine. Wind tunnel tests were conducted at the Langley Research Center as Test 281. The Lightweight Fighter proposals were delivered to the Air Force by the February 18, 1972 deadline.
The Lightweight Fighter proposals were delivered to the Air Force by the February 18, 1972 deadline. The Boeing Model 908-909 was the winner of a preliminary analysis, but it was not chosen for production as the other competitors entries were much cheaper to produce and maintain. This project was, it seems, the favorite at first to compete against the Northrop YF-17 Cobra, but the YF-16 was cheaper. Other submitted designs included the General Dynamics Model 401 and Northrop Model P-600 which were deemed second and third place, respectively. The General Dynamics Model 401 was renamed the YF-16 Falcon and was the eventual winner. The P-600 was renamed the YF-17 Cobra, later F/A-18.
The YF-16 was selected by the USAF. The US Navy didn't want the YF-16 because the USAF chose it, and they weren't going to have the USAF choosing their birds, so they selected the YF-17.
The unrelated Boeing Model 908-535 "Nutcracker" VATOL (Vertical Attitude Take Off and Landing) was Boeing's entry for the US Navy's Sea Control Ship Fighter.
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