Vought YA-7F Strikefighter
In 1985, the US Air Force feared the A-10A Warthog wouldn’t be able to reach a target as fast as American troops needed. They put out a request to build a new jet, and Vought’s answer was the YA-7F “Strikefighter”. The Strikefighter was an elongated A-7 Corsair II powered by a new Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan.
The jet could travel at a speed of Mach 1.2 (vs. the Corsair II’s Mach 0.89) and carried up to 17,000 lbs of ordnance (vs. 15,000). The project was cancelled after two airplanes were produced due to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon being more readily available to fulfill the Air Force’s request.
One jet (70-1039) is on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB, Utah. The other (71-0344, seen above) is on display the the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards AFB, California. (Photo)