[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

The F-18A was actually the aircraft that was competing against the f-16 (it lost to the F-16 and was 'pushed' to the navy), and although it was an ok fighter it was NOT a fighter-bomber.

Northrops' YF-17 Cobra was the competitor to General Dynamics YF-16, not the F/A-18A. McDonnell Douglas took the project over and ended up with the Hornet, the YF-17 served as the prototype for the F/A-18. It should also be noted that the Flight Journal article you posted was originally published in August of 1999.

[spetznaz]

Well, i have to concur that you were right in both cases. That the YF-17 was the USAF competition for the YF-16; and that the article was written some time ago.

However if you look at it, the YF-16 concept became the F-16; and the YF-17 concept became the F-18. And it actually was 'pushed' to the navy after the YF-16 won the contract since the navy was in need of a twin engined aircraft, and the people behind the YF-17 pressured the powers that be to 'persuade' the navy to take a rehashed YF-17, hence the F-18.

And as for the article i do not think the fact that it was not composed last month takes away from its significance. Actually it might even be of more impact today since the F-14s are closer to being totally replaced by SuperHornets than they were when this article initially hit the press!

It is still a viable topic that would be quite feasible if certain politics were put aside for the wellbeing of American pilots.