The F-47 Will Fly 3 Years Before Its Engine Is Ready: Here’s Why That’s a Problem

A fighter jet’s engine is a critical part of the aircraft and its capability. For most past competitions, aircraft manufacturers pitched their demonstrators powered by an engine that they selected. But this was different for the program that led to the F-22 Raptor. Both Northrop Grumman with its YF-23 and Lockheed Martin with its YF-22 were required to build two demonstrators, with one powered by the Pratt & Whitney YF119 and the other by the General Electric YF120 next-generation engines.