The Northrop YF-17 was one of the two prototypes tested in the U.S. combat competition from Air Force Air Combat, a program that tried to reverse the trend of increasing cost and complexity of new fighter aircraft, and resulted in the selection and production of the F-16 as the fighter in the world free from the next generation. Although the YF-17 lost the competition for the USAF, which was the prototype F/A-18 U.S. Navy.
