Boeing Model 908-909

The Boeing Model 908-909 was a prototype single-engine supersonic multirole fighter originally developed for the US Air Force Lightweight Fighter programme, which later developed into the Air Combat Fighter programme. It was initially the favoured design but lost at the end of the competition to the General Dynamics 401, later the YF-16 and now the Lockheed F-16. Its features included a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility and a Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engine, and wind tunnel tests were run at the Langley Research Center as Test 281. The Lightweight Fighter proposals reached the Air Force by the 18 February 1972 deadline, and the Boeing design won the preliminary analysis, ahead of the General Dynamics Model 401 and the Northrop P-600, which became the YF-17 and later the F/A-18.