Convair Model 200 Supersonic VTOL Sea Control Ship Fighter Concept [edit]
This design from the late 60s/ early 70s looks a lot like the latest european fighters that use delta/canard configurations. It used the idea of lift engines behind the cockpit with a swiveling tailpipe, but no prototype was built as the contract went to the weird window-blind wing XFV-12 which somehow managed to take an engine with more thrust than flying weight, and never generate enough lift to get off the ground. Convair at the time made a number of delta-wing fighters and bombers. It would be like a lightweight F-35.
found this at
http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=10553#disqus_thread
The Convair Model 200 was a 1973 design similar in some respects to the F-35. While stealth was lacking, it was designed as a single-engined jet fighter than could be built in both VTOL and CTOL (Model 201A) configurations. For VTOL, the single Pratt & Whiteny JTF22A-30A was equipped with a nozzle that could vector down 90 degrees (as the F-35 engine does), and had an additional two 10,500 pound-thrust lift engines behind the cockpit (the F-35 has a single lift jet). The CTOL versions eliminated the lift jets and the engine nozzle vectoring. Top speed was about Mach 2. Span was 27 ft 10.5 in; length was 51 ft 1.5 in.
The Model 200 was put forward in a US Navy competition for a smallish VTOL fighter than could be carried by the Sea Control Ship, the small aircraft carriers the Navy was planning at the time. Niether the Model 200 nor the SCS were built; but a competitor to the Model 200, the Rockwell XFV-12, was built… and failed miserably.
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