[Kwinn Lives]

Storm Eagle XF-23R
Light Stealth Fighter

The Storm Eagle is based on the YF-23 prototype which lost to the F-22 Raptor in the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition. The Storm Eagle is far too small to actually be a YF-23 in Joe scale. But we can assume that the USAF took the prototype and then reduced the size to make a light stealth fighter rather than a full-on air-superiority fighter like the F-22.

Other than painting and decals, there are two bits of customization. First was to remove a lot of material from the inside of the cockpit in order to fit a pilot sitting down (and he just barely fits). Second was to move the two missile pylons on top of the wings to underneath the fuselage. Although there are no aerodynamic reasons not to mount missiles on top of the wings, and indeed there has been at least one fighter in history with that capability, they're not ideal from a practical perspective.

Aircraft and missiles – Storm Eagle