The chief reasons given by the Secretary for the decision were the YF-16's lower operating costs; greater range; and maneuver performance that was "significantly better" than that of the YF-17, especially at near-supersonic and supersonic speeds. However, in the Navy Air Combat Fighter (NACF) competition, the Navy announced on 2 May 1975 that it selected the YF-17 as the basis for what would become the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.