The Northrop YC-125 Raider was a military version of the N-23 Pioneer commercial cargo aircraft. Its intended missions were to transport troops and equipment to forward combat areas and for Arctic rescue, operating from short, rough airfields. Flight testing began in 1949, but helicopters proved to be a better solution for those types of missions. The YC-125s served for a short time as ground maintenance trainers and were declared suplus in 1955.