Stealth jet quietly slips into history

Toronto Star ^ | Thu. Nov. 2, 2006 | Bill Taylor

[Prophet in the wilderness]

" I had heard the F117 HAD to travel in company with a EF-111 jammer platform, as the -117 stuck out like a sore thumb on low band radar..... "

I didn't write that line.

But, anyway, yes, the F-22 is a better plane... is it more stealthy than the F-117 ?

[ASOC]

Yes, and faster, better sensor suite and so on.

I would not bet the -22 is any more expensive than the 117.

I was at Nellis when they did the roll out. Quite the party.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Actually, it was the B-2 stealth bomber that Carter spilled the beans on. It was a rationalization on why he canceled the B-1, since the B-2 was in the pipeline.

[185JHP]

F18 compared to the F14: Range - less Payload - less Speed - less.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Bullsh*t! Golden BB got it.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

An experienced operator on an high grade radar system could track one, but it wasn't easy. It barely showed up on the screen when they did. Stealth isn't supposed to be invisible, but difficult to track.

[phantomworker]

I always thought it was hard to tell the difference between the F-117 and B-2. But these pics make it clear.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Carter brought the Stealth program up during the 1980 campaign. The B-2 didn't start development until 1981. The F-117 was well underway during his Presidency and was first classified as a bomber.

[ozzymandus]

By chance. The AA missile battery commander admitted he just fired his missiles into the flight path that NATO aircraft had been using.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Nope. the B 2 was in the planning stages in the 1970's. I remember it well. So do others:

"The development of the B-2 bomber, for example, was a closely-guarded, black world program back in the 1970s until President Carter decided to discuss it in a speech, as proof that he wasn't weak on national defense. In the matter of a few sentences, the B-2 moved from the black world into the white world, with an official budget "line," public relations hand-outs and all the other trappings of an "official" program. "

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2006/02/mr-libbys-leak.html

"A handful of officials were aware of another factor in the bomber equation, one that would not be publicly known for several years to come. Carter, after his election, had been told of the Air Force’s supersecret Advanced Technology Bomber project, which in time would lead to the operational B-2 stealth aircraft that would be “invisible” to radar. It was an intriguing idea, but Brown always held that the prospect of acquiring the B-2 was not a factor in Carter’s cancellation of the B-1....

...It was at this delicate moment—in late summer of 1980—that word about the previously deep-black stealth aircraft project was leaked to the press. Snippets of information dribbled into print on several different occasions but without overly dramatic effect.

What came next, however, threw gasoline on the fire.

On Aug. 22, 1980, top DOD officials went public with explicit confirmation of the stealth aircraft program. Brown, at a nationally televised Pentagon briefing, maintained, “Stealth technology enables the United States to build manned and unmanned aircraft that cannot be successfully intercepted with existing air defense systems.” He went on to say, “We have demonstrated to our satisfaction that the technology works.”"

http://www.afa.org/magazine/July2006/0706bombers.asp

BTW, the stealth aspects of flying wing designs were known way back in the late 1940's when Northrop developed its original flying wing jet bomber, the YB-49.

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. It did its job, and well, but it was for sure one of the ugliest aircraft ever built.

[MarkL]

the crowd went crazy, pointing and yelling, "Stealth! Stealth!"

I don't know, but this just strikes me as really funny...

Mark

[FreedomProtector]

I was attempting to have fun because I liked your login name and wholeheartly agree w/ you and I Cor...the history of posts by FreedomProtector is evidence.

[Grut]

I heard there was an F22 test result where they could drop bombs on target from outside the range of any SAM known to the military.

Just to yank your chain, the old Bomarc B (retired in 1971) had a range of 400 miles.

[sukhoi-30mki]

The F-117 is too much of a niche aircraft.Range is about average,bare minimum warload & no air to air capability.

[Toby06]

[Moonman62]

The retirement is not surprising. The only advantage was stealth. Despite its designation it was used as a bomber, not a fighter, and it was strictly subsonic.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The F-117 has been detectable by low band search radar since day one; a fact well known to those of us in the EW community. The Brits were tracking them from the Persian Gulf during Desert Shield/Storm.

[FreedomProtector]

Interesting. Thanks for post. Assuming EW = electronic warfare.

[A.A. Cunningham]

On paper, the Nighthawk had the ability to carry the AIM-9 Sidewinder. However, for all intents and purposes it was never a fighter.