Andrew.Stevens@prg.oxford.ac.uk (Andrew Stevens) (03/28/91)
From: Andrew Stevens <Andrew.Stevens@prg.oxford.ac.uk> A recent Guardian newspaper article (a pretty respectable paper) here in Britain contained a short article on the succesful radar detection of F117's by British Warships. It seems the manufacturers of the rader system were making very smirky noises about how well their latest model had leap-frogged F117-vintage stealth technology. Anyone out there in net-land know more about this story. If true, it would suggest mildly alarming things about the longer-term viability of the F117. -- Andrew Stevens Programmming Research Group JANET: Andrew.Stevens@uk.ac.oxford.prg
lhb6v@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Laura Hayes Burchard) (03/30/91)
From: lhb6v@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Laura Hayes Burchard) In article <1991Mar29.031947.16962@amd.com> Andrew.Stevens@prg.oxford.ac.uk (Andrew Stevens) writes: >A recent Guardian newspaper article (a pretty respectable paper) here in >Britain contained a short article on the succesful radar detection of >F117's by British Warships. Depends on whether it was actually trying to be stealthy when they detected it. It's my understanding that most of the time the F-117 projects a radar signal, so that controllers can see it. It only goes stealthy when it's on an attack run. -- Laura Burchard lhb6v@virginia.edu lhb6v@virginia.bitnet #inc <std.disclaimer> ..this is the staring unsleeping Eye of the earth, and what it watches is not our wars. -Robinson Jeffers
john@newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III) (04/01/91)
From: john@newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III) Keep in mind that the F-117A has a radar transponder device that makes it very easy to detect on radar. This device is activated whenever the F-117A is not flying a mission. If the F-117A did not do this, air traffic controllers and other aircraft would not be able to see it, which would be a bit dangerous. The other more devious reason to make the F-117A highly visible during flight is to cover up how invisible it is during a mission when it is flying in stealth mode. If the British Navy were able to identify the F-117A, and they knew whether or not it was flying in stealth mode, I would hope that they would tell the USAF rather than a newspaper. -- John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john
DWN102@psuvm.psu.edu (04/01/91)
From: DWN102@psuvm.psu.edu [11 unnecessary lines of quoted text deleted. I also had to reformat the paragraphs to fit normal screens. --CDR] From what I heard, when the F-117's were practicing before the war, they used radar reflectors on the planes so that air traffic control could track them. But assuming the Marconi radar actually did detect them in combat conditions did it actually track them? The F-117's are designed to reflect radar energy in only a few select directions (note its faceted shape). It is possible that the Marconi radar detected them in a turn and the radar echo made it back to the ship. A random blip on the radar screen every once in a while would probably be attributed to interference or atmospheric conditions. However the British ship surely would have known the general flight plans for the day. And if she detected some occasional blips in the direction of the F-117's I wouldn't consider that much of an accomplishment. Could she really track and kill the plane in combat? You also have to take into account the fact that the planes probably wouldn't be flying straight at the ship (they were bombing Iraq afterall). The front of the aircraft is where designers make the most effort to stealthify the plane. To do this other areas of the plane might have to suffer in stealth detail (i.e. they may reflect the radar pulses in certain directions as mentioned before). The point of the last three sentences is what would the F-117 look like to the radar if the plane was coming to attack the ship itself? Now if this radar really did track the F-117 accurately under a variety of conditions enough to be able fire a missile at it, then the Air Force really does have problems. Of course then the missile's radar or IR has to be able to find the plane and lock onto it, that's a whole other story. BTW Don't always believe everything defense contractors say. Dave Bancroft dwn102@psuvm.psu.edu
wb9omc@ee.ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) (04/04/91)
From: wb9omc@ee.ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) Andrew.Stevens@prg.oxford.ac.uk (Andrew Stevens) writes: >A recent Guardian newspaper article (a pretty respectable paper) here in >Britain contained a short article on the succesful radar detection of >F117's by British Warships. It seems the manufacturers of the rader >system were making very smirky noises about how well their latest model >had leap-frogged F117-vintage stealth technology. So let them smirk. The F117 is pretty much first generation stealth; you have to start somewhere. >Anyone out there in net-land know more about this story. If true, >it would suggest mildly alarming things about the longer-term >viability of the F117. Perhaps other than the cost of the airplane, the reason only 59 were produced was to prevent the obsolescence of the entire USAF TAC. No technology is *perfect*..... I suppose for the purpose of sneaking a smiley in here, I could say that it would only be mildly alarming if we were at war with the British. :-) <<<<<see, there it is... Duane