Thesis: Military aircraft has become more sophisticated in variety,effectiveness in war situations, and special maneuvering techniques in recentyears. Military aircraft has become more sophisticated in variety, effectivenessin war situations, and special maneuvering techniques in recent years. With theadvance of stealth technology, many new and very effective aircraft have beendeveloped. The F-117A was used during Operation Dessert Storm and every planecame back without a scratch.
The very expensive B-2 stealth bomber has neverbeen used in actual war, but during testing it was a success. The AdvancedTactical Fighter program was started to make an aircraft that could supercruise,the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds, and didn’t cost very much. The YF-22and YF-23 were the first planes to accomplish this. With all the planes we knowof, there are also top secret programs probably going on right now. A newfighter that has never been heard of before has been spotted. As John Welch, theassistant secretary of Air Force said, “Stealth gives us back thatfundamental element of war called surprise” (Goodall 9).
After it was foundthat aircraft could be very useful in war, it was used for large scalereconnaissance. Then people started to add bombs to aircraft and then airplanesstarted to become an essence of war. After World War 2, new bombers weredeveloped with fast speed, and could travel far distances. They could also carrynuclear bombs and missiles. The use of the bomber aircraft then led to thefighter, which was equipped with guns and missiles. Helicopters were also foundto be good strike aircraft.
They were armed with cannons, machine guns, rockets,torpedoes, and a variety of missiles. Vertical takeoff made the helicopter anadvantage. The first flight of the F-117A was in June of 1981 in Groom Lake testfacility. The total cost for the development of the F-117A was just under twobillion dollars, but it only cost $43 million to make each plane. It becameoperational in October of 1983 and was the first operational stealth aircraftever built. The F-117A is a night attack plane powered by two, nonafterburningGeneral Electric engines.
F-117As were designed for first-strike capabilitiesand to be able to fly into any countries airspace undetected. The primary taskof the F-117A is to break through enemy airspace, destroy high value targets,and return back unharmed. They were considered to first be used in severaldifferent tasks, but weren’t used until Operation Dessert Storm where they didan excellent job. As Donald Rice, Secretary of the Air Force, said,”Everyone now agrees the F-117 was a real bargain” (9). DuringOperation Dessert Storm the F-117As were found out to be very successful.
Thewar began on January 16, 1991 when the F-117A fighters entered the Iraqiairspace on their way to downtown Baghdad. There were 43 of them over the skiesof Iraq and not one was lost even though they went against one of the mostmodern air-defense systems in the world. Operation Dessert Storm was the largestaerial bombing attack in war history. It was also the first time a stealthaircraft was used as a main weapon.
On the first day of Dessert Storm theLockheed F-117As dropped sixty-two 2,000 pound bombs on Baghdad destroying themost critical targets of the Iraqi military, including the headquarters of theIraqi air force. “We’ve seen that not only does stealth work, but that itputs fewer assets at risk and saves lives” (9), as Donald Rice said. Thepilots of those F-117As flew through the hardest anti-aircraft missiles anypilot has ever flown through. When you think of stealth, most people probablythink of B-2 stealth bomber, but most people don’t realize that it hasn’t evenbeen used in a real war situation yet.
In November of 1987 the Pentagon orderedthe first four B-2s to be built for $2 billion. Each B-2 cost $437. 4 million tobuild. After the military liked the bomber, they originally ordered 133 of them,then they cut back to 75 because of the deficit-reduction bill.
Then, in 1992,the House of Representatives voted to buy only twenty, and later only 15 sayingthat 10 would be enough. With four General Electric engines with 19,000 poundsof thrust each, the B-2s were made to carry a lot of weight. The AdvancedTechnology Bomber, as it was called, was made so it couldn’t be spotted by enemyradar. After testing it was found out that it is almost impossible to track itconstantly using radar. The B-2s were designed to be an all-flying wing and itis made up of over eighty percent of composite materials.
The B-2 is 69 feetlong, has a wingspan of 172 feet, and 17 feet in height. They also can carry apayload of 40,000 pounds and can travel at mach 0. 85 (Jones 86). The B- 2 cancarry 80 bombs, including nuclear bombs. All fifteen of the B-2s are assigned toWhiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and await to be used in actual combat. In1983 the Advanced Tactical Fighter program office was formed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
The Air Force wanted to build an aircraft thathad the ability to supercruise without the use of afterburners or running out offuel in a couple of minutes. It should be able to cruise at mach 1. 4 or 1. 5 andbe able to take off on runways less then 2,000 feet long. Since the money wasstarting to get tight, the Advanced Tactical Fighter should cost under $40million each to build.
To come up with this aircraft, the Military gave acontract to both Northrop and Lockheed to each build it with thesespecifications. The Air Force wanted an air-superiority fighter to replace theDouglass F-15 Eagle. In 1986 the Air Force gave a contract to Northrop andLockheed who would each build two Advanced Tactical Fighter prototypes. TheNorthrop YF-23 made its first flight in August 1990. It was powered by a Prattand Witney F-119-PW engine. The YF-23 can hold four AIM-120 missiles.
The YF-22prototype made its first flight in September of 1990 and became the first topass the Air Force’s supercruise specification. It could reach mach 1. 58 andfaster. The YF-22 has three weapon bays that can each carry two air-to-airmissiles. Both fighters can supercruise at speeds of Mach 1. 5 to 1.
7. Their topspeeds are classified but they can most likely go over Mach 2. In April of 1991the Air Force had to decide which plane they wanted, they chose the LockheedYF-22 even though the YF-23 was more stealthy and could go faster. A newswing-wing stealth aircraft has been spotted undergoing test.
In September of1994 it was seen circling high over Anarillo, Texas. While it was circling, aradio scanner picked up a military UHF channel with the call sign Omega. Thiscall sign has never been heard before. The pilot was talking about a hydraulicmalfunction and was saying he was dumping fuel to prepare for an emergencylanding. If there is a new plane like this, it will probably be called the A-17and will replace the F-111 which has been in service since 1967.
Recently therehave been millions of dollars spent expanding the Cannon Air Force Base and anew plane might be undergoing testing there. It has also been said that highranking officials have gathered there to look at the new aircraft. The Pentagonhas announced that the F-111 will be retired by the end of 1995. The newswing-wing aircraft spotted will most likely replace it. Swing-wing aircraft addweight and make a plane more complex, but give many advantages.
When the wing isswung forward the plane can travel farther and can land and takeoff on shorterrunways. When swung forward it can reach supersonic speeds. It was noticed thatthe new airplane spotted was armed with bombs and self-defense missiles. TheA-17 has many things in common with the YF-23 like the air inlets and the humpson top of the fuselage that hide its engines.
The engines on it are probablyGeneral Electric YF-120 turbo fan-turbojet engines which can reach speeds up toMach 2. One of the best recent advances has been in the area of flight guidanceand control such as the pilotless plane or drone. The Firebee is a pilotlessplane that can be controlled by ground, plane, or by a computer. It can flyfollowing a preset course and return. Another advance is vertical takeoff. It isa big advantage when an airplane can land and takeoff almost anywhere.
TheBritish were the first to design it, but we built prototypes right away. Withthe advance of stealth technology, radar avoidance has become very important. Ifthe enemy doesn’t know you are coming then they won’t even know what hit them ifwe want to attack them. When Donald Rice said, “Stealth saves lives, money,and does the job better” (Goodall 10), he was right. Operation DessertStorm showed us that. With the many advances of military aircraft, it has becomea main and effective part of war in recent years.
