F-117A "Stealth" - from Panama to Yugoslavia
Su-27 - highly maneuverable aircraft to achieve superiority in the air. Built around 600 machines of all modifications.
The F-16 "Fighting Falcon" is a lightweight multi-purpose fighter. Built 4500 machines.
F-117A "Nighthawk" - subsonic tactical strike aircraft made using "stealth" technology. Built 59 drill machines and 5 prototype YF-117.
Question: how a plane built in such a negligible amount could become one of the most striking symbols aviation the end of the twentieth century? Stealth sounds like a verdict. 59 tactical bombers turned into a terrible scarecrow, the most terrible threat that overshadowed all other military means of NATO countries.
What is it? The result of the unusual appearance of the aircraft, along with aggressive PR? Or, indeed, the revolutionary technical solutions used in the Lockheed F-117, allowed to create an aircraft with unique fighting qualities?
Technology "Stealth"
This is the name of a set of methods for reducing the visibility of combat vehicles in the radar, infrared and other areas of the detection spectrum through specially developed geometric shapes, radio absorbing materials and coatings, which significantly reduces the detection range and thereby increases the survival rate of the combat vehicle.
Everything new is well forgotten old. Even 70 years ago, the Germans were very upset by the British high-speed bomber DeHavilland Mosquito. High speed was only half the problem. During the interception attempts, it suddenly turned out that the all-wood “Mosquito” was practically invisible on the radar - the tree was transparent to radio waves.
This property was even more possessed by the German “wunderwaffe” Go.229, a jet fighter-bomber, created by the program 1000 / 1000 / 1000. The whole wood miracle without vertical keels, similar to a stingray fish, was logically completely invisible to the British radars of those years. The appearance of Go.229 is very similar to the modern American stealth bomber B-2 "Spirit", which gives some reason to believe that the American designers kindly used the ideas of their colleagues from the Third Reich.
On the other hand, the Horten brothers, creating their Go.229, hardly gave the design some kind of sacral meaning, they only seemed to be a promising "flying wing" scheme. Under the terms of the military order, Go.229 was supposed to deliver one ton of bombs to a range of 1000 km at a speed of 1000 km / h. And stealth - it was the tenth case.
In addition, attention was paid to reducing radar visibility when building a strategic bomber Avro Vulkan (UK, 1952 year) and supersonic strategic reconnaissance SR-71 "Black Bird" (USA, 1964 year).
The first studies in this area showed that flat forms with tapering sides have a smaller ESR (“effective scattering area” is a key parameter for aircraft visibility). In order to reduce radar visibility, the vertical tail was tilted relative to the plane of the aircraft so as not to create a right angle with the fuselage, which is an ideal reflector. For Blackbird, multilayer ferromagnetic coatings that absorb radar radiation were specially developed.
In short, by the time of the start of work on the secret project “Senor Trend” - the creation of an inconspicuous strike aircraft - the engineers already had good experience in reducing the EPR of the aircraft.
"Night Hawk"
When developing "invisible" for the first time in stories the goal was to reduce all aircraft’s unmasking factors without exception: the ability to reflect radar radiation, radiate electromagnetic waves, emit sound, leave smoky and inversion traces, and also be visible in the infrared.
Of course, there was no radar station on the F-11A7 - it was impossible to use such a device in conditions of compliance with secrecy. During the flight in the stealth mode, all the onboard radio communication systems, the “friend-foe” responder and the radio altimeter must be turned off, and the sighting and navigation system must operate in the passive mode. The only exception is the laser illumination of the target; it turns on after a reset of the corrected aerial bomb. The lack of modern avionics, combined with problematic aerodynamics, as well as longitudinal static and ground-state instability, meant a great risk when piloting the “invisible”.
To reduce design time and eliminate many technical problems, the designers used a number of proven elements of existing aircraft on the F-117A. So, the engines for the "stealth" took from the deck fighter-bomber F / A-18, some elements of the control system - from the F-16. Also in the plane used a number of nodes from the epic SR-71 and training aircraft T-33. As a result, such an innovative machine was designed faster and cheaper than a conventional strike aircraft. Lockheed is proud of this fact, hinting at the use of advanced CAD at the time (CAD systems). Although there is a different opinion - just because of the secrecy, the “invisible” program avoided the stage of lengthy and often pointless discussion in Congress and other bastions of American democracy.
Now it’s worth making a few remarks about the Stealth technology itself, implemented on the Nighthawk aircraft (it's not a secret that reducing the aircraft’s radar visibility can be achieved in different ways; the same PAK FA implements completely different principles - parallel edges and flattened shape fuselage). In the case of the F-117A, this was the apotheosis of the technology "stealth" - everything was subordinated to exceptionally stealth, despite the aerobatic qualities of the machine. After 30 years after the creation of the aircraft, many interesting details became known.
In theory, the stealth technology works as follows: the numerous faces implemented in the architecture of the aircraft scatter radar radiation in the direction opposite to the radar antenna. On which side of not trying to fix radar contact with the aircraft - this “curved mirror” will reflect the radio beam in the other direction. In addition, the external surfaces of the F-117 are inclined at an angle of more than 30 ° from the vertical, since Typically, aircraft are irradiated by ground-based radar at gentle angles.
If F-117 is irradiated from different angles and then to look at the reflection picture, then it turns out that the sharp edges of the F-117 case and the location of the discontinuity of the cladding provide the strongest "flare". Designers have ensured that their reflections are concentrated in several narrow sectors, rather than being distributed relatively evenly, as in the case of conventional aircraft. As a result, when the F-117 is irradiated with a radar, the reflected radiation is hardly distinguishable from the background noise, and the “dangerous sectors” are so narrow that the radar cannot extract sufficient information from them.
All the contours of the articulation of the cockpit canopy and fuselage, the landing gear flaps and the weapon compartment have sawtooth edges, with the sides of the teeth oriented in the direction of the desired sector.
An electrically conductive coating has been applied to the glazing of the cockpit canopy, designed to prevent exposure of the inside cabin equipment and pilot equipment - a microphone, a helmet, night vision goggles. For example, the reflection from the pilot's helmet may be much greater than from the entire aircraft.
F-117 air intakes are covered with special grilles with cell sizes close to half the wavelength of radars operating in the centimeter range. The resistivity of the gratings is optimized for the absorption of radio waves, and it increases with the depth of the grating in order to prevent a surge of resistance (which increases reflection) at the air interface.
All external surfaces and internal metal elements of the aircraft are painted with ferromagnetic paint. Its black color not only masks the F-117 in the night sky, but also contributes to the dissipation of heat. As a result, the ESR "stealth" under irradiation from the front and tail angles is reduced to 0,1-0,01 м2, which is approximately 100-200 times less than that of an ordinary aircraft of similar dimensions.
If we consider that the most massive air defense missile systems of the Warsaw Pact countries (С-75, С-125, С-200, "Circle", "Cube") that were in service at that time could have fired targets with an EPR of at least 1 м2, Nighthawk’s chances of penetrating enemy airspace with impunity looked very impressive. From here and the first production plans: to release in addition to the 5 pre-production still 100 production aircraft.
Designers "Lockheed" have taken a number of measures to reduce the thermal radiation of their offspring. The area of air intakes made more than required for normal operation of the engines, and the excess cold air was sent to mix with hot exhaust gases to reduce their temperature. Very narrow nozzles form an almost flat shape of the exhaust jet, which contributes to its rapid cooling.
Wobblin 'goblin
"Lame Dwarf" and not otherwise. That is what the pilots themselves call F-117A as a joke. Optimizing the shape of the airframe according to the criterion of reducing visibility so worsened the aerodynamics of the car that there could be no talk of any "aerobatics" or supersonic.
When the leading aerodynamics of the company Dick Cantrell was first shown the desired configuration of the future F-117A, he had a nervous breakdown. When he came to himself and realized that he was dealing with an unusual aircraft, during the creation of which the first violin was played not by his profile specialists, but by some electricians, he set before his subordinates the only possible task - to make this “grand piano” able to somehow fly.
Angular fuselage, sharp front edges of the surfaces, the wing profile formed by straight segments - all this is poorly suited for subsonic flight. Despite the relatively high thrust-to-weight ratio, the Night Hawk is a limitedly manoeuvrable machine, with low speed, relatively short range and poor take-off and landing characteristics. Its aerodynamic quality during the landing approach was only about 4-x, which corresponds to the level of the Space Shuttle. On the other hand, at high speed, the F-117A can confidently maneuver with a six-fold overload. Aerodynamics Dick Kentrell still got his way.
October 26 1983, the operational readiness reached the first unit of the "invisible" - tactical group 4450 (4450th TG) at the airbase Tonopah. According to the pilots' memories, this meant the following: a strike aircraft in the dark somehow reached a specified area, detected a point target and had to “put” a high-precision laser-guided bomb into it. No other combat use was foreseen for the F-117A.
Due to the increase in the number of F-117 5 in October 1989, the group was reformed into the 37 tactical fighter wing (37th TFW), consisting of two combat and one training squadron + reserve vehicles. As part of each squadron, according to the schedule, there were 18 “Naythokes”, but in only 5-6 of them could begin to perform a combat mission at any time, the rest stayed on heavy maintenance forms.
Almost all this time around the "stealth" did not weaken the strict secrecy regime. Although the Avonabaz Tonopah was one of the most protected Air Force bases, additional, truly draconian measures were taken there to hide the truth about the F-117A. In this case, the American reformers often practiced very ingenious decisions. So, in order to scare away idle "aviation lovers" from among the personnel of the base, special stencils such as "radiation" were applied to the F-117A and service equipment, "carefully! high voltage "and other" horror stories. " On a plane with this appearance, they did not look meaningless at all.
Only in 1988, the Pentagon decided to publish the official press release about the “stealth plane”, providing the public with a retouched photo of the F-117A. In April, 1990 held the first public demonstration of the aircraft. Of course, the F-117A view impressed the global aviation community. He became almost the most daring challenge to the traditional concepts of aerodynamics in the entire history of human flights. The Americans assigned to the "one hundred and seventeenth" the responsible role of a convincing example of the technological superiority of the United States over the rest of the world, and they did not spare money to prove this statement. "Nighthok" received a permanent residence permit on the covers of magazines, became the coolest hero of Hollywood and the star of world air shows.
Combat application
As for the first real combat use of the F-117A, it occurred during the overthrow of the regime of General Noriega in Panama. Until now, there is a dispute whether or not the F-117A has been guided by a guided bomb across the territory of a Panamanian military base. The Panamanian guards, awakened by a close blast, ran into the jungle in their pants. Naturally, there was no resistance to the "stealth" and the plane went back without loss.
Much more serious was the massive use of "Stealth" in the war in the Persian Gulf in the winter of 1991. The Gulf War was the largest military clash since the Second World War; 35 states were involved in the conflict to varying degrees (Iraq and 34 countries of the anti-Iraq coalition - multinational forces, MNF). On both sides, more than 1,5 million people took part in the conflict, there were more than 10,5 thousand. tanks, 12,5 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3 thousand combat aircraft and about 200 warships.
The Iraqi air defense had the following types of air defense missile systems:
C-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) 20-30 batteries (100-130 PU);
C-125 Neva (SA-3 Goa) - 140 launchers;
"Square" (SA-6 Gainful) - 25 batteries (100 launchers);
“Wasp” (SA-8 Gecko) - near 50 complexes;
Strela-1 (SA-9 Gaskin) - near 400 complexes;
Strela-10 (SA-13 Gopher) - near 200 complexes;
"Roland-2" - 13 self-propelled and 100 stationary complexes;
HAWK - several complexes were captured in Kuwait, but were not used.
Early warning radars made it possible to detect targets at an altitude of 150 meters in most cases outside the airspace of Iraq (and Kuwait), while targets at altitudes above 6 km are detected far inland Saudi Arabia (on average - 150-300 km).
The developed network of observation points connected by permanent lines of communication with information collection centers made it possible to effectively detect low-altitude targets, such as cruise missiles, for example.
Midnight from 16 to 17 on January 1991 was the high point of F-117A, when the first group of 10 Nighhocks of the 415 squadron, each carrying two 907-kg adjustable GBU-27 bombs, flew up to inflict the first blows in a new war. In 3.00 local time, “invisible”, not detected by the air defense system, attacked two command posts of the air defense sectors, the Air Force headquarters in Baghdad, the combined command and control center in Al Taji, the government residence and the 112-meter Baghdad radio tower.
F-117А always worked autonomously, without involving EW aircraft, since jamming could attract the attention of the enemy. In general, stealth operations were planned so that the closest Allied aircraft was at a distance of at least 100 miles from them.
Serious threat to the "stealth" was represented by anti-aircraft artillery and short-range air defense systems with optical detection and aiming systems, of which Iraq had quite a few (Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail) MANPADS, SA-3 Gremlin), "Needle-14" (SA-1 Gimlet), as well as anti-aircraft guns (ZU-16-23, ZSU-2-23 "Shilka", C-4, ZSU-60-57). The pilots were forbidden to descend below 2, to avoid entering the affected area of these funds.
In general, during the F-117A war, they carried out 1271 sorties with a duration of 7000 hours and dropped 2087 laser-guided bombs from the GBU-10 and GBU-27 laser systems with a total mass of about 2000 tons. The low-profile attack aircraft hit 40% of ground targets, while, according to version P, hit the submarine airplanes that hit 42% of priority ground targets, while, according to version P, the attack aircraft hit XNUMX% of priority ground targets, while, according to version P, the attack aircraft hit XNUMX% of priority ground targets, while, according to version P, the attack aircraft hit XNUMX with priority ground targets. none of the XNUMX stealth was lost. This is especially strange, given that we are dealing with a subsonic low-maneuverable machine without any constructive protection.
In particular, the commander of the Air Force of multinational forces in the Persian Gulf zone, Lieutenant General C. Gorner, cites two raids against heavily-defended Iraqi nuclear facilities in Al-Tuwa, south of Baghdad. The first raid was carried out during the day in January 18, 32 it involved an aircraft F-16C, armed conventional unguided bombs, accompanied 16 fighter F-15C, four directors EF-111 interference antiradar eight F-4G and tankers COP 15-135. This large aviation group failed to complete the task. The second raid was carried out at night by eight F-117A, accompanied by two tankers. This time, the Americans destroyed three of the four Iraqi nuclear reactors.
In the furthest place, the F-117A occasionally appeared in Iraq’s airspace, during Operation Desert Fox (1998) and the invasion of Iraq (2003).
Stealth hunting
"Sorry, we did not know that the plane was invisible"
I remember that day well, 27 March 1999 of the year. ORT channel, evening program "Time". Live report from Yugoslavia, people dancing on the wreckage of an American plane. The old woman remembers that it was in this place that the Messerschmitt once crashed. The next frame, something NATO representative mumbles, then again went shots with the wreckage of a black plane ...
The Yugoslav air defenses did the impossible - in the area of the village of Budanovtsi (a suburb of Belgrade) a “stealth” was shot down. The invisible aircraft was destroyed by an air defense system of the C-125 3 battery 250 of the air defense brigade commanded by the Hungarian Zoltan Dani. There is also a version that the F-117A was shot down from a cannon by a MiG-29 fighter who established direct visual contact with him. According to the American version, "one hundred and seventeenth" changed the flight mode, at this moment in front of the air intake grilles there was a pressure surge that unmasked the aircraft. The invulnerable plane was shot down in front of the whole world. The battery commander, Zoltan Dani, on the contrary, claims that he directed a rocket using a French thermal imager.
As for the stealth pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Dale Zelko managed to eject and hid all night on the outskirts of Belgrade, until his radio beacon spotted EC-130. A few hours later, HH-53 Pave Low search and rescue helicopters arrived and evacuated the pilot.
In total, during the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia, the "stealth" made 850 combat missions.
Fragments of a downed F-117A "Night hawk" (serial number 82-0806) are carefully stored at the Aviation Museum in Belgrade, along with fragments of an F-16 aircraft. These losses are officially recognized by the United States.
Also on display is the engine from the A-10 “Thunderbolt II” attack aircraft, which was cut off from MANPADS, the aircraft itself made an emergency landing at Skopje airport (the incident was officially recognized by the NATO command). Locals found a strange detail and gave it to the military.
Of other interest is the wreckage of the Tomahawk rocket and the RQ-1 lightweight drone Predator (the Serbs claim to have shot down, the Americans that it landed itself due to engine failure).
Fragments of a downed F-16C
Wreckage of the RQ-1 Predator at the Aviation Museum in Belgrade
Actually, all the debris that is in the museum - were officially recognized by the United States, including the loss of two combat aircraft - the "invisible" F-117A and the F-16 fighter. Other numerous air victories claimed by Serbia by the NATO command are denied.
As for the "invisible", the Serbs say that they knocked at least three F-117A, but two were able to reach the NATO air bases, where they were written off on arrival. Therefore, they have no debris. The statement causes some doubt - the damaged F-117A could not fly far. Even a serviceable "hundred eighteenth" flew very badly - the pilot could not control this "flying iron" without the help of electronic systems to increase stability. There is even no backup mechanical control system on the plane - anyway, if the electronics fail, a person cannot cope with the F-117A. Therefore, any malfunction for the "stealth" is fatal, the plane can not fly on the same engine or with damaged planes.
By the way, in addition to the downed F-117A, according to official data, during the 30 years of operation, six “invisibles” were lost over the territory of the United States during training flights. Most often, the "stealth" fought because of the loss of orientation of the pilots. For example, on the night of June 11 1986, the F-117A (792 tail number) crashed into the mountain, the pilot died. Another tragicomic event occurred on September 14 1997, when during an air show in Maryland the F-117A fell apart in the air.
April 22 The X-NUMX of the F-2008A "Nighthawk" took off for the last time. As time has shown, the very idea of a highly specialized aircraft in the design of which “stands out” for any one quality (in this case, a small EPR) to the detriment of another, turned out to be of little prospect. After the disappearance of the USSR, in new conditions, the requirements of economy, simplicity of operation and multifunctionality of aviation complexes began to appear in the first place. And in all these parameters, the F-117A "Nighthawk" significantly lost to the strike aircraft F-117E "Strike Eagle." Now it is based on the F-15E created subtle plane F-15SE "Silent Eagle."
F-117A crash video at Maryland airshow
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