The Significance of Stealth Aircraft

Quick Write: The Significance of Stealth Aircraft

Key Concepts

  • Stealth Aircraft Development:
    • Development of stealth aircraft, precision weapons, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
  • Unmanned Flight Enthusiasm:
    • Varying enthusiasm for unmanned flight in the US military during the first hundred years of aviation.
      • Interest waned after both world wars.
    • Turning point in 1982: Israel's successful use of unmanned decoy aircraft in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
      • Syrian air defenses were destroyed after being tricked by the decoy aircraft.
      • This victory drew the attention of US defense officials to the potential of unmanned aircraft.

Vocabulary

  • Low-observable technology: Stealth technology.
  • Signatures: Recognizable profiles and characteristics of aircraft.
  • Classified: Withheld from public knowledge for national security reasons.
  • Fifth generation: Fighter aircraft using the latest technology as of 2016.
  • Reverse engineering: Reproducing someone else's product after studying it carefully.
  • Drone: Unmanned aircraft.
  • Unmanned aerial vehicles: Unmanned aircraft.
  • Loiter time: A combat aircraft’s ability to stay aloft near its target while waiting to strike.
  • Expeditionary teams: Teams sent for operations overseas.

Stealth Aircraft Development

  • Early Stealth Technology:
    • Stealth technology (low-observable technology) dates back to the early 1970s.
    • DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) study highlighted the risk of detection and attack faced by US military aircraft.
      • DARPA's mission: “to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security.”
    • War games modeling a Soviet invasion of Western Europe through the Fulda Gap suggested potential difficulties for US and NATO forces.
  • Vulnerability Factors:
    • Improved air defenses of US adversaries (radar-guided surface-to-air missiles and air-launched radar-guided missiles).
    • Distinctive signatures of aircraft (heat signatures, recognizable shapes, sophisticated electronic systems).
  • High-Stealth Aircraft Pursuit:
    • US defense planners decided to pursue high-stealth aircraft.
    • Low observable technology reduces the signatures of aircraft, vehicles, and military assets.
      • Consideration of how assets look, sound, and appear on radar and sensor screens.
      • Attention to the amount of heat generated by aircraft.
  • Modern Stealth Aircraft Features:
    • Radar-absorbent materials, infrared shielding, exhaust cooling and shaping, and heat dispersion.
    • Reduction of visual signatures and special windshield coatings.
    • Paint that absorbs and deflects radar pulses.
    • Shape of the aircraft to cloak it.
    • Many details about stealth materials and design are classified.
  • Stealth Aircraft Advantages:
    • Safer execution of dangerous missions.
    • Reconnaissance without being caught.
    • Bombing enemies with little chance of being spotted, especially at night.
  • First Operational Stealth Aircraft:
    • F-117 Nighthawk.
  • Subsequent Stealth Aircraft:
    • B-2 bomber.
    • F-22 Raptor stealth fighter (first air superiority fighter completely designed from stealth technology).
    • F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter.
  • F-22 Raptor:
    • Stealthy and maneuverable.
    • Long-distance flight at supersonic speeds.
    • Effective against both other aircraft and ground targets.
    • Jointly produced by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

F-22 Raptor Capabilities

  • Carries a 20-millimeter cannon and several Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
  • Main internal weapons bays can hold up to six air-to-air missiles or two air-to-ground missiles and two 1,000-lb. bombs.
  • Top speed of Mach 2.
  • Range of 1,850 miles.
  • Sophisticated sensors allow it to identify and shoot down hostile aircraft before the enemy detects it.
  • The Air Force took delivery of the first F-22 in 2005. By the time production ended in 2012, 187 operational aircraft had been built.
  • Experienced some operational problems related to pilots’ oxygen supply. Lockheed Martin has since installed new equipment to fix the issue.
  • First saw combat in 2014 in Syria.

Russian Sukhoi T-50/PAK FA Stealth Fighter

  • Meant to compete directly with the F-22 Raptor.
  • Manufacturer: Sukhoi OKB (Russian aircraft maker dating back to World War II).
  • Will end the US monopoly on “fifth generation” stealth fighters.
  • Fifth generation refers to fighter aircraft using the latest technology as of 2016 (aviation technology, radar-absorbing materials, cutting-edge weaponry).
  • American experts see the PAK-FA as a worthy competitor to the Raptor.
  • Will fly high and fast, giving its missiles an extra boost at launch and a much bigger range.
  • First T-50 prototype had its maiden flight in 2010.
  • Production is expected sometime in 2017 or 2018.
  • India has worked with Russia on this aircraft and hopes to have its own version of the PAK-FA eventually.

China’s Chengdu J-20 Stealth Fighter

  • Beijing’s answer to the F-22 Raptor.
  • Made its public debut on 1 November 2016 at Airshow China in Zhuhai.
  • Considered a big step forward in making the Chinese air force a Pacific power.
  • The Chinese may have used reverse engineering of the F-117 to build their new J-20 fighter.

Shenyang J-31 “Gyrfalcon” Stealth Fighter

  • Another fifth-generation fighter being developed by China.
  • Looks very similar to the US Air Force’s F-22.
  • Some experts speculate that this fighter will be deployed as a naval fighter, based on the growing Chinese aircraft carrier fleet.
  • China has stated that this aircraft is intended for export sales to other countries and not its own military.
  • The aircraft is expected to reach operational status by 2018.
  • Some countries have already expressed interest in buying it.

Precision Weapons Development

  • Precision weapons (precision-guided weapons or PGMs) are accurate to within feet of their targets.
  • Can keep US forces far from combat, helping keep US casualties down.
  • The air-to-surface Hellfire missile is one of the precision weapons used in Afghanistan, delivered by the MQ-1 Predator drone.
  • Precision weapons have also played a large role in Iraq; About 70 percent of all weapons used in Operation Iraqi Freedom were of the precision type, including the GBU-38 and GBU-39.
  • GBU stands for guided-bomb unit.
  • GBU-38 went into action for the first time in 2004, when it was used to bomb a terrorist meeting in central Iraq.

GBU-38 and GBU-39

  • GBU-38:
    • Weighing 500 pounds, it is smaller than some other bombs.
    • Size and accuracy allow the military to target a particular building without seriously damaging surrounding buildings.
    • Puts nearby civilians at less risk.
  • GBU-39:
    • Used in combat for the first time on 5 October 2006 in support of ground troops in Iraq.
    • At 250 pounds, it is the smallest guided bomb the Air Force has.
    • F-15Es employ this weapon, which can strike within six feet of a target from 60 miles away.

History of Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs)

  • World War II:
    • Nazi Germany was the first country to use them. Its Fritz X PGM sank the Italian battleship Roma in 1943.
  • US Experiments:
    • The US experimented with many different types of PGMs. Most did not see combat.
    • One that did, though, was the VB-1 Azon. The US successfully used it in Europe and in China, Burma, and India—mostly against bridges.
  • Korean War:
    • The Air Force used two guided bombs, the VB-3 Razon and the VB-13 Tarzon, primarily against bridges.
    • An aircraft would drop the bombs, and then the bombardier would use radio control to guide them by sight to their target.
  • Bomb Guidance:
    • Bombardiers could control the Razon and Tarzon bombs in two directions, or axes: range (up or down) and azimuth (left or right).
    • Each bomb also carried a flare to make it easier to see after release.

Progress in Precision Weapons Development During the Vietnam War

  • Early Use:
    • The Air Force used radio-guided AGM-12 Bullpup missiles, but they had a 250-pound warhead—too lightweight to do real damage to a target.
    • The Air Force also had the GBU-8 and AGM-62 Walleye bombs with television guidance, but they had trouble distinguishing their targets and were too expensive or too small for targets like large bridges.
  • BOLT-117:
    • In 1968, the Air Force tested the BOLT-117 in combat, the world’s first laser-guided bomb (LGB).
    • It marked a major leap forward in technology.
    • The BOLT-117 had a hand-held or pod-mounted laser designator, or indicator, that lit up a target with a laser beam. A seeker head in the bomb then guided it to where the laser pointed.
    • The BOLT-117’s success led to the more powerful GBU-10 Paveway I, a conventional bomb with a laser-guidance kit attached.

Laser-Guided Bombs (LGBs)

  • Effectiveness:
    • Almost half of all LGBs dropped in Southeast Asia directly hit their targets. Most others hit within 25 feet.
    • By the war’s end, laser guidance kits turned standard bombs into smart bombs, 100 times as effective as free-fall, unguided bombs.
  • Continued Development:
    • The Air Force continued to develop precision munitions through the 1970s and 1980s.
    • During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the public became aware of these weapons’ abilities.
    • PGMs have only become more effective since then.
  • Improvements:
    • Weapons designers have found more ways to guide munitions to their targets.
    • New types of targeting sensors can be found even in handheld ground systems.
    • Improved targeting means that weapons can be smaller but just as effective.
    • Smaller bombs allow more to fit onto a single aircraft, allowing it to strike more targets.
    • Some new bombs even have pop-out wings that let them fly long distances independent of the aircraft delivering them, keeping the aircraft and its crew outside the range of enemy air defenses.

Air-Launched Cruise Missiles

  • AGM-86A Development:
    • In February 1974, the Air Force started development and flight-testing of the prototype AGM-86A air-launched cruise missile.
    • The 86A model did not go into production. Instead, in January 1977, the Air Force began full-scale development of the AGM-86B.
  • AGM-86B Enhancement:
    • The AGM-86B greatly enhanced the capabilities of B-52s and B-1s while helping the United States maintain a strategic deterrent.
    • Initially designed to carry only nuclear weapons, in June 1986, a limited number of AGM-86B missiles were converted to carry a high-explosive warhead and an internal global positioning system (GPS). These were redesignated as the AGM-86C.
    • This modification also replaced the B model’s terrain-following guidance system and combined a GPS capability with the existing inertial-navigation computer system.

AGM-86B/C/D Missile

  • Description:
    • Small, winged missile powered by a turbofan jet engine that propels it at sustained subsonic speeds.
    • After launch, the missile’s folded wings, tail surfaces, and engine inlet deploy, allowing the missile to fly up to 1,500 miles to reach its target.
    • Flies using an onboard GPS coupled with its inertial navigation system.
    • This allows the missile to guide itself to the target with pinpoint accuracy.
  • Operational Use:
    • The AGM-86C/D became operational in January 1991 at the onset of Operation Desert Storm.
    • Seven B-52s from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, launched 35 missiles at designated launch points to attack high-priority targets in Iraq.
    • These “round-robin” missions marked the beginning of the air campaign for Kuwait’s liberation.
    • They were the longest known aircraft combat sorties up to that time (more than 14,000 miles and 35 hours of flight).

General Dynamics AGM-129A Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM)

  • Introduction:
    • In 1987, the General Dynamics AGM-129A advanced cruise missile (ACM) was introduced to provide the Air Force with a long range, highly survivable, strategic standoff weapon.
    • The ACM uses laser sensor updates to give it high navigation accuracy.
  • Stealth Technology:
    • Stealth technology gives it a low radar cross-section and increased chance to penetrate enemy defenses.
    • The distinctive forward-swept wing is an example of the application of stealth technology.
  • B-52H Bomber Deployment:
    • A B52H bomber can carry up to 12 ACMs, allowing the bomber to attack multiple targets without having to enter enemy airspace.
  • Tomahawk Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles:
    • The US Navy has also developed cruise missiles that can be launched from ships and submarines.
    • Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missiles are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds.
    • Their guidance systems are similar to those the Air Force uses.
    • The Tomahawk’s first operational use was in Operation Desert Storm, 1991, with immense success. The missile has since been used successfully in several other conflicts.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Development

  • General Arnold's Prediction:
    • General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold predicted at the end of World War II that future wars might be fought by airplanes with no men in them at all.
  • Reality vs. Prediction:
    • The United States has fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan with manned aircraft, but events are moving in the direction of Arnold’s prophecy.
  • Revolution in Unmanned Aviation:
    • The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan sparked a revolution in unmanned aviation.
    • This revolution was made possible by systems that automatically stabilize an aircraft, remote control, and the ability to connect to satellites. All this has led to a great demand for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

Early UAV Development

  • Pioneering Work:
    • Unmanned aircraft, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), go back to the very early days of aviation.
  • Kettering Bug:
    • Charles Kettering, along with Orville Wright, built one of the first unmanned aerial vehicles in 1918, nicknamed the Kettering Bug. It’s generally regarded as the first practical example of an unmanned aircraft.
    • It was a small biplane powered by a four-cylinder engine and guided by gyroscopes. It also had a barometer and a mechanical “computer.”
      • This computer would count engine revolutions as a way to gauge distance. Then it would power down the engine and jettison the wings of the “bug” at a preset point.
      • This was calculated before launch on the basis of wind speed and direction. Its wings gone, the fuselage would then crash into its intended target to deliver its payload. Built during the final months of World War I, the Kettering Bug was never used in actual combat, however.
  • Post-War Decline:
    • After the war ended, US military interest in drones fell off sharply.

Revival of Interest in UAVs

  • Civilian Hobbyists:
    • Civilian hobbyists picked up the slack, including British-born movie actor Reginald Denny.
    • He built his own radio-controlled model airplane and opened a shop on Hollywood Boulevard.
    • His Radioplane company won a sizable contract from the Army to produce drone aircraft on the eve of World War II.
  • World War II Efforts:
    • During World War II, the United States tried to deliver bombs by means of unpiloted bombers.
    • One such effort was Operation Aphrodite. It used specially modified B-17 Flying Fortresses and other planes.
    • Pilots would fly the bombers partway to the target, arm the explosives, pass radio control to a “mother ship,” and then bail out in parachutes. The personnel on the mother ship were supposed to guide the drone the rest of the way to the target.
    • It never worked according to plan, however, and many crew died, including Joseph Kennedy Jr., President John F. Kennedy’s older brother.
  • Foundation for Modern UAVs:
    • Today’s unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned aerial systems were built on the foundation of these 20th-century pioneers.

Key Unmanned Aircraft Currently in Use

  • MQ-1B Predator:
    • Can be traced to the Israeli victory in the Bekaa Valley.
    • Reawakened US interest in acquiring unmanned aircraft systems.
    • Armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).
    • Collects intelligence and launches precision weapons.
    • Has a long loiter time.
    • Missions include intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, close air support, combat search and rescue, and precision strike.
    • Uniquely qualified for irregular warfare operations.
    • A Predator system consists of four sensor- and weapon-equipped aircraft, a ground control station, a Predator Primary Satellite Link, and spare equipment, along with operations and maintenance crews.
    • Can be taken apart and put into a freight container and shipped via C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

MQ-9 Reaper

  • Like the Predator, the MQ-9 Reaper is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft.
  • But the Reaper is larger and more heavily armed, and its primary mission is attacking targets; intelligence collection comes second.
  • The Reaper has a particularly strong set of visual sensors.
  • They include an infrared sensor, color/monochrome daylight TV camera, image-intensified TV camera, laser range finder/designator, and laser illuminator.
  • Each of these sensors produces full-motion video that can be viewed as a separate stream or combined with the others.
  • The Reaper’s laser range finder and designator precisely designates targets for laser-guided munitions.
  • Can fire four laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.
  • In its secondary mission of intelligence gathering, the MQ-9 helps support a range of operations.
  • These include coastal and border surveillance, weapons tracking, enforcing embargoes, disaster assistance, and anti-drug operations.
  • Can be taken apart and packed into a single shipping container for deployment anywhere worldwide on a C-130 Hercules.
  • The Reaper uses what is called a remote split operations concept.
  • Some of its functions are controlled in the forward operating location—in Iraq, for instance.
  • Take-off and landing of the unmanned system are typically handled from the forward location.
  • Personnel based in the continental United States—at Creech AFB, Nevada—control the rest of the mission.

RQ-4 Global Hawk

  • The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft flown by a remote crew of three.
  • It provides global all-weather, day or night intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
  • Global Hawk’s mission is to support all US military forces anywhere around the world, in peace or war.
  • Offers imagery intelligence, signals intelligence, and moving target indicator (MTI) sensors.
  • Can fly at more than 60,000 feet and for longer than 30 hours at a stretch.
  • In 2014, a Global Hawk flew a 34.3-hour flight, setting the endurance record for the longest unrefueled flight by a US Air Force aircraft.
  • In 2016 the Air Force brought back “flying sergeants.”
  • pilot-qualified noncommissioned officers (NCOs) to help meet the shortage of trained officers to fly the Global Hawk.

RQ-11B Raven

  • The RQ-11B Raven is a “back-packable” system.
  • It’s of a type known as man-portable UAVs, meaning a person can carry it.
  • The Raven provides target information for troops in the field and helps them know what is going on around them (situational awareness).
  • The Raven system includes two aircraft, each weighing less than five pounds and with a wingspan of 4.5 feet, plus a ground control unit with a remote video terminal and support equipment.
  • The system includes an electro-optical camera and an infrared camera.
  • It takes two specially trained Airmen to operate each Raven system.
  • They can control it manually, or it can travel on its own along a preplanned route.
  • The Raven is launched by hand. It flies 150 to 500 feet above the ground and can stay up for 80 minutes.
  • The Raven has been in use since 2004 and is now used by all the service branches.
  • The system has proven itself in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other areas of conflict.

Scan Eagle

  • The Scan Eagle provides reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition for Air Force security forces expeditionary teams—teams sent for operations overseas.
  • It’s classed as a small unmanned aircraft system: a Group 2 Small UAS.
  • It includes four air vehicles plus a ground control station, remote video terminal, and a launch and recovery system.
  • Two specially trained Airmen plus two maintenance personnel operate the Scan Eagle.
  • Scan Eagle aircraft are launched from a catapult and retrieved by the Skyhook system.
  • This uses a hook on the edge of the wingtip to catch a rope hanging from a 30- to 50-foot pole.
  • The Scan Eagle needs no runway for either launch or recovery.
  • Have a wingspan of a little more than 10 feet, weigh a bit less than 40 lbs and fly at an altitude of 16,000 feet and can remain aloft for more than 20 hours.
  • Their day-night cameras and thermal imagers make them suited to operations around the clock.
  • Boeing originally developed the system at the request of the Marine Corps, as it sought ways to protect Marines deployed in Iraq.

Boeing X-45A J-UCAS

  • Had it gone into production, would have taken unmanned military aircraft even further than any of the aircraft you’ve just read about.
  • Was part of the Boeing Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS). As that name suggests, it was meant to go into actual combat without a pilot or crew aboard.
  • The J-UCAS program began in 1998. It was a joint effort of DARPA, the Air Force, and the Navy.
  • The program was meant to demonstrate that unmanned aircraft could knock out enemy air defenses, conduct surveillance, and execute precision strikes.
  • The J-UCAS needed to be technically feasible, of course, but it also needed to prove its utility and value.
  • Specifically designed for 21st-century combat operations within a networked system.
  • Was a swept-wing stealthy jet with fully retracted landing gear and skin made of a fiber-reinforced epoxy composite and had two internal weapons bays in its fuselage.
  • By 2005, the two X-45 demonstration vehicles (prototypes) had successfully concluded a series of flight tests. The next year 2006, they were packed up and shipped off to museums.

Northrop Grumman X-47 Pegasus

  • The X-47 was a Navy aircraft similar to the X-45.
  • Northrop Grumman created the X-47 to help the Navy find out which fighter-sized tailless unmanned aircraft it could use on aircraft carriers.
  • The idea was to launch unmanned fighters from carriers and send them off on attack missions.
  • In August 2014 the X-47B made aviation history; It became the first-ever autonomous unmanned aircraft to be launched from and recovered on a carrier deck.
  • Then in April 2015, the aircraft made history again; It successfully completed the first-ever autonomous aerial refueling of an unmanned aircraft.
  • By February 2016, though, the Navy seemed to have changed course; It canceled X-47 program.
  • Instead, the Navy will commit a relatively small sum to developing an unmanned aerial tanker; This new carrier-based aerial-refueling system will borrow from the technologies that made the X-47 successful in its test flights; CBARS is seen as a “combat multiplier.” It would help extend the range of Navy fighters.
  • Although both the X-45 and X-47 programs have ended for now, Air Force and Navy planners learned a great deal from both programs.