Visible invisibles: the most famous stealth aircraft. Invisibles were shot down, like ordinary planes, only the Americans hid this Current state and overall assessment of the project

Russia has long been vying with the United States for priority in building a twenty-first century fighter that combines the characteristics of a supersonic super-agile combat vehicle with stealth technology. An aircraft with such qualities should not be detected by radars and infrared surveillance equipment. The construction of such a fighter of the future is not only capable of dramatically increasing the efficiency of the national air force, but also providing a weighty argument in the competitive struggle on the world arms market.

Until quite recently, the leading design bureaus and aircraft manufacturers could not combine such technologically contradictory characteristics in one combat aircraft. Moreover, Russia was predominantly in the role of catching up. Combining all these qualities, the aircraft built using the Stealth technology should become a major trump card in solving various geopolitical problems.

For example, the MiG-29 was developed as an adequate response to the creation of the American F-18 fighter, and the Su-27 was a kind of counterbalance to the F-15. And although all these models at one time became a real breakthrough and a major achievement in the field of aircraft construction, modern doctrines require the development of a fundamentally new fighter that combines excellent flight characteristics with stealth technology. The aircraft, the construction of which is based on such a concept, should not only be inaccessible to radar, but also have the qualities of a multi-purpose supersonic and super-maneuverable combat vehicle.

The American stealth aircraft F-117 could not bring its designers closer to the desired goal. This machine had very modest flight characteristics and could not take part in serious air battles. The United States Air Force spent huge budgetary funds on the development of a truly effective and invisible winged predator. However, they were able to get closer to the implementation of this task only in the fall of 1997, when tests of the F-22 Raptor fighter began.

But this time, American aircraft manufacturers could not count on unconditional superiority. Since the Sukhoi Design Bureau began flight tests of the S-37 Berkut machine only two weeks later than its competitors. According to authoritative estimates by military experts, the Russian fighter is significantly superior to the Raptor, mainly due to the unique reverse-swept wing. All this brought the competition between engineering and technology to a new round of confrontation.

After the ambitiously named "Desert Storm" operation to take over the Iraqis, US military officials tirelessly praised their Lockheed F-117A aircraft. These "black ghosts", which carried out several devastating raids on Baghdad, could not even be seen by the Iraqi air defenses on the monitors of their radar stations. This Stealth aircraft, whose photo shows the ideal geometry of the machine, was the embodiment of thirty years of efforts by American engineers to develop this technology.

Back in 1962, Lockheed made attempts to create an A-12 stealth aircraft. At first, these attempts did not bring the desired result. You can also recall the Stealth aircraft, the famous SR-71 aerial reconnaissance aircraft of that time, which received its nickname "Black Bird" due to the special coating that absorbed radio waves in the corresponding color. In the early 1970s, with the rapid development of computer technology and programming, it became possible to simulate flight on a computer. So the car was designed, which had minimal radio visibility. Already in 1975, Lockheed designers created the first prototype of a stealth aircraft. In the winter of 1977, the new generation F-117A combat vehicle took off for the first time, and six years later it was adopted by the US Air Force.

Encouraged by this success, the Pentagon instructed the Northrop company to develop a new strategic bomber using the same technology, invulnerable to enemy air defenses. The work, which lasted nine years, ended with the construction of the machine, which received the code designation B-2. When creating all their “invisibles”, the Americans did not use the technologies of aliens, which was a lot of fables, but the theoretical developments of our compatriots.

To absorb radio radiation, they used a special ferromagnetic coating on the case. In addition, the Americans resorted to many additional tricks. For example, in the car itself, almost all elements were made of non-reflective composite materials, such as All engines were equipped with noise-reducing shrouds and forced cooling systems that reduce the intensity of infrared emissions. And a lot of other things were used in the American "invisibles".

But here a reasonable question arises about the effectiveness of all these tricks. And then it turns out that huge funds (many billions of dollars!) Wasted in vain. First of all, these machines turned out to be so capricious in operation that it was possible to prepare them for flight only at base airfields. In addition, it turned out along the way that as soon as the "Stealth" gets wet, it begins to clearly appear on the radar screens, like the invisible man from the famous novel by HG Wells. Perhaps for this reason, during the hostilities in Yugoslavia, the F-117А was shot down in one of the very first sorties.

But finally, the research of American scientists and aircraft manufacturers in this area was finally finished off by an invention made in Russia, where a fundamentally new technology for creating radio invisibility was developed. Near the aircraft, special plasma clouds are generated that absorb electromagnetic waves so intensely that the visibility of the machine on the screens of radar stations is reduced by more than a hundred times.

How the Serbs destroyed the "invisibility" - the most "secret" aircraft of the US Air Force

The Serbian military in March 1999 managed to destroy the most "secret" aircraft of the US Air Force - F-117A. About how this operation went, the Voice of Russia was told by its participant, Dragan Matic

Material from the series "The Balkan Diary of a Russian Journalist"

Guide in Brussels March 27 1999 could not recover for a long time. For the first time in the history of combat operation of the most “secret” US Air Force F-117A aircraft, it was not only detected by radar air defense Yugoslavia, but also shot down in the sky near Belgrade.

- The man who shot down the "Stealth" over Yugoslavia - Has Serbia forgotten that it was bombed.

It was the strongest blow to the American military-industrial complex and the Lockheed Corporation. AT The Pentagon assured that there was a technical error and the "invisible plane" just crashed somewhere in the forests of Serbia. US military not recognized until November 25 that the F-117A was destroyed by a Soviet missile. The truth was hidden not only from ordinary Americans, but also from numerous customers who had already signed contracts with Lockheed. "Invisible" was then very popular in the world. And the pride of the American aircraft industry was destroyed, the machine, worth about 50 million dollars, was a Serbian anti-aircraft missile system with the stigma "Made in USSR". And the first to press the "Start" button Dragan Matic. Then he told me the details of this operation in detail:

“On March 24, 1999, we left our military unit where we were deployed and moved to the suburbs. The three days were relatively quiet. We worked as a team, the usual procedure that we carried out on the instructions of our commander. The main thing is not to fall under the AWACS radars, which usually accompany NATO aircraft. Especially the ones like the F-117A.

We were standing near the village of Shimanovtsy. On March 27, in the late afternoon, our entire brigade was on duty. A colleague from the tracking service reported that there is strong interference on the air. And that every second the signal is getting closer to our position. Literally 5 minutes later, radio intelligence transmitted that a target was approaching our calculation. Our commander carefully looked at the monitor and received instructions from radio intelligence. The target was on us. We discovered it. I looked at the monitor and saw a clear target signal. We began to follow the target, it was visible very clearly. I reported to the commander that the target was fixed by our instruments and we were ready to hit it. After the “fire” command, after 17 seconds, the target was hit by our missile. First rocket tore off the "Stealth" wing, and the second we shot down the plane itself. The pilot ejected and the plane crashed to the ground.

It's a fantasy American engineers and pilots that - invisible. All Stealth technologies ensure its "invisibility" only in the high-frequency radio range. For radars operating at low frequencies, it is quite noticeable. Therefore, we spotted it another 50 kilometers from us and waited for it to pass by our calculation in order to destroy it.

Yes, its radiation signal is weaker than that of conventional aircraft, but it still appears on the radar screens. Maybe the pilot made a mistake, maybe he got lost, but he flew at an altitude of only 5 kilometers and hit our sights. We hit a scary, fantastic car - most secret plane Air Force. The pilot ejected, hiding in the woods. Five hours later, a group of American special forces arrived in several helicopters and took him away. The very next day he was at the Aviano base, not far from Venice.

When we managed to shoot down the plane, we immediately left the position along with the equipment. The faster you relocate, the more chances the entire crew has to stay alive. So we did 24 times during these three months of aggression. And it saved our calculation. None of the team was hurt. Although our team air defense 9 people died.

After Dragan Matic and his comrades shot down F-117A, The White House and the Pentagon turned to the leadership of the FRY with a request to return the wreckage of the aircraft and everything that was left of it to. But Belgrade, of course, refused. Now the downed "Stealth" is exhibited in aviation museum. Here we continued the conversation with Dragan Matic:

– Your calculation worked clearly and smoothly. How did the Americans, with their AWACS and the latest electronics, miss the Soviet missile and put the Stealth under attack?

“We defended our homeland and did our duty. We were also targeted, we were also followed by American satellites, we were detected by AWACS. And so we tried not to allow any signals to air. If you are on the air or on enemy radar for more than 20 seconds, you are already dead. Expect "tomahawks", "cruise missiles" or some powerful bomb. My opinion on "stealth"? They put them into production to sell to their allies in . The car is insanely expensive over 50 million every instance. They talked a lot about these "stealths", but all this is an advertisement for the Pentagon. He did not have a high flight speed, he did not have good protection and only two bombs on board. Another drawback of this “bird” is that it flew very close to the target. And only after that could she deliver her mortal blow.

- What other aircraft did your team manage to hit?

- In the first days of aggression against Yugoslavia, the Air Force began its raids after 20.00. All planes always followed the same route. In the same way they returned to their bases. We quickly realized this feature. Most of the planes hit our sights 40-50 kilometers before our position. American pilots and their colleagues always adhere to the rules and clearly follow the commands. There is a route, there is a task, and they do not deviate even a millimeter from it.

We read their plans between the lines, and it saved us and ours. air defense. Our calculation struck, except for the first F-117, another car. We hit her, but she reached Croatia and landed there. True, there is no official confirmation of this. Newspapers wrote about it, there was a photograph. It happened on May 30th. And before that we shot down F-16. The pilot was the squadron commander, which specifically destroyed . He was sent a special group in helicopters to save such an important person. 4 helicopters and 10 aircraft provided support for the paratroopers.

This pilot took part in Operation Desert Storm, bombed the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a very experienced pilot and a reliable pilot. But we managed to hit his legendary aircraft. On account of our team and B-2. True, again there is no evidence. But our radio interceptors picked up a conversation between the pilot and AWACS. The pilot shouted: "I got hit by a rocket, I need to be rescued." He made it to Hungary. We fought and shot down the enemy - we have old equipment, and they have the most modern weapons, but we turned out to be more cunning and showed that we can fight back.

The idea of ​​hiding oneself, one's weapons and equipment from the eyes of the enemy has haunted the minds of the military since time immemorial. All sorts of tricks and means of disguise have come a long way in evolution. In parallel, the means of detection also developed. So, since the Second World War, the main enemy of air attack weapons has gradually become not eyes and ears, but radars. They made it possible to see enemy aircraft at any time of the day at a considerable distance.

History of creation

In the late 1970s, aircraft designers in the United States were given an unusual and very ambitious task - to make a full-fledged combat aircraft, as stealthy as possible in the infrared, visual, acoustic and (most importantly) radar range. The tactical attack aircraft was supposed to be used for bombing the most important and protected enemy targets, while remaining invisible to its radars.

The program to create a stealth aircraft, or "stealth", was unprecedentedly secret. Lockheed became the lead developer. The desire to minimize all types of unmasking factors led to the emergence of a machine that very little resembles a classic aircraft.

The F-117A, which was the index the new attack aircraft received, rather resembled an iron, and when looking at it, the pilots had reasonable doubts that “it” would be able to fly at all. To reduce radar visibility, the aircraft was given complex chopped shapes that scatter radio rays in various directions and provide up to 90% reduction in the effective scattering area. A gold-containing multi-layer coating was applied to the cockpit canopy, and the engine air intakes were covered with special grilles. Measures were also taken to reduce thermal visibility - the exhaust of the nozzles was directed upwards, as a result of which an almost flat exhaust jet was formed, quickly dissipating in the air.

In addition, the F-117A Nighthawk ("Night hawk") was planned to be used mainly at night and in complete radio silence. To do this, they tried, if possible, to remove all on-board radio devices or use them only in a passive mode, excluding unmasking signs. Through all the measures, the frontal effective dispersion surface was reduced hundreds of times compared to conventional aircraft!

We must immediately make a reservation that it is impossible to create an aircraft absolutely invisible to enemy radars. The meaning of stealth technology is to reduce visibility for the most common centimeter and decimeter range radars.

The price for all the "invisible" advantages of the novelty was a catastrophic decrease in flight performance. The plane turned out to be extremely unstable, and computers were used to stabilize the car to hold it. It is almost impossible to fly the F-117 with active stabilization systems disabled. After heavy and lengthy testing and improvements in the early 1980s, the first production F-117s began to enter service with the US Air Force.

Performance and flight characteristics, armament

The F-117A is a single-seat twin-engine attack aircraft, made according to the "flying wing" scheme with a V-shaped tail.

• The length of the aircraft is 20.3 m.
• Wingspan - 13.3 m.
• Empty weight - 13 381 kg.
• Normal takeoff - 21 150 kg.
• Maximum - 23,625 kg.

The Nighthawk is powered by two General Electric F404-F1D2 engines with a maximum thrust of more than 4800 kgf each. The mass of fuel is 5500 kg.

With good thrust-to-weight ratio, the flight characteristics are very modest:

• maximum speed - 970 km / h (M - 0.91).
• Practical ceiling - 13,700 m.
• Range - 1720 km.
• Combat radius - 860 km.

At low speed and flight altitude, due to the characteristic fuselage design and active stability control systems, the Nighthawk also had very serious limitations in terms of maneuverability and permissible overloads. In a real combat situation - no aerobatics and other somersaults. Only the most secretive night horizontal flight. Due to its strange appearance and low flight characteristics, the Nighthawk was nicknamed "The Lame Goblin" by the pilots.

A feature of the F-117A is that the aircraft does not have an onboard radar system at all and is equipped only with passive aiming and navigation aids, with the exception of laser target illumination, which is used for a short period of time. All attack aircraft weapons are hidden inside the fuselage in a two-section compartment to reduce visibility. The main weapons are two guided 907-kilogram bombs GBU-10, GBU-27 "Paveway" or two BLU-109 with optical or laser guidance. It is also possible to use guided missiles AGM-88 HARM, AGM-65 Maverick and even nuclear bombs B-61.

Nuclear bomb B-61

In general, on paper, the performance characteristics and armament of the F-117A looked very poor compared to other aircraft of that time. But his main weapon was still not flight-technical capabilities and a couple of bombs, but low visibility. It was she who made the slow, clumsy and unsightly "Lame Goblin" a very formidable weapon, a star of conflicts at the end of the 20th century.

Despite the fact that the first production aircraft took off in 1982, thanks to increased secrecy, the very fact of the existence of such a machine in the United States remained a secret for a long time. The first time the F-117A was officially presented only at the end of 1988, and appeared in public at all in 1990 at the Le Bourget air show. Just about the end of mass production. In total, the US Air Force received 59 production aircraft.

"Desert Storm"

The first case of the combat use of the Nighthawk was recorded during the conflict in Panama in 1989, when two stealth aircraft dropped one bomb each. A more serious test in 1991 was Iraq, where there was a full-fledged air defense system. Even before the start of the active phase of hostilities, the F-117A flew along the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. During the flights, it was found that the "Nighthawks" remained invisible to the radar of the Iraqi radar. This gave cause for optimism both to the pilots themselves and to the coalition air force command.

F-117 during Operation Desert Storm

The X-hour for the Lame Goblin came on the night of January 16-17, 1991. Ten planes, remaining completely unnoticed, attacked strategic targets - the residence of the government, the Air Force command posts and the joint control center. During the first day, strikes on key targets did not stop, disorganizing air defense and demoralizing the enemy. A total of 42 F-117A attack aircraft were used in the conflict, none of which was lost. At the same time, according to the statements of the American command, the effectiveness of the combat use of the Nighthawk in destroying the most protected and key objects exceeded that of the much more numerous F-16, F-18, Tornado and other coalition aircraft.

Yugoslavia

If Operation Desert Storm really became the finest hour of stealth aircraft and their real combat successes are not particularly disputed by anyone, then with the participation of Nighthawk in the conflict in the Balkans, everything is far from being so simple. A resounding slap in the face for the US Air Force was the destruction of the F-117A on March 27, 1999, just a few days after the start of the operation.

Photos with the wreckage of the collapsed "Goblin" quickly spread around the world, destroying the myth of the complete invisibility and invulnerability of the F-117A. Luckily for pilot Dale Zelko, he managed to eject and was picked up by a search and rescue team. There were suggestions that the Yugoslav MiG-29 shot down the invisibility, even the name of the pilot was mentioned. According to another version, the F-117 was shot down by the Kub air defense system. They say that in fact the Goblin was shot down by the S-125 air defense system of the 250th air defense brigade under the command of Colonel Zoltan Dani. It should be noted that in many ways the fact of the destruction of the "stealth" by an outdated air defense system was a matter of luck and military ingenuity of the Yugoslav anti-aircraft gunners.

By the way, they assured that, in addition to the well-known downed F-117A with serial number 82-0806, several more “invisibles” were shot down, but reliable facts of this have not been established.

Current state and general assessment of the project

Of the 59 production vehicles, seven F-117As were lost during operation. One was shot down, six crashed for technical reasons. Since 2006, the Nighthawk has been gradually withdrawn from service. This is due to the appearance in commercial quantities in the United States of the latest fifth-generation fighter F-22 Raptor - a much more advanced and balanced aircraft. In 2008, Nighthawks made their last flight, after which they were withdrawn from the Air Force to the reserve and transferred to long-term storage.

Thus ended the quarter-century history of this charismatic, extraordinary and controversial machine. Now we can safely say that at the time of its appearance, the F-117A was a truly advanced and breakthrough combat aircraft. Its creation, operational experience and combat use served as the basis for the design of more modern stealth aircraft - both in the United States and in Russia and China at the present time.

Is it possible to say that the first pancake came out lumpy, or, on the contrary, did the American designers manage to give birth to an invulnerable superweapon? On the one hand, the real combat effectiveness of the too small Nighthawk was greatly exaggerated, the reputation was incredibly inflated by the media, but on the other hand, the aircraft really managed to fight decently, being at the very edge of the sword and performing the most difficult and dangerous tasks of breaking through enemy air defense.

The history of aviation knows many examples of outlandish aircraft that at one time or another took to the air. As a rule, these were experimental models, the fruits of the creative searches of engineers who could not leave the walls of the design bureaus and did not go into series. But there are a few exceptions to this rule.

The American Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk combat aircraft has such an unusual shape and appearance that it would easily win the competition for the most outlandish aircraft, if such was ever held. The Nighthawk is very reminiscent of an exhibit stolen from a Cubist museum.

This machine is in many ways remarkable, the F-117 Nighthawk is the first production aircraft created using "stealth technologies". In other words, the Nighthawk has such low visibility to enemy radar that it is often referred to as a "stealth aircraft". But this name is more for the press. American pilots (especially those who flew it) gave the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk a completely different name: Wobblin' Goblin, which literally translates as "lame goblin." This unflattering nickname clearly shows the attitude of pilots to the flight characteristics of the F-117 Nighthawk.

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a single-seat strike aircraft designed to penetrate behind enemy lines and deliver missile and bomb strikes at any time of the day and in any weather. As conceived by the developers, the stealth technology was supposed to deceive the enemy air defense system. "Night hawk" was intended for attacks on important enemy targets: headquarters, airfields, communication centers and air defense facilities.

F-117 Nighthawk managed to fight, he participated in several conflicts. In total, 64 aircraft were produced, the cost of one unit is more than $100 million.

We can say that the stealth technology was tested on this aircraft, especially with regard to the development of this technology in mass production. Maybe that's why the car turned out so ambiguous.

History of creation

Before describing the history of the creation of the F-117 Nighthawk, a few words should be said about the designation of this aircraft. In American military aviation, the letter "F" is used to designate fighters or their prototypes. How she got into the abbreviation "Nighthawk", which, according to its aerodynamic characteristics, is not at all suitable for fighters, is unknown.

The F-117 is an attack aircraft that was designed to serve as a tactical bomber or attack aircraft. Those authors who write about the F-117 "stealth fighter" are very far from the topic or do not know this car well.

Interest in reducing the visibility of aircraft for enemy radars (stealth technology) arose among the US military after American pilots visited the Vietnamese "rocket jungle". Reducing the visibility of aircraft for radar was considered one of the promising areas for increasing their survivability; work on the Stealth program began in 1965. Although, the interest in reducing the visibility of aircraft appeared among the military even at the time of the appearance of the first radar stations.

The F-117 can be called the second generation "stealth aircraft", the first should include the SR-71 - the famous strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the Cold War. This machine was operated at the highest speeds, which heated the hull by several hundred degrees, so it was not possible to achieve a high level of invisibility, but the results of the designers were pretty good.

In 1977, the Xcom Committee was created in the US military department, whose tasks included the practical application of stealth technologies. The start of three programs in this direction was authorized: Senior Prom (development of a stealth cruise missile), ATB (in the future it will lead to the creation of the B-2 strategic bomber) and Senior Trend, thanks to which the F-117 will appear.

The development of the new aircraft was entrusted to Lockheed Martin. The three-digit number was usually assigned to top-secret aircraft, so that all work was carried out in deep secrecy. The contract with the manufacturer was signed on November 16, 1978. The Pentagon has set the company's engineers the task of reducing all the characteristics of the aircraft that unmask it. The customer was interested not only in visibility for the radar, but also in reducing the thermal radiation of the aircraft, reducing its noise level, eliminating any own radiation of the machine and contrails.

Lockheed Martin coped with the task in an extremely short time: already eight months later, construction of the first machine began, which was transferred for testing in 1981.

Naturally, the desire to reduce the visibility of the aircraft for radar led to a serious change in the shape of the F-117, which, in turn, significantly reduced the aircraft's flight characteristics.

Legend has it that when Lockheed Martin's lead aerodynamicist, Dick Cantrell, was shown the desired shape of the future aircraft, he had a stroke. Moving away from the shock a little, the designer realized that his department would not play the main violin when creating a new car. Therefore, he gave his employees the only task: to make sure that the “lame goblin” at least somehow rose into the air.

The first tests showed the extreme instability of the F-117 in many flight modes at once. There were other unpleasant surprises that the plane presented to its creators. They had to seriously modify the air intakes, change the design of the fuel tanks and improve the control system of the machine.

The use of stealth technologies hit the vehicle's maneuverability the hardest. The F-117 had a pretty good thrust-to-weight ratio, but its maneuverability and speed left much to be desired. Restrictions were introduced into the aircraft control system, which simply blocked the execution of some maneuvers. In addition, the Nighthawk has a very limited range and poor takeoff and landing performance. In general, he had little in common with that "stealth fighter" who easily defeats opponents in Hollywood blockbusters.

The F-117 began to operate in 1983, at first this aircraft was top secret, for the first time the US military recognized the very fact of its existence only in 1988. The first public display took place in 1990, and a year later the F-117 was shown at an aviation exhibition in Paris.

Only experienced pilots with a flight time of at least 1,000 hours were selected to pilot the new aircraft, but this did not save them from disasters. There is little information about them, since the program was highly classified. There is information that the first "Night Falcon" crashed in 1982, before the car was put into operation. Then there were several more accidents.

Immediately after the appearance of the F-117 was a truly formidable weapon. It could not be detected by the radar stations of the USSR and China. Did not see "stealth" and fighters. However, the situation changed very quickly: radar detection tools improved very quickly, and other technologies for detecting aircraft also appeared. So very soon the F-117 has become only a relatively invisible aircraft, and the design flaws inherent in it, of course, have not gone away.

Design Description

The F-117 attack aircraft is built according to the "flying wing" scheme. It has a V-shaped tail. The design of the machine is made using stealth technologies, this applies to both the shape of the aircraft and the materials used in its construction.

The wing has a large sweep (67.5 °), the fuselage is made in the form of flat smooth panels, the angle of which is calculated so as to reflect the radar signal in different directions. This shape of the fuselage is called faceted, and it is this form that reduces the visibility of the aircraft by 90%. The cockpit canopy is made according to the same principle. It is covered with a special material containing gold. Such a coating eliminates the risk of irradiation of the in-cabin equipment and the pilot's equipment (his helmet can emit more background on the radar screen than the entire aircraft).

Chassis - tricycle. The front rack has one steerable wheel, and the main racks are also single-wheeled. The aircraft is equipped with a landing hook and a drag parachute.

Above the wings on both sides of the fuselage are air intakes. All contours of slots and joints have sawtooth edges, which also scatters electromagnetic waves. There is no external suspension, all weapons are placed in the internal compartments. Flat nozzles are shielded with special heat-absorbing plates, which significantly reduce the visibility of the aircraft in the infrared range.

All antennas and other transmitting devices located on the surface of the aircraft can be retracted inside the hull. In the design of the F-117, composite radio-absorbing materials and coatings were actively used. The whole body is covered with several types of similar materials, which were pasted on it like wallpaper on a wall. The aircraft is painted with black ferromagnetic paint, which not only absorbs radio waves, but also dissipates heat very well.

Due to the above design features, the F-117 has a much smaller effective dispersion area (ESR), which is 0.1-0.01 m2. This is several hundred times less than the RCS of a conventional aircraft of a similar size. Thus, it is very difficult to detect an aircraft using ground-based radar or fighter radar.

Although, if an enemy fighter still detects the F-117, then the latter will have practically no chance.

The Nighthawk does not have its own radar, to reduce the risk of detection, all navigation and aiming systems of the aircraft are passive. There are also no active electronic warfare (EW) systems. For navigation, a satellite and inertial system is used. Sights are represented by infrared cameras and laser target illumination, which turns on for an extremely short time.

The power plant consists of two General Electric F-404-GE-F1D2 bypass turbojet engines, each of which develops 4,900 kg of thrust.

The F-117 carries missile and bomb weapons, and can also use nuclear weapons. Typical weapons for the aircraft are GBU-10 or GBU-27 bombs, it can take AGM-88 HARM, AGM-65 "Maverick" missiles on board.

The Nighthawk is a very highly specialized aircraft, it is designed to strike at night against important enemy targets. All weapons that he can take on board are guided. It has a very high accuracy (±0.1 m).

The F-117 strike aircraft is very unstable in yaw and pitch, so a special program has been introduced into its control system that does not allow the pilot to perform dangerous maneuvers.

Combat use

The aircraft was operated from 1983 to 2008, he managed to take part in several regional conflicts. During the operation, seven aircraft were lost, only one of which was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire. The rest crashed in accidents that happened due to the fault of the pilots or due to technical malfunctions.

The F-117's baptism of fire was the American invasion of Panama in 1989.

These aircraft were used for the first time during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. F-117s during this conflict showed very high efficiency: in one night they destroyed almost all Iraqi Tu-22s.

The next conflict in which the Americans massively used this aircraft was the war in Yugoslavia in 1999. It was then that the “invisible plane” was shot down. It was destroyed by a Serbian anti-aircraft battery armed with an obsolete Soviet S-125 anti-aircraft system. The Serbs claimed the destruction of one or two more vehicles, but this data is rather controversial.

The last significant conflict in which the F-117 was involved was the second US Iraq campaign (2003).

Initially, this aircraft was planned to be used until 2019, but the high costs of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 programs forced the US military to abandon it almost a decade earlier.

Already in the middle of the last decade, the Nighthawk was an obsolete machine. Due to the rapid development of aircraft detection tools, he lost his main advantage - the title of "stealth aircraft", and the design flaws inherent in it initially turned the F-117 into a very expensive and extremely vulnerable machine. And the cost of maintaining the Nighthawk was quite high, so this decision seems quite natural.

The F-117 became a real stand where the Americans worked out all the nuances of using stealth technology. This plane can be called a unique machine without exaggeration, the F-117 was the first in its class, so many flaws can be forgiven for it. Largely thanks to the "Nighthawk" fifth-generation "stealth aircraft" took to the skies: the F-22 Raptor and F-35.

Flight performance

Below are the performance characteristics of the F-117A strike aircraft.

Airplane video

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The latest best military aircraft of the Air Force of Russia and the world photos, pictures, videos about the value of a fighter aircraft as a combat weapon capable of providing "air supremacy" was recognized by the military circles of all states by the spring of 1916. This required the creation of a special combat aircraft that surpasses all others in terms of speed, maneuverability, altitude and the use of offensive small arms. In November 1915, Nieuport II Webe biplanes arrived at the front. This is the first aircraft built in France, which was intended for air combat.

The most modern domestic military aircraft in Russia and the world owe their appearance to the popularization and development of aviation in Russia, which was facilitated by the flights of Russian pilots M. Efimov, N. Popov, G. Alekhnovich, A. Shiukov, B. Rossiysky, S. Utochkin. The first domestic machines of designers J. Gakkel, I. Sikorsky, D. Grigorovich, V. Slesarev, I. Steglau began to appear. In 1913, the heavy aircraft "Russian Knight" made its first flight. But one cannot fail to recall the first aircraft creator in the world - Captain 1st Rank Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky.

Soviet military aircraft of the USSR of the Great Patriotic War sought to hit the enemy troops, his communications and other objects in the rear with air strikes, which led to the creation of bomber aircraft capable of carrying a large bomb load over considerable distances. The variety of combat missions for bombing enemy forces in the tactical and operational depth of the fronts led to the understanding of the fact that their performance should be commensurate with the tactical and technical capabilities of a particular aircraft. Therefore, the design teams had to resolve the issue of specialization of bomber aircraft, which led to the emergence of several classes of these machines.

Types and classification, the latest models of military aircraft in Russia and the world. It was obvious that it would take time to create a specialized fighter aircraft, so the first step in this direction was to try to equip existing aircraft with small arms offensive weapons. Mobile machine-gun mounts, which began to equip the aircraft, required excessive efforts from the pilots, since the control of the machine in a maneuverable battle and the simultaneous firing of an unstable weapon reduced the effectiveness of firing. The use of a two-seat aircraft as a fighter, where one of the crew members played the role of a gunner, also created certain problems, because an increase in the weight and drag of the machine led to a decrease in its flight qualities.

What are the planes. In our years, aviation has made a big qualitative leap, expressed in a significant increase in flight speed. This was facilitated by progress in the field of aerodynamics, the creation of new more powerful engines, structural materials, and electronic equipment. computerization of calculation methods, etc. Supersonic speeds have become the main modes of fighter flight. However, the race for speed also had its negative sides - the takeoff and landing characteristics and the maneuverability of aircraft deteriorated sharply. During these years, the level of aircraft construction reached such a level that it was possible to start creating aircraft with a variable sweep wing.

In order to further increase the flight speeds of jet fighters exceeding the speed of sound, Russian combat aircraft required an increase in their power-to-weight ratio, an increase in the specific characteristics of turbojet engines, and also an improvement in the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft. For this purpose, engines with an axial compressor were developed, which had smaller frontal dimensions, higher efficiency and better weight characteristics. For a significant increase in thrust, and hence the flight speed, afterburners were introduced into the engine design. The improvement of the aerodynamic forms of the aircraft consisted in the use of wings and empennage with large sweep angles (in the transition to thin delta wings), as well as supersonic air intakes.