Stealth:The History and Future of LO Aviation.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

Tacit Blue or the Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft eXperimental (BSAX) was designed to penetrate enemy lines use it's Low probability of intercept X band radar to survey Enemy formations then feed that data to allied forces. Although in the end it never seemed to take that mission to reality This platform would prove critical to the story of Stealth It introduced Curved stealth and many of today's stealth Aircraft Show visible signs of Tacit Blue's influence in their designs.

Yet as These concepts permeated old was about to become new again.

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Which was the perfect Cliff hanger for Jeff

Jeff Head said:

For a full history of "stealth" for combat aircraft you have to go back to World War II...as TE referenced...and perhaps further, but I know of two US aircraft that were specifically set up for "stealth" during the war.

The first true success at stealth in terms of defeating radar occurred rather accidentally. This was with the XB-49 flying wing. Three aircraft were built by refitting XB-35 flying wing aircraft that had been built after 1946 by Grumman. Those aircraft were prop driven and thirteen were built. But with the advent and success of the B-36, the program was cancelled. Along about the time the B-36 started getting its jet engines, the US Air Force called for replacing the propellers on some of the XB-36 with Jet Engines and testing them. This became the XB-49. In 1948 one of the aircraft flew out into the Pacific on a test. Upon returning, when it was returning directly toward the radar that was tracking it...the radar site lost the aircraft and did not find it again until it flew over the base preparing to land.

But the XB-49 was difficult to fly and very unstable. After one crashed, the program was cancelled. Interestingly enough, Grumman later built the first true stealth bomber, the B-2, and used data from the XB-49 to help design it. In fact, the wingspan of the B-2 is the same as that of the XB-49.

​

This in turn led to the B-2,

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The Flying Wings.

( Thanks for the Image Jeff.)
Flying wing Air craft were a long Dream of Aviation designers In the years leading from WW1 to WW2 Aviation designers like Jack Northop, Walter and Reimar Horten, Boris Ivanovich Cheranovsky, and other Envisioned the advantages in flight of eliminating the drag of the Tail and Fuselage of a Airplane to improve aerodynamic efficiency. Most never left the Glider stage, a few made history but for stealth we seek two names, Horten and Northrop.
The Horten Brothers were born in the 1910's As this was still the early years of Aviation history they actually got into the industry without formal training. The Brothers though were however at the right place the right time, the wrong side of history. The treaty of Versailles prevented Germany from Having a Official Air Force after the First World war, However a Air force was built through Flying Clubs and in the 1930's The Hortens were flying sailplanes like this example the Horten IV

flying wing gliders as members of such clubs and as members of the Hitler Youths. by 1939 the treaty of Versailles was dead and the Horten's along with there third brother ( died battle of Dunkirk) Enlisted in the New Luftwaffe and were consulting with the German Aviation industry. by 1942 The Brothers projects had the interest of the Luftwaffe, In 1943 Goring issued the 3x1000 requirements, 1000 Kg weapon payload, 1000 KM range at 1000 KMH. The Hortens responded with there H.IX concept. and after the Additon of 30mm cannons they were given the green light. Due to war time considerations the Ho229 (sometimes Go229) resuilt was decades ahead of it's time.
The Flying wing design with non metallic construction of wood and use Glues with simple Charcoal dust mixed in gave it Stealth technologies decades before the intended advent of stealth. in 2008 Northrop Grumman created a Replica of the Ho229 and tested it using modern stealth qualifications, They concluded that the HO229 had a smaller RCS then the Bf109 and could have been a war changer as if it had been deployed against the British in the early phase of the war it could have cut the response time available to the british to 2.5 minutes making interception unlikely. Had it been deployed that is however by the time of construction the british had upgraded their radar and how effective it would have been vs the new radar is academic. By the time of production and final development in 1945 the German war effort was faltering the battle of Britain was long over Normandy had succeeded and Germany was losing ground on the defencive.

Across the atlantic we find Jack Northrop. Northrop began his affair with flying wings in 1929 with Flying Wing X-216H It still have a tail and propeller yet a largely wing body and Propeller, Incrementally he continued development eventually reaching the 1940, N1M which more or less locked the Form of the Northrop Flying wing

With incremental improvements and occasional branching off like the XP53 Black bullet interceptor, the JB-1 Bat missile but he came back to the basics of the N1M with the improved N9M.

All of this lead to the offering by Northrop to develop the XB35

The XB35 was ambitious, It aimed to create a bomber with a truly global range, The Idea was based on the nightmare of a UK having lost to Germany in the second world war. The plan was for the US to retaliate by launching attacks from the Continental US against a Nazi Europe. It needed 4,500 KG payload, 16,000 KM Range 720 khm speed and 14,000 M Altitude. Northrop competed against Convair XB36. It was massive 4x turbo props 8 bomb bays and despite how it looks enough height to stand in. by the Time it was ready for trials though the war was won and the turboprops were obsolete. A year after it's flight Northrop introduced the YB49 more or less a upgrade based on replacing the turboprops with 8 Turbojets and converting 2 bomb bays into a fuel tanks. although the designs are advanced they suffer from the limitations of their flight control systems.
Ironically one of the designations of the YB35 for the US Navy is B2T....

Although the British would produce a number of tailless body aircraft it was not until the B2 that flying wings would return. In the 1950 and sixties the Bomber was palying a critical role for American and Russian Strategy of the Cold war The B52 of the Americanswas matched by the Soviet TU95 When the decision was made to push for high speed The XB70 and B1 programs were meet by the Soviet Tu22/Tu22M and TU160 Blackjack round for round though for each bomber came SAM Threats and counter reaction. The B1 program had been started in 1969 but in 1976 soviet Pilot Viktor Ivanovich Belenko defected by flying his Mig 25P into Japan, With it came a list of Intelligence discoveries including revelations that the Mig was a serious threat to the B1 and B52 bombers These revelations caused the B1 to be revised and created the B1b with drastically cut back numbers. The Air Force decided to push for a clean sheet bomber in 1979 under the program code name "Aurora" with two teams Northrop Boeing designated "Senior Ice" and Lockheed Rockwell pushing "Senior Peg" ( resembling a stretched out F117).

First rolled off in 1987 first flown in 1989 The B2 uses Stealth developed from Tacit Blue, in a Airframe as large as the Xb35 using a configuration resembling the Ho229

And then Everything goes Dark.

1996 Lockheed Martin RQ-3 Darkstar. The Story of Stealth Flying wings went into the Classified arena
2006 Lockheed Martin P175 Polecat

2007? Lockheed Martin RQ170 Sentinel This bird was flown covertly operating as a ISR platform it supposedly was operating over The Operation to kill OSBL in 2011. A unit of this type was captured by the Iranians after the Spoofing incident. It is said that there is a RQ-180 built by Northrop Grumman now in operation. and as more stealthy UAV's emerge around the World the Trend has been that they have assumed similar Flying wind shapes.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

View attachment 24128
First rolled off in 1987 first flown in 1989 The B2 uses Stealth developed from Tacit Blue, in a Airframe as large as the Xb35 using a configuration resembling the Ho229.

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Hehehe, clear as day...albeit with a lot of much more advanced materials and electronics protecting her, and with adjustments to her form to capitalize on what was has been learned for forming...you can see that one descended from the other:

...and with all we have learned about the form, it is clear that the flying wing/lifting body (at least in the US) is the form that is winning out in terms of future considerations too:

The UCAS (X-47B):



The upcoming LRSB:



The speculated (and latest) Boeing F/A-XX:

6th generation fighter only deal for industry after the new bomber in 2030's far ! normaly very few deals now, very few types and few winners...So a more fierce competition.

About 400 F-22/15E to replace, US services in the future use clearly less fighters types now 6 F-15/16/18/22, A-10, AV-8B and after normaly only 2 types F-35C a little different say 3 or

Eventually ? 6th generation fighter a little different for USAF and USN specifications, design what you think fine gents ?

Damage for fans less design to see.

RQ170 is the only UAV which can fly in a non permissive environment, any news for the Avenger ?

Others nice targets but can be used eventualy for do diversion.

The navy Avenger? I kinda was going to do that one with the fighters in my next grouping. As to the Avenger UAV it's stealthy and heavily influenced by the Tacit Blue but more of a massively upgraded Reaper with a reduced RCS then a true stealth.
Now the RQ170 was and still remains heavily in the Black with no idea on numbers and deployments. If I was to bet I would say its probably been phased down after the Iran event and another stealth UAV moved into the role, as i said there has been talk of a RQ180 from Northrop Grumman.
The way they have been running through them it seems like we don't learn about these drones unless they are retired or forced into the light by incident. The Polecat seems heavily related to the Rq170 albeit smaller making me think it was the prototype, the RQ3 popped out of nowhere yet wore a mission designation. Who knows what it was doing before they retired it.
I would lay odds the CIA and USAF have more drones for non permissible air space the we know of.

How can we have the history of low observation aircraft without the Kozlov PS? 1935, airplane with clear transparent skin?

Lezt said:

How can we have the history of low observation aircraft without the Kozlov PS? ...

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LOL Lezt as I can see you're back so why don't you check the Battleship Thread (the last post now is
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/th...del-main-gun-turrets.t7810/page-5#post-384542