NationStates Jolt Archive

Heard of the invisible plane?

yes the F-117a

You know its "invisible".

yes we all know

Well its not really

????!!!WTF?!?!!?!?!?1

post your replys its a real story.


its article 1, here (http://www.aziz4ever.da.ru/)

Didn't see the article at that site. Still, stealth aircraft store their bombs and missiles internaly. When they open their weapons bay to attack they become visible to radar. That's probably when they shot it down.

Didn't see the article at that site. Still, stealth aircraft store their bombs and missiles internaly. When they open their weapons bay to attack they become visible to radar. That's probably when they shot it down.

still though , why would it open bombs over yugoslavia and even then its only supposed to be the size of a sparrow on radar

still though , why would it open bombs over yugoslavia and even then its only supposed to be the size of a sparrow on radar
I think it's supposed to have the radar cross section of a bird with the weapons bay closed. With the weapons bay open it reflects alot more radar. As for why it would be bombing, didn't this incident take place during the war between the serbs and bosnian muslims?

The F-117 was shot down because Serbian Air Defense was using a new generation Russian radar and tracking system that had been deployed to Serbia for the sole purpose of testing it's effectiveness against Stealth air craft. The Serb commander and his crew were very good and were able to obtain a lock and fire a missile that brought the Stealth down. It was the first successful field test of this weapons system.

you seem to have some knowledge of this

you seem to have some knowledge of this


I would hope so.

If this WAS a real story, it would've been blasted all over the country. I have received NO Breaking news updates on this and I would have.

*chalks it up to yea right*

If this WAS a real story, it would've been blasted all over the country. I have received NO Breaking news updates on this and I would have.

*chalks it up to yea right*


That's because it happened in 1999, when NATO decided to bomb Serbia. Come on people, it wasn't that long ago.

If this WAS a real story, it would've been blasted all over the country. I have received NO Breaking news updates on this and I would have.

*chalks it up to yea right*
Actually although I've never read an article about it (until now) I'd heard about it.

That's because it happened in 1999, when NATO decided to bomb Serbia. Come on people, it wasn't that long ago.

Then he should've said 1999! All well!

*tosses this thread into the garbage for being 6 years out of date*

There is no such thing as an invisible plane to radar.. just planes that aren't very visible :p

And yea, if my memory serves me right, Hylian got it right. No big deal.

If this WAS a real story, it would've been blasted all over the country. I have received NO Breaking news updates on this and I would have.

*chalks it up to yea right*
myeah this was a bit of time ago, and it wouldnt be ocvered by american news would it,

NEW INVISIBLE FIGHTER SHOT DOWN BY SOME COMMIE

myeah this was a bit of time ago, and it wouldnt be ocvered by american news would it,

NEW INVISIBLE FIGHTER SHOT DOWN BY SOME COMMIE
I'm American. I heard about it. Just didn't know the details.

dp

If I remember the situation correctly, the plane was hit by a "golden bullet" a lucky shot, from some ground based anti-aircraft-artillery.

myeah this was a bit of time ago, and it wouldnt be ocvered by american news would it,

NEW INVISIBLE FIGHTER SHOT DOWN BY SOME COMMIE

Since when were the Serbs 'commies' during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia?

If I remember the situation correctly, the plane was hit by a "golden bullet" a lucky shot, from some ground based anti-aircraft-artillery.

As I remember the story - as it came out at the time - it went something like this: an AA gun managed to just score some lucky hits and down the plane after visually locating it. The Serbs then managed to recover some of the bodywork of the downed plane. The Chinese appeared to be extremely interested in having a look at the make-up of the stealth fighter... as to whether the Chinese embassy was then bombed by a US plane shortly therafter was a result of either gross incompetency or an attempt to discourage the Chinese from trying to get their hands on the wreckage is best left as an exercise for the reader...

I remember hearing at the time that the Serbs knew where the planes were going to be as they'd flown the same route for the previous 2 or 3 nights. Hence on the night it was shot down, they had a lot of missiles ready to fire. Even if any one missile's only got a small percentage chance of hitting a stealth plane, if you launch enough missiles into the path of one then you've got a good chance of a hit.


Here's a link:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/306603.stm

still though , why would it open bombs over yugoslavia and even then its only supposed to be the size of a sparrow on radar

The F-117 is the first generation of stealth. According to the analysis done in the book, "The Transformation of American Air Power", which provides a detailed look into how the F-117 could have been hit we have:

1. The F-117 could have been hit on a visual boresight shot by an SA-8 when it was silhouetted against illuminated clouds at night (it was flying beneath the cloud level in order to be able to use its laser guided bombs). It would take multiple missile shots, but it's workable.

2. The F-117 might have had one of its transponders on - they have these for use in areas where they are training in peacetime and want to appear on radar for civilian ground controllers.

The second generation B-2 does not fly below clouds. It bombs from what is termed "medium" altitude, and does not use laser guided bombs. When you use the GPS guided bombs, you can bomb from above the clouds and not be seen at all. Also, at that altitude, a visual boresight shot by a missile is virtually impossible.

It is interesting to note that during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the F-117 changed its tactics, and also bombed only using GPS bombs - thus also avoiding the problem.

Stealth does not mean that you are invisible. You still have to be careful how you expose yourself to radars - which is why it is important to establish a route between threat radars. While the B-2 is a substantial improvement on the F-117, it isn't completely invisible either.

Apparently, the new F-22 is even stealthier than the B-2. But that may be a requirement for an aircraft that will be maneuvering - changing direction quite a bit.

I'm American. I heard about it. Just didn't know the details.
With the 34th page coverage it was given...Probably...less than 1% heard about it.

Didn't see the article at that site. Still, stealth aircraft store their bombs and missiles internaly. When they open their weapons bay to attack they become visible to radar. That's probably when they shot it down.

there are also types of radar that are capable of shooting down stealth bombers. the radar creates right angles to itself (travels in a square pattern, i don't know how it's possible but it is) and thus is not deflected off the surface of the place. F-117's (only 1 i think) have been shot down before.

With the 34th page coverage it was given...Probably...less than 1% heard about it.
When it happened it was given front page coverage for three days, and Jesse Jackson went to Serbia to get Milosevich to give back the pilots.

And the reason why no one has heard of it now? That one's not really hard, it was shot down years ago, I was in middle school when it happened. Some forum-dwellers were in elementary school.

When it happened it was given front page coverage for three days, and Jesse Jackson went to Serbia to get Milosevich to give back the pilots.

No, the pilots weren't captured. The F-117 only has one crewman in any case.

No, the pilots weren't captured. The F-117 only has one crewman in any case.


He may be thinking of when Serb forces captured those 3 US Army men in their Humvee.

When it happened it was given front page coverage for three days, and Jesse Jackson went to Serbia to get Milosevich to give back the pilots.
here the pic of the Pilots of the 3 stealth f-117 downed planes :rolleyes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/330000/images/_334051_jackson300.jpg

before you post and look like an idiot...double-check your info.

He may be thinking of when Serb forces captured those 3 US Army men in their Humvee.
Yeah, that's what it was. It was years ago and stuff just kind of ran together.

here the pic of the Pilots of the 3 stealth f-117 downed planes :rolleyes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/330000/images/_334051_jackson300.jpg

before you post and look like an idiot...double-check your info.
I got the Jesse Jackson part confused and the captured bit, it was years ago. But I'm certain that there was front page of the paper coverage of the incident. Hell, I even have a vague memory of the picture.

dp

http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/03/29/wste129.html
Gen Sir Charles Guthrie, the Chief of the Defence Staff, broke off from the daily Ministry of Defence briefing yesterday to congratulate all those involved in the rescue operation.

The drama began about 7.45pm on Saturday when Capt Dwelle was flying over Serbia on a combat mission in his bat-like Nighthawk ground attack aircraft. He was in formation with a second aircraft, his wingman. What happened next remains unclear. The Serbs claimed he was shot down but the Pentagon said that it had not ruled out mechanical failure.

Whatever the cause, the result was the same. Capt Dwelle's Nighthawk became the first Stealth fighter to be lost in combat. The pilot managed to eject safely and, while the Serb authorities gleefully broadcast pictures of the burning wreckage - the only Nato aircraft lost so far in the operation - he went through the carefully-designed rescue procedure.


I remember there were big celebrations in Serbia when the Stealth was shot down.

myeah this was a bit of time ago, and it wouldnt be ocvered by american news would it,

NEW INVISIBLE FIGHTER SHOT DOWN BY SOME COMMIE
I remember them covering it a whole lot. It was all that was on the news. I was I think 8 or something, at a friends house, and I remember saying, " I don't like the Serbians."
I didn't know my friends dad was a Serb.

It was indeed all over the news, front page on the papers, and on all the major news services. So the point of it not being covered is moot, it was covered quit sufficiently.

The pilot apparently evaded capture as I remember hearing about it by hiding in the bushes nearby until a rescue unit plucked him out of the area. I also remember seeing on the news a number of Serbian women in their bubbushkas dancing atop the wreckage with a very clear US Airforce symbol on one piece right in front of the camera.

http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/03/29/wste129.html
Gen Sir Charles Guthrie, the Chief of the Defence Staff, broke off from the daily Ministry of Defence briefing yesterday to congratulate all those involved in the rescue operation.

The drama began about 7.45pm on Saturday when Capt Dwelle was flying over Serbia on a combat mission in his bat-like Nighthawk ground attack aircraft. He was in formation with a second aircraft, his wingman. What happened next remains unclear. The Serbs claimed he was shot down but the Pentagon said that it had not ruled out mechanical failure.

Whatever the cause, the result was the same. Capt Dwelle's Nighthawk became the first Stealth fighter to be lost in combat. The pilot managed to eject safely and, while the Serb authorities gleefully broadcast pictures of the burning wreckage - the only Nato aircraft lost so far in the operation - he went through the carefully-designed rescue procedure.