Stealth Aircraft in Heavy Metal Action

A stealth aircraft is an aircraft that uses stealth technology to make it harder to be detected by radar and other means than conventional aircraft by employing a combination of features to reduce visibility in the visual, audio, infrared and radio frequency (RF) spectrum. Well known examples include the United States' F-117 Nighthawk (1980s-2008) and the modern F-22 Raptor fighter.

While no aircraft is totally invisible to radar, stealth aircraft limit current conventional radar's abilities to detect or track them effectively enough to prevent an attack. Stealth is accomplished by using a complex design philosophy to reduce the ability of an opponent's sensors to detect, track and attack an aircraft.

Modern stealth aircraft first became possible when a mathematician working for Lockheed Aircraft during the 1970s adopted a mathematical model developed by Pyotr Ufimtsev, a Russian scientist to develop a computer program called Echo 1. Echo made it possible to predict the radar signature an aircraft made with flat panels, called facets. In 1975, engineers at Lockheed Skunk Works found that an airplane made with faceted surfaces could have a very low radar signature because the surfaces would radiate almost all of the radar energy away from the receiver. Lockheed built a model called "the Hopeless Diamond". It was named that because it looked like a squat diamond and looked too hopeless to ever fly. For the first time, designers realized that it might be possible to make an aircraft that was virtually invisible to radar.

Reduced radar cross section is only one of five factors that designers addressed to create a truly stealthy design such as the F-22. The F-22 has also been designed to disguise its infrared emissions to make it harder to detect by infrared homing ("heat seeking") surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. Designers also addressed making the aircraft less visible to the naked eye, controlling radio transmissions, and noise abatement.

The first combat use of stealth aircraft was in December 1989 during Operation Just Cause in Panama. On December 20, 1989 two USAF F-117s bombed a Panamanian defense Force Barracks in Rio Hato, Panama. In 1991, F-117s were tasked with attacking the most heavily fortified targets in Iraq and were the only jets allowed to operate inside Baghdad's city limits.