Then again we need to define correctly what is a “stealthy” aircraft, and what is a 5th gen aircraft as well.
In order to evade detection, the most effective way is the tactics you employ rather that the aircraft performances alone.
Until now USAF “stealth” bombers prefer to operate at night in order to avoid detection despite been “stealthy”…
Early “stealth” aircraft for the US has been limited to bombers, and specially design in accordance to the US tactics of high altitude flying, due to the fact that most potential threat to the US are far away (U2), and early belief that if you could fly high enough you can’t be hit (well they were wrong, yet it’s the same propaganda about F22,F35).
Europeans during the cold war had to face a potential enemy much closer to their borders, and low flying aircraft was the most economical way to go for strike mission, with high flying interceptor to counter long range enemy bombers.
Ironically the F117 supposedly “stealth” bomber was shot down at least once (the U2 as well), while the F15 has had so far (well as far as we know at least) no lost due to enemy fire.
The cost of these programs has been quite expensive for the USAF and until now the results are far from conclusive.
Since WWI, tactics were already in place in order to avoid been detected (i.e always attact with the sun behind). Avoiding detection is as old as aviation itself, and to say that Europeans only recently awoke to “stealth” is not true : delta wings offers RCS reduction similar to the wing design of the B2, storm shadow stealth cruise missile, Lafayette frigates (among the first stealthy frigates in the world)…
Thanks to NASA the US has been able to extensively reseach composites materials for heat reduction, weight reduction, greater strenth etc… and it happen that these same materials have a RCS reduction properties. And so the US has been among the first (thank to massive funding) to apply those properties to aviation. The internal bay doors of the B2, B1, F117 etc are from the bombers of the WWI and WWII, and the B52 isnt stealthy because of internal bay doors, and the F117 isnt 5th gen because of its shapes…
Been invisible to the enemy (or luring him) is part of modern warfare, and can be done with different methods (paint, jamming, flying close formations, decoys, low RCS…).
Sign In
