Anti-aircraft defences were primitive, and it was more important for aircraft to be easily recognized as friend or foe by ground forces and other aircraft. In the early days of military aviation, little attention was paid to stealthiness. But how does this technology work? How is it possible to render an entire modern jet aircraft nearly invisible? Well strap in as we dive into the fascinating history and technology of stealth. Since then, the F-117’s revolutionary technology has proliferated throughout the world’s militaries, completely reshaping the face of modern warfare. Known as the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, this revolutionary “stealth fighter” would go on to fly 1,250 sorties and drop more than 2,000 tons of bombs on Iraq without a single aircraft being shot down, helping bring Operation Desert Storm – the UN-backed expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait – to a swift and decisive conclusion. Little did the Iraqis know that they were up against an entirely new type of weapon: an aircraft designed to be almost invisible to radar, allowing it to penetrate deep into enemy territory and strike at critical targets with impunity. But the 60 surface-to-air missile batteries defending the country remained silent, their radars fruitlessly searching the skies for the unseen intruders. Immediately, Iraq’s aerial defence system sprang into action, its 3,000 anti-aircraft guns saturating the air with explosive shells. The explosions were exact and devastating, destroying Iraqi military radars, command bunkers, and communications hubs with surgical precision. At precisely 3 in the morning on January 17, 1991, a series of explosions rocked the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |