F-117 American project failure

[Xilon_x]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by Xilon_x

[Svsmokey]

1300 combat sorties flown in the first Gulf War alone , with 31% of strategic targets assigned in the first 24 hours hit with an 80% success rate , by a force comprising just 2-1/2% of the total , with no losses in the entire campaign .

Pioneered stealth combat tactics and proved stealth capability .

No pilots lost to combat in its entire career (to date) , although 1 was shot down in the former Yugoslavia .

First operational in 1982 , and still flying at least as of Oct 2020 , with several maintained to this day "in case" .

I don't expect much from a guy who can't differentiate between a naked woman and an alien , but "failure" ? Hardly .

[ruxtmp]

I think what he was trying to say is that stealth is somewhat useless against a well trained opponent that understands how to use their electronic warfare equipment specifically ground radars and missile systems. Despite all the lessons learned during the 1st gulf war the NATO forces were incapable of effectively applying air power to destroy the required targets. More fake targets or decoys were attacked than actual military assets. The limited IADS of the country dogged both NATO air forces and particularly the US Navy. This did show to the US war planners that their methods and reliance on technology that worked well in an open desert against an inept military will not work against a trained military that has advantageous terrain. Better capabilities in tactics and use of the terrain almost completely nullify the ability of SEAD/DEAD missions to exact destruction of SAMs and forced allied combat aircraft to either abort, miss targets widely, or take on extreme risk. It also showed just how limited the stealth advantage is against ground based radars and missile systems. Current stealth aircraft (maybe not the new B-21) are all optimized against air threat radars as these still pose the greatest threat from a near pear adversary. The general rule is stay away from SAMs at all costs use long range smart munitions to destroy your targets and don't waste time against trying to knock back an agile and mobile IADS. Current SAMs are multiple times more capable than what Yugoslavia fielded yet the tactics and weapons against them are only slightly better. Jamming and swarms of drones will take on a whole new role very shortly as the ability of radars continues to increase and the ROI for stealth diminishes. 

However I do agree with your statement that the original poster has difficulty differentiating "between a naked woman and an alien".  

[DmitriKozlowsky]

The top two are from air show (Dayton I think), where F-117 wingroot failed. Cause was determined to be connector plate at wingroot  installed upside down, or improperly.

F-117 shootdown over Kossovo or Serbia, was determined to be somewhat of a lucky shot. Pilot and machine were cought in moment of bay doors opened for weapon release. Allowing optical sensor to lock on. The fact hat within 12 hours F-117 missions resume, and F-117 remained the only combat loss of F-117 fleet, tells the effectiveness of aircraft.

[MiG21bisFishbedL]

On 7/10/2021 at 8:12 PM, Svsmokey said:

 

I don't expect much from a guy who can't differentiate between a naked woman and an alien , but "failure" ? Hardly .

[kseremak]

When F-117 operated freely over downtown Baghdad, being completely invunerable, over the air defense few times desner than Soviet air defense over eastern Europe, a new era has begung. F-117 was one of the most successfull and revolutionaly desingns in history of military aviation. Never before military planners had a silver bullet which can go over Baghdad, pick targets they want, destroy them and return freely, just like that, without any loses, or escort needed.

 

All other strike aircrafts suffered losses and have been shoot down by SAM and AAA during the Gulf War, F-15E, F-16C, Tornado IDS, A-6E, F-111, AV-8, A-10, F-4G, A-7E. But no F-117, despite operating in way more dangerous enviroment before Iraqi air defense being crippled. For it's time F-117 was a phenomenal ingeneering achievement, having no counterpart in the world. It was a father of all modern stealth aircrafts.