

Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter
Apparently Liang forgets the new stealth fighter China is showing off







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RE: 20 year gap.
By wiz220 on 6/8/2011 6:14:06 PM , Rating: 4
Yes, this is correct. The faceted shapes were due to limited computing power in the 70's when the F-117 was developed. Now, with modern computers being able to precisely model how shapes will react to radar energy we can create curved surfaces that are actually much more stealthy and have much better aerodynamic properties.

RE: 20 year gap.
RE: 20 year gap.
By erple2 on 6/9/2011 6:38:08 PM , Rating: 2
I think that it's the response of the "true stealth aircraft" comment - while the F117 was, in fact, the first "true stealth aircraft" (though some German WW2 flying wings turned out to be stealthy nearly by accident), it's stealthiness could have been substantially better, as evidenced by the B2 - a much larger aircraft with a much smaller Radar Cross Section.

That's all.

RE: 20 year gap.
By Reclaimer77 on 6/9/2011 8:50:38 PM , Rating: 2
The B-2 didn't have to be designed to dogfight as well as attack ground targets. It's not a fair comparison to be honest. It didn't even require vertical stabilizers because it only had to be designed for level flight and mild maneuvers at best. But what is this? My dads stealth is less than yours? Both are amazing machines and deserve their place in history.

Reduced radar cross section is only one of five factors the designers addressed to create a truly stealthy design. The F-117 was 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 other passive/active systems, and noise abatement. THAT'S why I said it's a "true stealth aircraft". Anyone saying otherwise is just wrong.


RE: 20 year gap.







RE: 20 year gap.
By Calin on 6/10/2011 5:29:01 AM , Rating: 2
The F-117 wasn't designed to dogfight at all - it doesn't even have a gun (or a way to mount one, as was the case with some 'missile fighters' of the old). The F in the name stands for stealth bomber (light bomber, or what you would call ground attack craft), not for fighter. Also, it's black because it only flies at night.

RE: 20 year gap.
By Reclaimer77 on 6/11/2011 1:07:08 PM , Rating: 2
A gun on a nearly undetectable stealth aircraft would be absurd. At the time it was in service, NO air based radar system or infra-red detection known to man could defeat the F-117's stealth. So WWII gun style "dogfighting" is stupidly obsolete. Standoff weapons fired from a completely stealth platform are extremely devastating. The USAF maintained that the F-117A could carry air-to-air missiles, and while much of the information about it was/is classified, that's good enough for me.

But I did absentmindedly use the term "dogfight", so that's my bad. I didn't mean traditional "dogfighting". My point was just to illustrate that the F-117 was designed in part with air to air combat in mind. Whereas the B-2 has ZERO.

