Stealth aircraft explained

Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, all collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 Nighthawk was the first operational aircraft explicitly designed around stealth technology. Other examples of stealth aircraft include the B-2 Spirit, the B-21 Raider, the F-22 Raptor,[1] the F-35 Lightning II,[2] [3] the Chengdu J-20, and the Sukhoi Su-57.

While no aircraft is completely invisible to radar, stealth aircraft make it more difficult for conventional radar to detect or track the aircraft effectively, increasing the odds of an aircraft avoiding detection by enemy radar and/or avoiding being successfully targeted by radar guided weapons.[4] Stealth is a combination of passive low observable (LO) features and active emitters such as low-probability-of-intercept radars, radios and laser designators. These are typically combined with operational measures such as carefully planning mission maneuvers to minimize the aircraft's radar cross-section, since common hard turns or opening bomb bay doors can more than double an otherwise stealthy aircraft's radar return. Stealth is accomplished by using a complex design philosophy to reduce the ability of an opponent's sensors to detect, track, or attack the stealth aircraft. This philosophy takes into account the heat, sound, and other emissions of the aircraft which can also be used to locate it. Sensors are made to reduce the impact of low observable technologies and others have been proposed such as IRST (infrared search and track) systems to detect even reduced heat emissions,[5] long wavelength radars to counter stealth shaping and RAM focused on shorter wavelength radar,[6] or radar setups with multiple emitters to counter stealth shaping.[7] However these have disadvantages compared to traditional radar against non-stealthy aircraft.

Full-size stealth combat aircraft demonstrators have been flown by the United States (in 1977), Russia (in 2000) and China (in 2011)., the only combat-ready stealth aircraft in service are the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (1997), the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (2005), the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (2015),[8] [9] the Chengdu J-20 (2017),[10] and the Sukhoi Su-57 (2020),[11] with a number of other countries developing their own designs. There are also various aircraft with reduced detectability, either unintentionally or as a secondary feature.

In the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia two stealth aircraft were used by the United States, the veteran F-117 Nighthawk, and the newly introduced B-2 Spirit strategic stealth bomber. The F-117 performed its usual role of striking precision high-value targets and performed well, although one F-117 was shot down by a Serbian Isayev S-125 'Neva-M' missile brigade commanded by Colonel Zoltán Dani.

Design principles

Besides all the usual demands of flight, the design of a stealth or low-observability aircraft aims to reduce radar and infrared (thermal) detection, including:

Rotorcraft introduce a particular design challenge, due not only to their multiple wing surfaces and articulated joints, but also to the constantly-changing relationship of these to the main airframe surfaces. The Boeing–Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche was one of the first attempts at a stealth helicopter.

Limitations

Instability of design

Early stealth aircraft were designed with a focus on minimal radar cross section (RCS) rather than aerodynamic performance. Highly stealthy aircraft like the F-117 Nighthawk are aerodynamically unstable in all three axes and require constant flight corrections from a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight system to maintain controlled flight. As for the B-2 Spirit, which was based on the development of the flying wing aircraft by Jack Northrop in 1940, this design allowed for a stable aircraft with sufficient yaw control, even without vertical surfaces such as rudders.

Aerodynamic limitations

Earlier stealth aircraft (such as the F-117 and B-2) lack afterburners, because the hot exhaust would increase their infrared footprint, and flying faster than the speed of sound would produce an obvious sonic boom, as well as surface heating of the aircraft skin, which also increases the infrared footprint. As a result, their performance in air combat maneuvering required in a dogfight would never match that of a dedicated fighter aircraft. This was unimportant in the case of these two aircraft since both were designed to be bombers. More recent design techniques allow for stealthy designs such as the F-22 without compromising aerodynamic performance. Newer stealth aircraft, like the F-22, F-35 and the Su-57, have performance characteristics that meet or exceed those of current front-line jet fighters due to advances in other technologies such as flight control systems, engines, airframe construction and materials.

Electromagnetic emissions

The high level of computerization and large amount of electronic equipment found inside stealth aircraft are often claimed to make them vulnerable to passive detection. This is highly unlikely and certainly systems such as Tamara and Kolchuga, which are often described as counter-stealth radars, are not designed to detect stray electromagnetic fields of this type. Such systems are designed to detect intentional, higher power emissions such as radar and communication signals. Stealth aircraft are deliberately operated to avoid or reduce such emissions.

Current Radar Warning Receivers look for the regular pings of energy from mechanically swept radars while fifth generation jet fighters use Low Probability of Intercept Radars with no regular repeat pattern.

Vulnerable modes of flight

Stealth aircraft are still vulnerable to detection while and immediately after using their weaponry. Since stealth payload (reduced RCS bombs and cruise missiles) is not yet generally available, and ordnance mount points create a significant radar return, stealth aircraft carry all armaments internally. As soon as weapons bay doors are opened, the plane's RCS will be multiplied and even older generation radar systems will be able to locate the stealth aircraft. While the aircraft will reacquire its stealth as soon as the bay doors are closed, a fast response defensive weapons system has a short opportunity to engage the aircraft.

This vulnerability is addressed by operating in a manner that reduces the risk and consequences of temporary acquisition. The B-2's operational altitude imposes a flight time for defensive weapons that makes it virtually impossible to engage the aircraft during its weapons deployment. New stealth aircraft designs such as the F-22 and F-35 can open their bays, release munitions and return to stealthy flight in less than a second.

Some weapons require that the weapon's guidance system acquire the target while the weapon is still attached to the aircraft. This forces relatively extended operations with the bay doors open.

Such aircraft as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter can also carry additional weapons and fuel on hardpoints below their wings. When operating in this mode the planes will not be nearly as stealthy, as the hardpoints and the weapons mounted on those hardpoints will show up on radar systems. This option therefore represents a trade off between stealth or range and payload. External stores allow those aircraft to attack more targets further away, but will not allow for stealth during that mission as compared to a shorter range mission flying on just internal fuel and using only the more limited space of the internal weapon bays for armaments.

Reduced payload

Fully stealth aircraft carry all fuel and armament internally, which limits the payload. By way of comparison, the F-117 carries only two laser- or GPS-guided bombs, while a non-stealth attack aircraft can carry several times more. This requires the deployment of additional aircraft to engage targets that would normally require a single non-stealth attack aircraft. This apparent disadvantage however is offset by the reduction in fewer supporting aircraft that are required to provide air cover, air-defense suppression and electronic counter measures, making stealth aircraft "force multipliers".

Sensitive skin

See main article: Skin (aeronautics). Stealth aircraft often have skins made with radiation-absorbent materials (RAMs). Some of these contain carbon black particles, while some contain tiny iron spheres. There are many materials used in RAMs, and some are classified, particularly the materials that specific aircraft use.

Cost of operations

Stealth aircraft are typically more expensive to develop and manufacture. An example is the B-2 Spirit that is many times more expensive to manufacture and support than conventional bomber aircraft. The B-2 program cost the U.S. Air Force almost $45 billion.

Countermeasures

Reflected waves

See main article: Radar and Radio wave. Passive (multistatic) radar, bistatic radar and especially multistatic radar systems detect some stealth aircraft better than conventional monostatic radars, since first-generation stealth technology (such as the F-117) reflects energy away from the transmitter's line of sight, effectively increasing the radar cross section (RCS) in other directions, which the passive radars monitor. Such a system typically uses either low frequency broadcast TV and FM radio signals (at which frequencies controlling the aircraft's signature is more difficult).

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with support of DARPA, have shown that it is possible to build a synthetic aperture radar image of an aircraft target using passive multistatic radar, possibly detailed enough to enable automatic target recognition.[12]

In December 2007, SAAB researchers revealed details for a system called Associative Aperture Synthesis Radar (AASR) that would employ a large array of inexpensive and redundant transmitters and receivers that could detect targets when they directly pass between the receivers/transmitters and create a shadow. The system was originally designed to detect stealthy cruise missiles and should be just as effective against low-flying stealth aircraft. That the array could contain a large amount of inexpensive equipment could potentially offer some "protection" against attacks by expensive anti-radiation missiles (ARMs).

Infrared (heat)

See main article: Infrared signature. Some analysts claim Infra-red search and track systems (IRSTs) can be deployed against stealth aircraft, because any aircraft surface heats up due to air friction and with a two channel IRST is a (4.3 μm absorption maxima) detection possible, through difference comparing between the low and high channel. These analysts point to the resurgence in such systems in Russian designs in the 1980s, such as those fitted to the MiG-29 and Su-27. The latest version of the MiG-29, the MiG-35, is equipped with a new Optical Locator System that includes more advanced IRST capabilities. The French Rafale, the British/German/Italian/Spanish Eurofighter and the Swedish Gripen also make extensive use of IRST.

In air combat, the optronic suite allows:

For ground targets, the suite allows:

Longer wavelength radar

See main article: Very high frequency. VHF radar systems have wavelengths comparable to aircraft feature sizes and should exhibit scattering in the resonance region rather than the optical region, allowing most stealth aircraft to be detected. This has prompted Nizhny Novgorod Research Institute of Radio Engineering (NNIIRT) to develop VHF AESAs such as the NEBO SVU, which is capable of performing target acquisition for Surface-to-air missile batteries. Despite the advantages offered by VHF radar, their longer wavelengths result in poor resolution compared to comparably sized X band radar array. As a result, these systems must be very large before they can have the resolution for an engagement radar. An example of a ground-based VHF radar with counter-stealth capability is the P-18 radar.

The Dutch company Thales Nederland, formerly known as Holland Signaal, developed a naval phased-array radar called SMART-L, which is operated at L Band and has counter-stealth. All ships of the Royal Dutch Navy's De Zeven Provinciën class carry, among others, the SMART-L radar.

OTH radar (over-the-horizon radar)

Over-the-horizon radar is a concept increasing radar's effective range over conventional radar. The Australian JORN Jindalee Operational Radar Network can overcome certain stealth characteristics. It is claimed that the HF frequency used and the method of bouncing radar from ionosphere overcomes the stealth characteristics of the F-117A. In other words, stealth aircraft are optimized for defeating much higher-frequency radar from front-on rather than low-frequency radars from above.

History

World War I and World War II

During World War I, the Germans experimented with the use of Cellon (Cellulose acetate), a transparent covering material, in an attempt to reduce the visibility of military aircraft. Single examples of the Fokker E.III Eindecker fighter monoplane, the Albatros C.I two-seat observation biplane, and the Linke-Hofmann R.I prototype heavy bomber were covered with Cellon. However, it proved ineffective, and even counterproductive, as sunlight glinting from the covering made the aircraft even more visible. The material was also found to be quickly degraded both by sunlight and in-flight temperature changes, so the attempt to make transparent aircraft was not proceeded with.[13]

In 1916, the British modified a small SS class airship for the purpose of night-time aerial reconnaissance over German lines on the Western Front. Fitted with a silenced engine and a black gas bag, the craft was both invisible and inaudible from the ground, but several night-time flights over German-held territory produced little useful intelligence, and the idea was dropped.[14]

Nearly three decades later, the Horten Ho 229 flying wing fighter-bomber was developed in Nazi Germany during the last years of World War II. In 1983, its designer Reimar Horten claimed that he planned to add charcoal to the adhesive layers of the plywood skin of the production model to render it invisible to radar.[15] This claim was investigated, as the Ho 229's lack of vertical surfaces, an inherent feature of all flying wing aircraft, is also a key characteristic of all stealth aircraft. Tests were performed in 2008 by the Northrop-Grumman Corporation to establish if the aircraft's shape would have avoided detection by top-end HF-band, 20–30 MHz primary signals of Britain's Chain Home early warning radar, if the aircraft was traveling at high speed (approximately 550mph) at extremely low altitude – 50feet-100feetft (-ft). The testing did not find any evidence that charcoal was used, and confirmed that it would have been a poor absorber if used, concluding that the Ho 229 did not have stealth characteristics and was never intended to be a stealth aircraft.[16]

Modern origins

Modern stealth aircraft first became possible when Denys Overholser, a mathematician working for Lockheed Aircraft during the 1970s, adopted a mathematical model developed by Petr Ufimtsev, a Soviet scientist, to develop a computer program called Echo 1. Echo made it possible to predict the radar signature of an aircraft made with flat panels, called facets. In 1975, engineers at Lockheed Skunk Works found that an aircraft 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. Under a 1977 contract from DARPA, Lockheed built a proof of concept demonstrator aircraft, the Lockheed Have Blue, nicknamed "the Hopeless Diamond", a reference to the famous Hope Diamond and the design's shape and predicted instability. Because advanced computers were available to control the flight of an aircraft that was designed for stealth but aerodynamically unstable such as the Have Blue, for the first time designers realized that it might be possible to make an aircraft that was virtually invisible to radar. Lockheed soon developed the Have Blue into F-117.

Reduced radar cross section is only one of five factors the 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. The F-22 puts a focus on air superiority, with supercruise, high thrust-to-weight ratio, integrated avionics, and of course, stealth.

Modern operations

The first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft was in December 1989 during Operation Just Cause in Panama. On 20 December 1989, two United States Air Force 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 in the opening phase of Operation Desert Storm and were the only coalition aircraft allowed to operate inside Baghdad's city limits and over its airspace.[17] The F-117 while having sufficient stealth, also had a low visual signature. Even still, if the F-117 was visually acquired, it, like all aircraft, were subject to visual air-to-air interception. This was easily circumvented by flying at night.[18]

The U.S, UK, and Israel are the only countries to have used stealth aircraft in combat.[19] [20] These deployments include the United States invasion of Panama, the first Gulf War, the Kosovo Conflict, the War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq and the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The first use of stealth aircraft was in the U.S. invasion of Panama, where F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft were used to drop bombs on enemy airfields and positions while evading enemy radar.

In 1990 the F-117 Nighthawk was used in the Gulf War, where 42 F-117s flew 1,299 sorties and scored 1,664 direct hits with laser-guided bombs while not suffering battle damage, while hitting 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq.[21] F-117s flew approximately 168 strikes against Scud-associated targets[22] while accumulating 6,905 flight hours. Only 2.5% of the American aircraft in Iraq were F-117s, yet they struck 40% of the strategic targets, dropping 2,000 tons of precision-guided munitions and striking their targets with an 80% success rate. However the F-117 still had flaws; it had to refuel and was defenesless in an enemy attack. All F-117 sorties had to be refueled.

In the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia two stealth aircraft were used by the United States: the veteran F-117 Nighthawk, and the newly introduced B-2 Spirit strategic stealth bomber. The F-117 performed its usual role of striking precision high-value targets and performed well, although one F-117 was shot down by a Serbian Isayev S-125 'Neva-M' missile commanded by Colonel Zoltán Dani. The then-new B-2 Spirit was highly successful, destroying 33% of all Serbian bombing targets in the first eight weeks of U.S. involvement in the war. During this war, B-2s flew non-stop to Kosovo from their home base in Missouri and back.[23]

In the 2003 invasion of Iraq, F-117 Nighthawks and B-2 Spirits were used, and this was the last time the F-117 would see combat. F-117s dropped satellite-guided strike munitions on selected targets, with high success. B-2 Spirits conducted 49 sorties in the invasion, releasing more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions.

During the May 2011 operation to kill Osama bin Laden, one of the helicopters used to clandestinely insert U.S. troops into Pakistan crashed in the bin Laden compound. From the wreckage it was revealed this helicopter had stealth characteristics, making this the first publicly known operational use of a stealth helicopter.

Stealth aircraft were used in the 2011 military intervention in Libya, where B-2 Spirits dropped 40 bombs on a Libyan airfield with concentrated air defenses in support of the UN no-fly zone.

Stealth aircraft will continue to play a valuable role in air combat with the United States using the F-22 Raptor, B-2 Spirit, and the F-35 Lightning II to perform a variety of operations. The F-22 made its combat debut over Syria in September 2014 as part of the US-led coalition to defeat ISIS.[24]

From February 2018, Su-57s performed the first international flight as they were spotted landing at the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. These Su-57s were deployed along with four Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, four Sukhoi Su-25s, and one Beriev A-50 AEW&C aircraft.[25] It is believed that at least 4 Su-57 are deployed in Syria[26] and that they have likely been armed with cruise missiles in combat.[27]

In 2018, a report surfaced noting that Israeli F-35I stealth fighters conducted a number of missions in Syria and even infiltrated Iranian airspace without detection. In May 2018, Major General Amikam Norkin of IAF reported that Israeli Air Force F-35I stealth fighters carried out the first-ever F-35 strike in combat over Syria.

The People's Republic of China started flight testing its Chengdu J-20 stealth multirole fighter around in 2011 and made its first public appearance at Airshow China 2016. The aircraft entered service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in March 2017.[28] [29] [30] Another fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter from China, the Shenyang FC-31 is also under flight testing.[31]

List of stealth aircraft

TypeCountryClassRoleDateStatusNo.Notes
Airbus WingmanGermanyUAVFighter2024Project0[32]
Airbus LOUTGermanyUAVExperimental2019Project0Low Observable UAV Testbed[33]
Airbus SagittaGermanyUAVExperimental2017Prototype1
BAE Systems CoraxUnited KingdomUAVExperimental2004Prototype
BAE Systems ReplicaUnited Kingdom1999Project
BAE Systems TaranisUnited KingdomUAVAttack2013Prototype
BAE Systems TempestUnited KingdomSupersonicFighterProjectUK contribution to the Global Combat Air Programme (qv).
Baykar Bayraktar KızılelmaTurkeyUAV2022Prototype3
Bell 360 InvictusUnited StatesRotorcraftExperimental2019Prototype
Boeing Bird of PreyUnited StatesSubsonicExperimental1996Prototype
Boeing Model 853-21 Quiet BirdUnited StatesSubsonicReconnaissanceProjectDeveloped from Model 853.
Boeing MQ-25 StingrayUnited StatesUAVExperimental2019Prototype
Boeing MQ-28 Ghost BatAustraliaUAVLoyal wingmanPrototype
Boeing X-32United StatesSupersonic jetFighter2000Prototype2
Boeing X-45United StatesUAVExperimental2002Prototype
Boeing–Sikorsky RAH-66 ComancheUnited StatesRotorcraftAttack1996Prototype2
Chengdu J-20ChinaSupersonic jetFighter2011Production210+
Chengdu WZ-10ChinaUAV2014Production
Dassault nEUROnInternationalUAVAttack2012PrototypeFrance, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
DRDO GhatakIndiaUAVProject
DRDO SWiFTIndiaUAVExperimental2022Prototype
EADS Mako/HEATInternationalSupersonicAttackProject
Eurocopter EC-665 TigerInternationalRotorcraftAttack2003Production180 France, Germany
FCAS (New Generation Fighter)InternationalSupersonic jetFighterProjectFrance, Germany & Spain (within FCAS)
Flygsystem 2020SwedenSupersonicFighterProject
Global Combat Air ProgrammeInternationalSupersonicFighterProjectMerger of UK (BAE Systems Tempest), Japan (Mitsubishi F-X) & Italy
HAL AMCAIndiaSupersonicFighterProject
HAL PrachandIndiaRotorcraftAttack2022Production171
Hongdu GJ-11ChinaUAV
KAI KF-21 BoramaeInternationalSupersonicFighter2022Prototype6South Korea and Indonesia
Kratos XQ-58 ValkyrieUnited StatesUAVExperimental
Lockheed F-117 NighthawkUnited StatesSubsonicAttack1981Production64
Lockheed Have BlueUnited StatesSubsonicExperimentalPrototype
Lockheed SR-71United StatesSupersonicReconnaissance1964Production32
Lockheed Martin F-22 RaptorUnited StatesSupersonicFighter1996Production195
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIUnited StatesSupersonicFighter2006Production1000+A-variant CTOL, B-variant V/STOL, C-variant CATOBAR
Lockheed Martin RQ-170 SentinelUnited StatesUAVProduction20-30
Lockheed Martin X-35United StatesSupersonicFighter2000Prototype2
Lockheed Martin X-44 MANTAUnited StatesJetFighter2000Project
MBB Lampyridae MRMFGermanyJetFighter1987Project
McDonnell Douglas X-36United StatesSubsonicExperimental1997Prototype1No vertical tail.
McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger IIUnited StatesSubsonicBomberProject
MH-X StealthhawkUnited StatesRotorcraftUtilityTop-secret[34]
Mikoyan SkatRussiaUAVAttackProject
Mikoyan Project 1.44RussiaSupersonicFighter2000Prototype1Initially developt for the MFI project.
Mikoyan LMFSRussiaSupersonicFighterCancelled
Mikoyan PAK DPRussiaSupersonicFighterProject
Mitsubishi X-2 ShinshinJapanSupersonicExperimental2016Prototype1
NGAD (F/A-XX)United StatesSupersonicFighterProjectNavy´s NGAD programme. To replace Navy´s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
NGAD (Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA))United StatesSupersonicFighterProjectTo replace USAF´s F-22 Raptors.
Northrop Tacit BlueUnited StatesSubsonicExperimental1982Prototype1
Northrop YF-23United StatesSupersonicFighter1990Prototype2
Northrop Grumman B-2 SpiritUnited StatesSubsonicBomber1989Production21
Northrop Grumman B-21 RaiderUnited StatesSubsonicBomber2023Production1
Northrop Grumman RQ-180United StatesUAVProduction
Northrop Grumman X-47A PegasusUnited StatesUAVExperimental2003Prototype
Northrop Grumman X-47BUnited StatesUAVExperimental2003Prototype2
Ryan AQM-91 FireflyUnited StatesUAVExperimental
Saab KFSSwedenSupersonicFighter2023PrototypeKonceptet Framtidens Stridsflyg[35]
UAVFighter
Shenyang FC-31ChinaSupersonicFighter2012Prototype
Sukhoi OkhotnikRussiaUAVPrototype
Sukhoi Su-57RussiaSupersonicFighter2010Production21+
Sukhoi Su-75 CheckmateRussiaSupersonicStealth Multirole Fighter2024Project
TAI Anka-3TurkeyUAV2023Prototype1
TAI KaanTurkeySupersonicFighter2024Prototype1
Tupolev PAK DARussiaSubsonicBomberProject
Windecker YE-5United StatesTractorExperimental1973Prototype1Stealth research, not fully stealthy.
Xian H-20ChinaSubsonicBomberProject
Yakovlev Yak-201RussiaSupersonicFighterProjectVTOL

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

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  6. Web site: Did Russia's New Radar Just Make America's Lethal Stealth Fighters Obsolete?. Axe. David. 12 July 2016. The National Interest. en. 7 March 2019.
  7. Web site: Scouting For Surveillance: Detection of the B-2 Stealth Bomber And a Brief History on 'Stealth' . Tao Yue . The Tech . 121 . 63 . November 30, 2001 . 7 March 2019 . 10 June 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090610041304/http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N63/Stealth.63f.html . dead .
  8. Web site: 5th Generation Fighters . Lockheed Martin . 15 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100109091019/http://www.lockheedmartin.com/capabilities/air_power/5th-gen/ . 9 January 2010.
  9. News: Marines Declare F-35B Operational, But Is It Really Ready For Combat? . Foxtrot Alpha . 4 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180304113240/https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/marines-declare-f-35b-operational-but-is-it-really-rea-1721380285 . 4 March 2018 . live . dmy-all .
  10. News: With the J20 stealth fighter in fully operation service, China leaps ahead in Asian arms race . Australian News . 20 October 2017 . en . 4 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180226131148/http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/with-the-j20-stealth-fighter-in-fully-operational-military-service-china-leaps-ahead-in-asian-arms-race/news-story/d5a65bfd8da252a1bb0240026591d575 . 26 February 2018 . live . dmy-all .
  11. Web site: Первый серийный истребитель Су-57 поступил в авиаполк Южного военного округа.
  12. http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/%7Esmherman/darpa/ ATR
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  18. Web site: Gulf War Air Power Survey- Volume IV . 8 August 2024 . U.S Department of Defense . 244-245, 247.
  19. News: Report: Israeli stealth fighters fly over Iran . The Jerusalem Post . 24 July 2019.
  20. News: Israel Launched World's First Air Strike Using F-35 Stealth Fighters, Air Force Chief Says. 24 May 2018. Haaretz. 24 July 2019. en.
  21. Web site: F-117A - Nighthawk . 2024-08-08 . Holloman Air Force Base . en-US.
  22. Web site: Gulf War - Air Power Survey, Volume IV - Weapons, Tactics, and Training . 7 August 2024 . U.S. Department of Defense (.gov) . 39-41, 361.
  23. Web site: B-2 Spirit . 7 August 2024 . U.S. Air Force (af.mil).
  24. Web site: 23 September 2014 . After Years of Trouble, F-22 Raptor's 1st Combat Mission is a 'Success' . 8 August 2024 . ABC News . en.
  25. "Alleged PHOTO, VIDEO of Russian Su-57 Fifth Gen Jet in Syria Released on Twitter". Sputnik (news agency). 22 February 2018.
  26. Web site: Report: Russia Has Developed Prototype of Air-to-Ground Hypersonic Missile for Su-57.
  27. "Alert 5 » Su-57 launched cruise missile while deployed to Syria". Military Aviation News. alert5.com.
  28. News: 中国空军副司令首曝:国产第四代战机即将首飞 . Chinese Air Force deputy commander on first exposure: Domestic upcoming fourth-generation fighter first flight . zh . Phoenix Television News . 9 November 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091112184628/http://news.ifeng.com/mil/2/200911/1109_340_1426743.shtml . 12 November 2009.
  29. [面对面]何为荣:剑啸长空 ]. [Face to face] He Weirong: Swordsman of the sky . zh . CCTV . 8 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100126025452/http://space.tv.cctv.com/video/VIDE1257691556223886 . 26 January 2010.
  30. Web site: 编号78272:第二架五位数编号歼-20曝光 部署沧州 . news.ifeng.com. 12 December 2016.
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  32. Web site: 2024-06-02 . Unmanned escort for manned fighter jets: Airbus presents new Wingman concept at ILA Berlin Airbus . 2024-06-11 . www.airbus.com . en.
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