Northrop Tacit Blue

Northrop Tacit Blue
Land	Usa
Role	Stealth demonstrator
Eerste vlucht	5 februari 1982
Gebouwd	1

De Northrop Stilit Blauw was een technologisch demonstratievliegtuig dat was gemaakt om aan te tonen dat een laag waarneembaar stealth-bewakingsvliegtuig met een lage kans op onderscheppingsradar en andere sensoren dicht bij de voorwaartse gevechtslinie kon opereren met een hoge mate van overlevingskansen.

Bron: Northrop Tacit Blue op Wikipedia

Northrop Tacit Blue Walk Around
Fotografen	John Heck, Vladimir Yakubov
Lokalisatie	Onbewust
Foto 's	64

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General Characteristics and Role

The Northrop Tacit Blue was a highly classified technology demonstrator aircraft developed by the US Air Force and DARPA during the Cold War. Nicknamed “The Whale” or “Alien School Bus” due to its unusual, bulbous shape, its main purpose was to prove that a stealthy surveillance aircraft could operate safely close to the forward line of battle. It was revolutionary for being the first stealth aircraft to successfully use curved, Gaussian surfaces to achieve a low radar cross-section, a concept later used in the B-2 Spirit bomber. It was part of the Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft, eXperimental (BSAX) program and was designed around a large Side-Looking Array Radar (SLAR) system.

Property	Typical Value (Tacit Blue)
Type	Stealth Technology Demonstrator / Surveillance Aircraft
National Origin	Verenigde Staten
Fabrikant	Northrop Corporation
First Flight	5 februari 1982
Bemanning	1 (Pilot)
Gross Weight	13,608 kg (30,000 lb)
Lengte	17.02 m (55 ft 10 in)
Spanwijdte	14.68 m (48 ft 2 in)

Powerplant and Flight Control

Engines: 2 x Garrett ATF3-6 high-bypass turbofan engines (buried in the aft fuselage to reduce heat signature).
Thrust: 24.2 kN (5,440 lbf) each.
Design Operational Speed: 460 km/h (290 mph or 250 knots).
Operating Altitude: 7,600–9,100 m (25,000–30,000 ft) (designed for loitering).
Stealth Features: Curved fuselage surfaces, V-tail, and a single flush inlet on the dorsal fuselage to minimize radar return.
Flight Stability: The aircraft was highly aerodynamically unstable, necessitating a quadruple-redundant digital fly-by-wire flight control system to keep it stable.
Armament: None; it was purely a reconnaissance testbed.

Operational History and Legacy

Status: Classified Black Project from 1982 to 1985; declassified and revealed to the public in 1996.
Flight Testing: Logged 135 test flights over three years in Area 51, Nevada.
Technology Transfer: The data gathered from the Tacit Blue was instrumental in developing two critical US Air Force aircraft:
- The Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber (for its curved surface stealth technology).
- The E-8 Joint STARS surveillance aircraft (for its low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) SLAR radar technology).
Historical Significance: Tacit Blue is considered one of the most successful technology demonstrator programs in Air Force history, fundamentally changing the approach to stealth aircraft design by demonstrating the feasibility of curved stealth shaping.

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