FREE ESSAY ON SOPHISTICATED MILITARY AIRCRAFT USED IN WARS

SOPHISTICATED MILITARY AIRCRAFT USED IN WARS

Military aircraft has become more sophisticated in variety, effectiveness in war 
situations, and special maneuvering techniques in recent years. With the advance of
stealth 
technology, many new and very effective aircraft have been developed. The F-117A was 
used during Operation Dessert Storm and every plane came back without a scratch. The 
very expensive B-2 stealth bomber has never been used in actual war, but during testing
it 
was a success. The Advanced Tactical Fighter program was started to make an aircraft 
that could supercruise, the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds, and didn't cost very

much. The YF-22 and YF-23 were the first planes to accomplish this. With all the planes 
we know of, there are also top secret programs probably going on right now. A new 
fighter that has never been heard of before has been spotted. As John Welch, the
assistant 
secretary of Air Force said, Stealth gives us back that fundamental element of war called

surprise (Goodall 9). 
After it was found that aircraft could be very useful in war, it was used for large scale

reconnaissance. Then people started to add bombs to aircraft and then airplanes started
to 
become an essence of war. After World War 2, new bombers were developed with fast 
speed, and could travel far distances. They could also carry nuclear bombs and missiles.

The use of the bomber aircraft then led to the fighter, which was equipped with guns and

missiles. Helicopters were also found to be good strike aircraft. They were armed with 
cannons, machine guns, rockets, torpedoes, and a variety of missiles. Vertical takeoff 
made the helicopter an advantage. 
The first flight of the F-117A was in June of 1981 in Groom Lake test facility. The 
total cost for the development of the F-117A was just under two billion dollars, but it
only 
cost $43 million to make each plane. It became operational in October of 1983 and was 
the first operational stealth aircraft ever built. The F-117A is a night attack plane
powered 
by two, nonafterburning General Electric engines. F-117As were designed for first-strike

capabilities and to be able to fly into any countries airspace undetected. The primary
task 
of the F-117A is to break through enemy airspace, destroy high value targets, and return

back unharmed. They were considered to first be used in several different tasks, but 
weren't used until Operation Dessert Storm where they did an excellent job. As Donald 
Rice, Secretary of the Air Force, said, Everyone now agrees the F-117 was a real 
bargain (9).
During Operation Dessert Storm the F-117As were found out to be very successful. 
The war began on January 16, 1991 when the F-117A fighters entered the Iraqi airspace 
on their way to downtown Baghdad. There were 43 of them over the skies of Iraq and not 
one was lost even though they went against one of the most modern air-defense systems
in 
the world. Operation Dessert Storm was the largest aerial bombing attack in war history.

It was also the first time a stealth aircraft was used as a main weapon. On the first day
of 
Dessert Storm the Lockheed F-117As dropped sixty-two 2,000 pound bombs on Baghdad 
destroying the most critical targets of the Iraqi military, including the headquarters of
the 
Iraqi air force. We've seen that not only does stealth work, but that it puts fewer
assets at 
risk and saves lives (9), as Donald Rice said. The pilots of those F-117As flew through 
the hardest anti-aircraft missiles any pilot has ever flown through.
When you think of stealth, most people probably think of B-2 stealth bomber, but 
most people don't realize that it hasn't even been used in a real war situation yet. In 
November of 1987 the Pentagon ordered the first four B-2s to be built for $2 billion.
Each 
B-2 cost $437.4 million to build. After the military liked the bomber, they originally
ordered 133 of them, then they cut back to 75 because of the deficit-reduction bill.
Then, 
in 1992, the House of Representatives voted to buy only twenty, and later only 15 saying

that 10 would be enough. With four General Electric engines with 19,000 pounds of
thrust 
each, the B-2s were made to carry a lot of weight. The Advanced Technology Bomber, as 
it was called, was made so it couldn't be spotted by enemy radar. After testing it was 
found out that it is almost impossible to track it constantly using radar. The B-2s were

designed to be an all-flying wing and it is made up of over eighty percent of composite 
materials. The B-2 is 69 feet long, has a wingspan of 172 feet, and 17 feet in height.
They 
also can carry a payload of 40,000 pounds and can travel at mach 0.85 (Jones 86). The B-
2 can carry 80 bombs, including nuclear bombs. All fifteen of the B-2s are assigned to 
Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and await to be used in actual combat.
In 1983 the Advanced Tactical Fighter program office was formed at Wright-
Patterson 
Air Force Base, Ohio. The Air Force wanted to build an aircraft that had the ability to 
supercruise without the use of afterburners or running out of fuel in a couple of
minutes.
It 
should be able to cruise at mach 1.4 or 1.5 and be able to take off on runways less then

2,000 feet long. Since the money was starting to get tight, the Advanced Tactical Fighter

should cost under $40 million each to build. To come up with this aircraft, the Military

gave a contract to both Northrop and Lockheed to each build it with these specifications.

The Air Force wanted an air-superiority fighter to replace the Douglass F-15 Eagle. In 
1986 the Air Force gave a contract to Northrop and Lockheed who would each build two 
Advanced Tactical Fighter prototypes. The Northrop YF-23 made its first flight in August

1990. It was powered by a Pratt and Witney F-119-PW engine. The YF-23 can hold four 
AIM-120 missiles. The YF-22 prototype made its first flight in September of 1990 and 
became the first to pass the Air Force's supercruise specification. It could reach mach
1.58 
and faster. The YF-22 has three weapon bays that can each carry two air-to-air missiles.

Both fighters can supercruise at speeds of Mach 1.5 to 1.7. Their top speeds are
classified 
but they can most likely go over Mach 2. In April of 1991 the Air Force had to decide 
which plane they wanted, they chose the Lockheed YF-22 even though the YF-23 was 
more stealthy and could go faster.
A new swing-wing stealth aircraft has been spotted undergoing test. In September of 
1994 it was seen circling high over Anarillo, Texas. While it was circling, a radio
scanner 
picked up a military UHF channel with the call sign Omega. This call sign has never been

heard before. The pilot was talking about a hydraulic malfunction and was saying he was 
dumping fuel to prepare for an emergency landing. If there is a new plane like this, it
will 
probably be called the A-17 and will replace the F-111 which has been in service since 
1967. Recently there have been millions of dollars spent expanding the Cannon Air Force 
Base and a new plane might be undergoing testing there. It has also been said that high 
ranking officials have gathered there to look at the new aircraft. The Pentagon has 
announced that the F-111 will be retired by the end of 1995. The new swing-wing aircraft

spotted will most likely replace it. Swing-wing aircraft add weight and make a plane
more 
complex, but give many advantages. When the wing is swung forward the plane can
travel 
farther and can land and takeoff on shorter runways. When swung forward it can reach 
supersonic speeds. It was noticed that the new airplane spotted was armed with bombs 
and self-defense missiles. The A-17 has many things in common with the YF-23 like the 
air inlets and the humps on top of the fuselage that hide its engines. The engines on it
are 
probably General Electric YF-120 turbo fan-turbojet engines which can reach speeds up
to 
Mach 2. 
One of the best recent advances has been in the area of flight guidance and control 
such as the pilotless plane or drone. The Firebee is a pilotless plane that can be
controlled 
by ground, plane, or by a computer. It can fly following a preset course and return. 
Another advance is vertical takeoff. It is a big advantage when an airplane can land and

takeoff almost anywhere. The British were the first to design it, but we built prototypes

right away. With the advance of stealth technology, radar avoidance has become very 
important. If the enemy doesn't know you are coming then they won't even know what hit 
them if we want to attack them. When Donald Rice said, Stealth saves lives, money, and 
does the job better (Goodall 10), he was right. Operation Dessert Storm showed us that. 
With the many advances of military aircraft, it has become a main and effective part of
war 
in recent years.