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Military members mingle with civilians as they view aircraft on the Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, flightline during the Operation DESERT STORM 10th Anniversary Air Tattoo. Lined-up for review are (foreground to background) F-117A Nighthawk, F-16C Fighting Falcon, F-15C Eagle, QF-4G Phantom II, A-10A Warthog, and F-4F Phantom II

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Military members mingle with civilians as they view aircraft on the Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, flightline during the Operation DESERT STORM 10th Anniversary Air Tattoo. Lined-up for review are (foreground to background) F-117A Nighthawk, F-16C Fighting Falcon, F-15C Eagle, QF-4G Phantom II, A-10A Warthog, and F-4F Phantom II

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Summary

The original finding aid described this photograph as:

Subject Operation/Series: DESERT STORM

Base: Shaw Air Force Base

State: South Carolina (SC)

Country: United States Of America (USA)

Scene Camera Operator: SRA Greg L. Davis, USAF

Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files

The A-10 Thunderbolt has excellent maneuverability at low airspeeds and altitude and is a highly accurate and survivable weapons-delivery platform. Called the “Warthog” for its aggressive look and often painted with teeth on the nose cone, the A-10 Thunderbolt II is the U.S. Air Force’s primary low-altitude close air support aircraft best known for its GAU-8 Avenger 30mm Gatling gun designed to fire armor-piercing depleted uranium and high explosive incendiary rounds. In the 1970s the threat of Soviet armored forces and all-weather attack operations had become more serious. Six companies submitted aircraft proposals, with Northrop and Fairchild-Republic selected to build prototypes: the YA-9A and YA-10A, respectively. General Electric and Philco-Ford were selected to build and test GAU-8 cannon prototypes. First A-10 was delivered to the U.S. Air Force on 30 March 1976. By 1984, 715 airplanes had been built.

In 1964, Pyotr Ufimtsev, Russian mathematician, pioneered the idea that the level of the radar return from an airplane is related to its edge configuration, not its size. Basing on work by the German physicist Arnold Sommerfeld, Ufimtsev demonstrated that an aircraft radar signature can be reduced. By the 1970s, Lockheed analyst Denys Overholser found Ufimtsev's paper and F-117 Nighthawk was born as a black project, an ultra-secret Pentagon program. The F-117 has a radar cross-section of about 0.001 m2 (0.0108 sq ft). The F-117A carries no radar and whether it carries any radar detection equipment is classified. The F-117 also reduces infrared signature, lacks afterburners, and limited to subsonic speeds. However, the resulting design makes the aircraft aerodynamically unstable and requires constant flight corrections from a fly-by-wire flight system to maintain controlled flight. A pilot, who flew it while it was still a secret project, stated that when he first saw a photograph of the F-117, he "promptly giggled and thought to this clearly can't fly'". It has low engine thrust due to losses in the inlet and outlet, a low wing aspect ratio, and 50° wing sweep angle to deflect radar waves to the sides. Supercomputers made it possible for subsequent aircraft like the B-2 to use curved surfaces while maintaining stealth. The 558 Nighthawk's pilots called themselves "Bandits", such as "Bandit 17", that where 17 is a sequential order of their first flight in the F-117. The aircraft was in use during Panama invasion, the Gulf War in 1991 and was first shot down in Serbia during on 27 March 1999 by an antiquate Soviet-made SA-3s (S-125 "Neva" ) anti-aircraft missile. The pilot was recovered by a United States Air Force Pararescue team. According to Serbian anti-aircraft unit commander, they spotted the aircraft on the radar when its bomb-bay doors opened, raising its radar signature. The Serbs invited Russians to inspect the aircraft's remains, compromising the stealth technology. Although officially retired, the F-117 fleet remains intact and some of the aircraft are flown periodically as of 2019.

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Date

28/02/2001
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Location

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Source

The U.S. National Archives
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