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You mean during Desert Storm? Stealth was very new (I think the F117 had been used in Panama for the first time though). 8 years later the Serbs were able to tr

by fafner 12y ago

You mean during Desert Storm? Stealth was very new (I think the F117 had been used in Panama for the first time though). 8 years later the Serbs were able to track and shoot down an F117. The Russians and Chinese and probably every other defence company aren't sitting still. Afghanistan had no serious air defence network anyway. The Iraqi air defence network was heavily outdated and under sanctions for over 10 years in 2003. The Libyan air defences hadn't been updated since the 80s when the US managed to bomb Libya with the loss of one aircraft. The Israelis managed time and time again to overcome the Syrian air defence network. Which is, although not build to its full capacity due to Russia holding back the S300 and now heavily impacted by the civil war, more modern and better designed than anything the US encountered in her recent conflicts. And the Israelis have no stealth aircraft and used their F-15.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
I thought the Serbs tracked the F117 they shot mostly by sight? They had a bunch of observers with cell phones. This got them a close enough fix to target it. Not really an argument against keeping a low radar cross section.
- droithomme 12y ago
  Well fortunately we can ask him. The F-117 was downed by Colonel Zoltan Dani, former commander of the 3rd battery of the 250th Missile Brigade in Belgrade, on March 27, 1999. Question: "How did you manage to spot the stealth fighter?" Zoltan Dani: "To that end, we used the Soviet-made P18 meter band radar which is capable of tracking any warplane irrespective of the configuration of its fuselage. The radar started to emit and we discovered a target at a distance of 15 kilometers – something that our operators were distinctly seeing on a display. I was quick to order the launch of a missile which destroyed the target." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-18_radar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-18_radar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltán_Dani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltán_Dani http://voiceofrussia.com/2012_03_24/69369732/ http://voiceofrussia.com/2012_03_24/69369732/

by fafner 12y ago

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago

I thought the Serbs tracked the F117 they shot mostly by sight? They had a bunch of observers with cell phones. This got them a close enough fix to target it. Not really an argument against keeping a low radar cross section.

droithomme 12y ago
Well fortunately we can ask him. The F-117 was downed by Colonel Zoltan Dani, former commander of the 3rd battery of the 250th Missile Brigade in Belgrade, on March 27, 1999. Question: "How did you manage to spot the stealth fighter?" Zoltan Dani: "To that end, we used the Soviet-made P18 meter band radar which is capable of tracking any warplane irrespective of the configuration of its fuselage. The radar started to emit and we discovered a target at a distance of 15 kilometers – something that our operators were distinctly seeing on a display. I was quick to order the launch of a missile which destroyed the target." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-18_radar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-18_radar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltán_Dani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltán_Dani http://voiceofrussia.com/2012_03_24/69369732/ http://voiceofrussia.com/2012_03_24/69369732/