Northrop Tacit Blue: Difference between revisions

Tacit Blue
Role	Stealth demonstrator
Manufacturer	Northrop Corporation
First flight	February 5, 1982
Retired	1985
Status	Retired
Primary user	United States Air Force
Number built	1

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 08:57, 15 August 2024

The Northrop Tacit Blue was a technology demonstrator aircraft created to demonstrate that a low-observable stealth surveillance aircraft with a low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR) and other sensors could operate close to the forward line of battle with a high degree of survivability.

Development

Unveiled by the U.S. Air Force on 30 April 1996, the Tacit Blue Technology Demonstration Program was designed to prove that such an aircraft could continuously monitor the ground situation deep behind the battlefield and provide targeting information in real time to a ground command center.

In December 1976, DARPA and the U.S. Air Force initiated the Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX) program, which was part of a larger Air Force program called Pave Mover. The BSAX program's goal was to develop an efficient stealth reconnaissance aircraft with a low probability of intercept radar and other sensors that could operate close to the forward line of battle with a high degree of survivability.

Tacit Blue represented the "black" component in the larger "Assault Breaker" program, which intended to validate the concept of massed standoff attacks on advancing armored formations using smart munitions. The Pave Mover radar demonstrators provided the non-stealth portion of the program's targeting system, whereas Tacit Blue was intended to demonstrate a similar but stealth capability, while validating a number of innovative stealth technology advances.^[1]

The radar sensor technology developed for Tacit Blue evolved into the radar now being used by the E-8 Joint STARS aircraft.^[2]

Tacit Blue was given the cover designation of "YF-117D" by the Air Force.^[3]^[4]

Design

Tacit Blue, nicknamed "the whale" (and sometimes also called an "alien school bus" for its only slightly rounded-off rectangular shape),^[8] featured a straight tapered wing with a V-tail mounted on an oversized fuselage with a curved shape. It was the first stealth aircraft to feature curved surfaces for radar cross-section reduction.^[9] Northrop would use this stealth technology on the B-2 bomber. A single flush inlet on the top of the fuselage provided air to two medium-bypass turbofan engines. Tacit Blue employed a quadruply redundant digital fly-by-wire flight control system to help stabilize the aircraft about its longitudinal and directional axes.

Operational history

The aircraft made its first successful flight on February 5, 1982, in Area 51, at Groom Lake, Nevada, flown by Northrop test pilot Richard G. Thomas.^[7] The aircraft subsequently logged 135 flights over a three-year period. The aircraft often flew three to four flights weekly and several times flew more than once a day.

Another Tacit Blue test pilot, Ken Dyson, told CNN in 2014 that Northrop had manufactured additional major components for the jet, which amounted to half of a second plane. "If we lost one, we could have a second one up and flying in short order," Dyson said.^[10]

After reaching about 250 flight hours, the aircraft was placed in storage in 1985. In 1996, after Tacit Blue was declassified, it was placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio and has been on display in the fourth hangar at the museum since June 2016.^[11]

Specifications

Data from the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 55 ft 10 in (17.02 m)
Wingspan: 48 ft 2 in (14.68 m)
Height: 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m)
Airfoil: Clark Y mod.^[12]
Gross weight: 30,000 lb (13,608 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Garrett ATF3-6 turbofan engines, 5,440 lbf (24.2 kN) thrust each

Performance

Maximum speed: 250 kn (290 mph, 460 km/h)
Service ceiling: 25,000–30,000 ft (7,600–9,100 m) operating altitude
Thrust/weight: 0.36

References

^ Assault Breaker Program Analysis.
^ Ramon Lopez (8 May 1996). "Out of the black comes Tacit Blue". Flight Global.
^ von Ehrenfried, Manfred "Ductch" (2013). Stratonauts: Pioneers Venturing into the Stratosphere. New York: Springer. p. 204. ISBN 978-3319029009.
^ "Cover Designations for Classified USAF Aircraft". www.designation-systems.net. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
^ Vartabedian, Ralph (26 February 1993). "Job Stress Catches Up With 'Dr. Stealth' of Aerospace : Science: Eccentric genius John Cashen's departure for Australia has many questioning the technology's future". L A Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^ "Tacit Blue". CNet News. Photos: A brief history of stealth aircraft. November 23, 2007. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b Grier, Peter (August 1996). "The (Tacit) Blue Whale". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
^ Rogoway, Tyler (March 1, 2014). "Lockheed's Senior Peg: The Forgotten Stealth Bomber". Jalopnik.
^ Merlin, Peter W. (2011). Area 51. Arcadia Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 978-0738576206.
^ Patterson, Thom (February 2014). "Area 51 Spy Plane and Other Aviation Tales". CNN. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
^ National Museum of the USAF Fact Sheet
^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

External links

[1] Assault Breaker Program Analysis.

[2] Ramon Lopez (8 May 1996). "Out of the black comes Tacit Blue". Flight Global.

[3] von Ehrenfried, Manfred "Ductch" (2013). Stratonauts: Pioneers Venturing into the Stratosphere. New York: Springer. p. 204. ISBN 978-3319029009.

[4] "Cover Designations for Classified USAF Aircraft". www.designation-systems.net. Retrieved 2024-04-22.

[LATimes1993-5] Vartabedian, Ralph (26 February 1993). "Job Stress Catches Up With 'Dr. Stealth' of Aerospace : Science: Eccentric genius John Cashen's departure for Australia has many questioning the technology's future". L A Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

[6] "Tacit Blue". CNet News. Photos: A brief history of stealth aircraft. November 23, 2007. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.

[AFMag-7] Grier, Peter (August 1996). "The (Tacit) Blue Whale". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved 25 August 2018.

[8] Rogoway, Tyler (March 1, 2014). "Lockheed's Senior Peg: The Forgotten Stealth Bomber". Jalopnik.

[9] Merlin, Peter W. (2011). Area 51. Arcadia Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 978-0738576206.

[CNN-10] Patterson, Thom (February 2014). "Area 51 Spy Plane and Other Aviation Tales". CNN. Retrieved 25 June 2020.

[factSheet-11] National Museum of the USAF Fact Sheet

[Selig-12] Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ==Development==
 Unveiled by the U.S. Air Force on 30 April 1996, the ''Tacit Blue Technology Demonstration Program'' was designed to prove that such an aircraft could continuously monitor the ground situation deep behind the battlefield and provide [[targeting information]] in [[Present|real time]] to a ground [[command center]].
 [[File:Pave Mover Antenna Array, view 1, prototype for J-STARS antenna, Norden, 1981-1983 - National Electronics Museum - DSC00429.JPG|thumb|left|[[Pave Mover]] radar antenna]]
 In December 1976, DARPA and the U.S. Air Force initiated the '''Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX)''' program, which was part of a larger Air Force program called [[Pave Mover]]. The BSAX program's goal was to develop an efficient [[stealth aircraft|stealth]] [[reconnaissance aircraft]] with a [[low probability of intercept radar]] and other sensors that could operate close to the [[forward line of battle]] with a high degree of [[Survivability#Military|survivability]].
-Tacit Blue represented the "[[black project|black]]" component in the larger "[[Assault Breaker]]" program, which intended to validate the concept of massed standoff attacks on advancing armoured formations using [[smart munition]]s. The [[PAVE|Pave Mover]] radar demonstrators provided the non-stealth portion of the program's [[targeting system]], whereas Tacit Blue was intended to demonstrate a similar but stealth capability, while validating a number of innovative [[stealth technology]] advances.<ref>[http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Assault-Breaker.html Assault Breaker Program Analysis].</ref>
+Tacit Blue represented the "[[black project|black]]" component in the larger "[[Assault Breaker]]" program, which intended to validate the concept of massed standoff attacks on advancing armored formations using [[smart munition]]s. The Pave Mover radar demonstrators provided the non-stealth portion of the program's [[targeting system]], whereas Tacit Blue was intended to demonstrate a similar but stealth capability, while validating a number of innovative [[stealth technology]] advances.<ref>[http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Assault-Breaker.html Assault Breaker Program Analysis].</ref>
+The radar sensor technology developed for Tacit Blue evolved into the radar now being used by the [[E-8 Joint STARS]] aircraft.<ref >{{Cite journal |title=Out of the black comes Tacit Blue |author=Ramon Lopez |date=8 May 1996 |journal=[[Flight Global]] |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/out-of-the-black-comes-tacit-blue-17057/}}</ref>
+Tacit Blue was given the cover designation of "YF-117D" by the Air Force.<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Ehrenfried |first1=Manfred "Ductch" |title=Stratonauts: Pioneers Venturing into the Stratosphere |date=2013 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |isbn=978-3319029009 |pages=204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3W8BAAAQBAJ&q=%22YF-117D%22&pg=PA204}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cover Designations for Classified USAF Aircraft |url=https://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/coverdesignations.html |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=www.designation-systems.net}}</ref>
-The radar sensor technology developed for Tacit Blue evolved into the radar now being used by the [[E-8 Joint STARS]] aircraft.<ref >{{Cite journal
-  |title=Out of the black comes Tacit Blue
-  |author=Ramon Lopez
-  |date=8 May 1996
-  |journal=[[Flight Global]]
-  |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/out-of-the-black-comes-tacit-blue-17057/
-}}</ref>
 ==Design==
-[[File:Northrop Tacit Blue Whale.jpg|thumb|Northrop Tacit Blue Whale|thumb|Northrop's B-2 chief scientist John Cashen<ref name="LATimes1993" >{{cite web |last1=VARTABEDIAN |first1=Ralph |title=Job Stress Catches Up With 'Dr. Stealth' of Aerospace : Science: Eccentric genius John Cashen's departure for Australia has many questioning the technology's future |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-26/news/mn-622_1_stealth-technology |publisher=L A Times |accessdate=28 August 2018 |date=26 February 1993}}</ref> was quoted in 1996 as having said, "You're talking about an aircraft that at the time was arguably the most unstable aircraft man had ever flown."<ref >{{cite web |title=Tacit Blue |url=http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6219637-16.html?tag=ne.gall.pg |work=Photos: A brief history of stealth aircraft |publisher=C/Net news |accessdate=2 May 2012 |date=November 23, 2007}}{{dead link |date=December 2015}}</ref><ref name=AFMag/>]]
+[[File:Northrop Tacit Blue Whale.jpg|thumb|alt=Northrop Tacit Blue Whale|Northrop's B-2 chief engineer John Cashen<ref name="LATimes1993" >{{cite web |last1= Vartabedian |first1=Ralph |title=Job Stress Catches Up With 'Dr. Stealth' of Aerospace : Science: Eccentric genius John Cashen's departure for Australia has many questioning the technology's future |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-26-mn-622-story.html |publisher=L A Times |access-date=28 August 2018 |date=26 February 1993}}</ref> was quoted in 1996 as having said, "You're talking about an aircraft that at the time was arguably the most unstable aircraft man had ever flown."<ref >{{cite web |title=Tacit Blue |url=http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6219637-16.html?tag=ne.gall.pg |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907082056/http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6219637-16.html?tag=ne.gall.pg |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 7, 2012 |series=Photos: A brief history of stealth aircraft |work=CNet News |access-date=2 May 2012 |date=November 23, 2007}}</ref><ref name=AFMag/>]]
-Tacit Blue, nicknamed "the [[whale]]" (and sometimes also called an "alien school bus" for its only slightly rounded-off rectangular shape),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/lockheeds-senior-peg-the-forgotten-stealth-bomber-1534057907 |title=Lockheed's Senior Peg: The Forgotten Stealth Bomber}}</ref> featured a straight [[tapered wing]] with a [[V-tail]] mounted on an oversized fuselage with a curved shape. It was the first stealth aircraft to feature curved surfaces for RCS reduction.<ref >{{Cite book
+Tacit Blue, nicknamed "the whale" (and sometimes also called an "alien school bus" for its only slightly rounded-off rectangular shape),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/lockheeds-senior-peg-the-forgotten-stealth-bomber-1534057907 |title=Lockheed's Senior Peg: The Forgotten Stealth Bomber |first=Tyler |last=Rogoway |date=March 1, 2014 |work=Jalopnik}}</ref> featured a straight [[tapered wing]] with a [[V-tail]] mounted on an oversized fuselage with a curved shape. It was the first stealth aircraft to feature curved surfaces for [[radar cross-section]] reduction.<ref >{{Cite book
   |title=Area 51
   |first=Peter W.  |last=Merlin
   |year=2011
   |publisher=Arcadia Publishing
-  |isbn=0738576204
+  |isbn=978-0738576206
-  |ref=harv
   |page=119
-  |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TLPsUdb_Me8C&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q&f=false
+  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLPsUdb_Me8C&pg=PA119
-}}</ref> Northrop would use this [[stealth technology]] on the [[B-2 bomber]]. A single [[flush inlet]] on the top of the fuselage provided air to two [[high-bypass turbofan]] engines. Tacit Blue employed a quadruply redundant digital [[fly-by-wire]] flight control system to help stabilize the aircraft about its longitudinal and directional axes.
+}}</ref> Northrop would use this [[stealth technology]] on the [[B-2 bomber]]. A single [[flush inlet]] on the top of the fuselage provided air to two [[Turbofan#Common types|medium-bypass turbofan]] engines. Tacit Blue employed a quadruply redundant digital [[fly-by-wire]] flight control system to help stabilize the aircraft about its longitudinal and directional axes.
 ==Operational history==
 [[File:Northrop Tacit Blue - cockpit.jpg|thumb|Northrop Tacit Blue cockpit]]
-The aircraft made its first successful flight on February 5, 1982, in [[Area 51]], at [[Groom Lake, Nevada]], flown by Northrop test pilot [[Richard G. Thomas]].<ref name=AFMag>{{cite web |last1=Grier |first1=Peter |title=The (Tacit) Blue Whale |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1996/August%201996/0896tacit.aspx/ |publisher=Air Force Magazine |accessdate=25 August 2018 |date=August 1996}}</ref> The aircraft subsequently logged 135 flights over a three-year period. The aircraft often flew three to four flights weekly and several times flew more than once a day. After reaching about 250 flight hours, the aircraft was placed in storage in 1985. In 1996, after Tacit Blue was declassified, it was placed on display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]], near [[Dayton, Ohio]]<nowiki/> and has been on display in the new fourth hangar at the museum since June 2016.<ref name=factSheet>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141213195801/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=353 National Museum of the USAF Fact Sheet]</ref>
+The aircraft made its first successful flight on February 5, 1982, in [[Area 51]], at [[Groom Lake, Nevada]], flown by Northrop test pilot [[Richard G. Thomas]].<ref name=AFMag>{{cite web |last1=Grier |first1=Peter |title=The (Tacit) Blue Whale |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1996/August%201996/0896tacit.aspx/ |publisher=Air Force Magazine |access-date=25 August 2018 |date=August 1996}}</ref> The aircraft subsequently logged 135 flights over a three-year period. The aircraft often flew three to four flights weekly and several times flew more than once a day.
+Another Tacit Blue test pilot, Ken Dyson, told CNN in 2014 that Northrop had manufactured additional major components for the jet, which amounted to half of a second plane. "If we lost one, we could have a second one up and flying in short order," Dyson said.<ref name=CNN>{{cite web |last1=Patterson |first1=Thom |title=Area 51 Spy Plane and Other Aviation Tales |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/air-force-museum-spy-plane/index.html|publisher=CNN |access-date=25 June 2020 |date=February 2014}}</ref>
+After reaching about 250 flight hours, the aircraft was placed in storage in 1985. In 1996, after Tacit Blue was declassified, it was placed on display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]], near [[Dayton, Ohio]] and has been on display in the fourth hangar at the museum since June 2016.<ref name=factSheet>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141213195801/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=353 National Museum of the USAF Fact Sheet]</ref>
 ==Specifications==
+Data from the [https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195769/northrop-tacit-blue/ National Museum of the United States Air Force] and the [https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Photos/igphoto/2001236821/#:~:text=Tacit%20Blue%20featured%20a%20straight,feet%20and%20weighed%2030%2C000%20pounds. Department of Defense]
 {{Aircraft specs
-|ref={{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
 |prime units?=kts
 <!--
@@ Line 82: / Line 83: @@
 |wing area note=
 |aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
-|airfoil=[[Clark Y]] mod.<ref name="Selig">{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |accessdate=16 April 2019}}</ref>
+|airfoil=[[Clark Y]] mod.<ref name="Selig">{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref>
 |empty weight lb=
 |empty weight note=
@@ Line 136: / Line 137: @@
 |avionics=
 }}
 ==See also==
@@ Line 159: / Line 161: @@
 {{Northrop aircraft}}
+{{USAF fighters}}
+{{Stealth aircraft}}
 [[Category:Stealth aircraft]]
@@ Line 165: / Line 169: @@
 [[Category:Northrop aircraft|Tacit Blue]]
 [[Category:V-tail aircraft]]
-[[Category:Black projects]]
 [[Category:Low-wing aircraft]]
 [[Category:Twinjets]]
+[[Category:Area 51]]