Why the F-117N Seahawk Could Have Changed Naval Aviation Forever
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
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A navalized version of the F-117A Nighthawk was once proposed to the Navy, codenamed Seahawk see why this carrier based stealth fighter could have changed the course of naval aviation as we know it.
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Credits/Attributions:
"The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement."
Department of Defense
Northrop Grumman
Lockheed Martin
Boeing
Raytheon
Pratt & Whitney
General Electric
Have blue concept art: FOX 52, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Atari 2600 photo: Evan-Amos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
F-117 Flight Demonstration Footage: TaylorNews, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
All animations are produced by me, Tog and are property of this channel.
Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of the DOD, any government or company - now you know!
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You need a Growling Sidewinder "I'm a cat person" tee shirt with the venerable Tomcat in glorious form.
Not paid, just a fan.
War Thunder sucks.
You're also misleading people telling them they can play "modern" vehicles. Sure, you can. If you play for 1-2 years. You can't just jump in and play what you want you start from WWI, not even WWII.
In a saltwater environment with first generation stealth coatings don’t know how well that would have worked out
It would wash off in minutes 🎉
Lockheed made a entire stealth ship(Seashadow IX-529)
You are probably right yes buuut I would still say at least test it out and try and figure a solution. If they hadthe F-35C would have been much better off. Actually probably all US Stealth planes would have benefited tremedously from the experience. No doubt they would have failed a lot but it would have saved time on latter Stealth coatings.
just slap some FS 26270 Haze Gray paint on top of it, she'll be right.
What materials were used for the 1st generation stealth coatings?
18:55 Dang that guy pulled a drift during take of. Now thats some skill there.
Skunk works was led by Ben Rich during the stealth development. Kelly Johnson was semi retired advisor at the time. Initially he disregarded the project considering it impractical.
Audio suppression was definitely NOT on the priority list of F-117. It is loud! Surprisingly loud. I'd say right there with F-16 or F-18. It rips the sky with military power noise. If you've ever heard one, you'll agree.
I have heard them a few times, I didn't notice that they were excessive or even normal on exhaust noise. I don't know how you come up with that.
@JSFGuy I've heard them. Maybe loud is a subjective term, but to my ears they were indistinguishable from a F-16 or F-18. Not Eagle loud, but Eagles have the power of two F-16s, so that's expected.
@JSFGuy Looking into it's further, they have the F404 engines. Two F404 which exactly matches the F-18.
Maybe I was expecting a whisper jet, so the surprise of hearing a F-18 as it few over gave the impression of more noise. But, that still assumes the F-18 to be not loud, which it definitely is.
At 40-50k ft. Dropping Jdms. It’s very quiet.
@@phillm156 This is true. The JDAM is audible before the F-18 is. And, the JDAM doesn't even have an engine.
*Intersting fact: the primary reason the Boeing 787 is so quiet isn't due to engine noise reduction. It's those sawtooth joints on flight surfaces and engine nacelles. A lesson learned from why owls are so quiet in flight. Also a feature on the F-22 and F-35 exhaust nozzles. Not present on F-117.
Is there enough info on the Super Tomcat '21' to justify a video on it? I've always liked the F-14. Amazing aircraft, even though it did have its problems.
If it had a better stealth coat then the first generstion then maybe but with the first generstion the salt water would screw it up
How
F-117A already had air+yo-air capability, being able to carry and launch AIM-9 missiles.
Not initially.
@@azrooferkents I do not know at what point the AIM-9 capability was added, but pilots say it was present on F-117A.
@@alex3261 When I left in the mid 80's while we were exploring the possibility, the requirement to lower the trap below the fuselage long enough for the IR seeker to lock on was too much a degradation to RCS to pursue
@@azrooferkents I got the info from the Fighter Pilot Podcast, episode 072 - interview with Maj. Robson Donaldson. The actual detail on AIM-9 is on episode 073 at minute 3.40 (answer to a viewer question, as a follow up of episode 072).
Just because you can carry, doesn't make you a good fighter. We have helicopters and they carry AIM-9's. That doesn't mean you want to go around chasing MIGs in one.
You should do a video on the F/A-22N
I 2nd this!
I had a F-19 model kit as a kid. It was a concept decoy released to throw off public speculation about the design. Funny how things like that works.
Was there ever a concept for an F-22"N"? Before the F-22 entered service, I drew a two seat Raptor.
I think my two favorite "not to be's" were the F-20, and the YF-23.
The F-117N Seashadow, or Shadowhawk.
No, this was an exclusive Air force contract requirement.
Shadowhawk sounds cool af
@@JSFGuy There actually were some concept designs/drawing for an F-22N.Sea Raptor. It was envisioned to have swing wings like the Tomcat.
@@timbaskett6299 I've always asked why not put an Apache AH-64 on carriers and in the naval fleet?
Ships that have attack helicopters already use the Cobra. Marine Corps is Department Of The Navy.
They wandered into a strange Tiki bar on the edge of the small beach town.
Love the design
It would a 21st century Seafire. Skunk works all over the deck. What became of the A12?
Give us a video about the X-15!
The Seahawk is way better looking than the Nighthawk.
Such a cool plane
I played a computer game way back. Playing a night hawk that you had to fly off and land on a aircraft carrier. It was hard. Lol😅
It wasn't one of thecbest kempt secret. People knew the the Amracan were making a stealth aircraft. But didn't know what it looked like. the monogram F-19 stealth fighter. Was officially revealed in 1988. But their was gossip and rumors long before that. Even airfix made a model. I soppose we were fooled in a way. But not so surprised when the 1st night hawk was shown. Still a great aircraft. Any poor nation would love one. Or two. Ukraine. Maybe.. Interesting information. 👽👍
Looks better than the F-35
Reva.
Mping some of these old projects is more of a filling pockets
Actually the F-117 redeemed itself during desert storm. It was first used in “Operation Just Cause” in Panama 🇵🇦. Its laser guided munitions didn’t hit the mark, but it was the first time it was used in anger.
F-117N would be the sexiest jet, even sexier than a Tomcat
Call me Wokey McWokington, but the idea that anything could ever be sexier than an F14 is one of the most offensive ideas I’ve ever seen on the internet.
Take that back a sir, or else it shall be pistols at dawn!
For the last damn fime, the F117 wasn't a "stealth fighter"! 🤦😑 It was a stealth BOMBER!!! It had literally ZERO air-to-air weapons!!!
No sh*t... you want a silver star for stating the obvious
It would change nothing. At most they would need to make 12 for special ops.
I'm sorry to rain on the parade of the Fanboys. But this concept is best left on the drawing boards.
did you ask him why he lied about his time in Iraq and getting PTSD when he never went to Iraq? did you ask him why he lied about his rank? did you ask him why he lied about carrying a gun in war when he never went to war? did you ask him why he abandoned his unit right before a deployment when he would have known it was coming for months
Are you picking on Tampon Tim....
Thanks so much for creating and sharing this informative video. Great job. Keep it up.
Slava Ukraini
So the landing gear was sufficient?
Also you missed AI going through all the possible shapes the plane could be
❤🎉😂
👍🏻😎🇺🇸
Personally, I've always considered the 117 to be a bomber not a fighter.
F-105
F-111
F-117
F-35
imagine being in a third world country and the first thing you hear in the morning is the sounds of FREEDOM 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅RAAAAAAAA
Blue medal green friend intelligence vision
😂😂 Russian shot one down is in the 80s with 70s SAM system over Serbia..
Only one? Doesn't seem like much to brag about, given they conducted hundreds of sorties.
as long they don't send this to Serbia this Plane will be fine
One word.....DRONE.
RakHine
They had to waisted the Seahawk
Man don't bring up the one kill on it!!! Serbia hitting that nighthawk was 95 % luck and it's been admitted!!!
Robotic voice over is super anoying
Wait a minute, hold up. Your telling me America almost made an F-35C baby but aborted it?
The decision must have been made in nyc or San Fran….😅
well they got a different kind of seahawk lol
You forgot the Navy A-12 that was also canceled. It didn't help when the Navy Program Office and General Dynamics briefed the program to him and said it was on track. Then, several months later came back for more money. It was so bad that the Navy announced the program manager had been selected for admiral was still going to be promoted. That promotion was canceled not long after that. The main lesson was lying to Cheny does not end well.
The Super Tomcat was canceled by Cheny . He said it was a 'get well' program for Grumman. Also, the Naval Aviation leadership (Hornet Mafia) overtly shot down anything with the F-14. They were working on the Super Hornet and didn't want competition.
@@jamesmterrell wasn’t the future variant of the f-14 supposed to also serve as a drone controller? Funny how the navy is now scrambling for something like that.
@@codename1176
"wasn’t the future variant of the f-14 supposed to also serve as a drone controller?"
No plans for that, no. That's F-35/Super Hornet territory. Was never intended for the Tomcat. The ASF-14 would've been interesting, however.
My favorite fact was this 5:39. This was when they put a full-sized mockup of the original variant on a pole and pointed a radar at it. They were hoping they would get a return of the size of something like a car. The RCS was that of a small bird. The project was immediately turned black after this. Sometimes being wrong is a good thing.
Modifying an already as built is always more expensive and more project risk than starting from a clean sheet. To navalize an F 117 would have been too many compromises and increased the RCS.
The original 117 airframe wasn't beefy enough to handle carrier landings and the tailhook was in a sealed compartment to be used as a last resort. Also the internal structure of the wing assembly wasn't conducive to folding wing tips.
@@azrooferkents Thank you.
"Always" part is entirely incorrect. It may be less common and sometimes more difficult now, but if you look at almost every naval fighter in WWII and even into Vietnam, they started as land based aircraft. The only limitations in the conversions are landing gear and airframe strength. As long as the basic design is compatible, it can be converted. Using already designed platforms is far cheaper and easier than designing an entirely different aircraft. See the F-35 for a modern reference.
@@kevintemple245 Exactly. How could developing a entirely new airframe cheaper than modding land based craft
It's amazing how quickly the Nighthawk went from the drawing board to mission capable. It is like the companies and engineers cared more about defence than dividends in those days. It is a shame that more than half the suppliers have been consolidated and many of the Pentagon budget auditors have been 'let go' during this modern era.
A big reason it happened so quickly was the Skunk Works preference for keeping the engineers and machinists in the same work space. Those guys streamlined the entire process and improved it along the way.
The main reason why it was quick is because it’s based on the Horton X that the Germans were working on, transferred over via Operation Paperclip. One of the units crashed in Roswell, so to cover up Paperclip involvement it the Horton and it’s German Pilot were rebranded UFO and ‘little green men’. The civilians who bought into the Aliens story were then gaslight with the Weather Balloon, and those who saw too much had a ‘medical examination’ done to shut them up.
4:00 - Error - Kelly Johnson was VERY opposed to the Have Blue concept. Ben Rich was running Lockheed ADP at the time and butted heads with Kelly over the program.
Johnson refused to believe that a faceted design would have a RCS lower that their D-21 drone. In a way, he WAS correct because that curved approach has definitely become the standard. Unfortunately at the time, the computers available to ADP were very limited and could only work out 2-D, faceted surfaces.
Kelly did eventually give credit where credit was due. Ben Rich and Denys Overholser revolutionized Americans entire approach to air superiority to such a degree that we now prefer and can attain absolute air supremacy.
A good name would be the "Squall".
A squall is a sudden sharp increase of wind at sea that shows up outta nowhere and is impossible to predict.
Public release right here right now.
No way that bird could exist on a carrier. The corrosion generated by the ocean environment would have wreaked havoc with everything on that plane. On top of that in order to beef the airframe up to take the stresses of catapult launches and arrested landings would have. broken that bird in no time not to mention how all the mods would have affected the flight characteristics of the plane. Also it couldn’t dog fight and had no gun in which to defend itself if detected. Don’t see it happening with that plane!!!
The Nighthawk could have been a potentially solid addition as a replacement for the A6 although it lacked in a couple important areas. The biggest is payload capacity. The A6E could carry more Ordnance than the legacy Hornet. The F-117 couldn't come close because internal bays and limited hardpoints. It would have been a huge step backwards for the Navy. About the only space I could see the F117 working for the Navy would be as a stealthy replacement for the E2 Hawkeye, but you'd need to effectively double the F117's range to come close to the E2's loiter time. Oh yeah, and give it all the radar and electronics gear. It would be a radical redesign.
Correction: stealth was spearheaded by Kelly Johnson's successor, Ben Rich. Johnson had retired, and while he still came in as a consultant, he thought the concept was useless.
Landing this brick on an Carrier sounds like a nightmare :D
surprised you didn't mention the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II, which I think would be the biggest competitor for the F-117N project. Does the time line fit?
I actually did a video all about the A12: ua-cam.com/video/Y6XbpcdfrO8/v-deo.htmlsi=8LxNViXRwPfu77AU
@@PilotPhotog of cos you did. I remember and saw that before and good work as always. My question has more to do with the timeline. Was A-12 cancelled when LM proposed the F117N? or was Navy saying "we have carrier stealth fighter at home (A12 and all its budget overrun)."
@@seifer918 I think there was some overlap between the two, The F-117N proposal was short lived, I just thought it'd be a fun topic to explore - thanks for commenting!
Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.
I think the F•117N Seahawk, since it was stealthy, but to slow for the NAVY, should have been developed for the MARINES. Calling it the A•117M Steathhog.
I would have taken the gun from the A•10 Warthog and placed it between those new GE Engines, that would have been lowered into the fuselage making a very stealthy gunship. For troop support for MARINES on the ground or to knock out enemy gun emplacements on shore before Marines hit the beaches. Send them in, in advance of C•130 Gunships and CH•47 Chinook troop carriers.
The enemy would never know what hit them..
"Seahawk" is a rather unoriginal name, considering the existence of the Seahawk helicopter.
But I suppose it was just a codename, and they would have named it something else if it had gone into production. It's a shame the name Osprey is taken.
The Navy has never been very convinced with the concept of stealth. Even now they are only getting 273 F35Cs. The Marines end up with more F35s than the Navy !!!!!
I won’t be surprised if the Navy’s F/A-XX is cancelled.
The Navy has a frightening culture of burning the defence budget with failed programs like Zumwalt, Lithorial combat ship, upgrading the Ticonderoga cruisers then retiring them immediately afterwards, the Seawolf submarines and now we hear the constellation program is now in serious trouble.
Its almost criminal.
Navy has repeatedly made the wrong decision this century
What makes you think that the Navy has never been very convinced with the concept of stealth? I find that very hard to believe, otherwise the Zumwalt never would’ve made it past the drawing boards.
You are doing a lot of broad brush painting there.🎨👩🎨
The Navy always have prioritize for range, payload and avionics. Stealth always been secondary. Theirs F/A-XX reflect that for longer range and bigger/heavier payloads with better avionics than Super Hornet. Stealth less than issues if yours payloads outranges enemies radar search/track. For Navy prioritize stealth over range and payloads is a demerit for naval aviation.
Naval aircraft are tough and need to be for the constant traps, cat shots, and harsh environment. Hard to imagine any stealth aircraft being able to stand up to the punishment without a god-awful amount of required maintenance per flight hour. I could imagine a whole squadron of stealth hangar queens.
I think that the F-14 would still be around since they shared engines and in modern times it (f-14) would have become the stealthy F-21.
No longer stealth.
@@lokesh303101 y'know, when you state a point, ya gotta ELABORATE.
The Navy didn't want ANYTHING to do with the 117 N
Interesting and expensive proposal...; But what happened to the A-12 Avenger!?
The F117 was never a Fighter but a precision deep strike bomber. I never understood the F designation as it had no air to air defensive or offensive weapons.
I'm disappointed the Seahawk isn't in Ace Combat 7. Hopefully it'll be in 8, if 8 ever comes.
Got to finish the show, well low observable technology and development was rapidly evolving so I think they also included let's wait a little longer on this so we don't have to replace it as soon as it comes out. The raptor being an example of that. Rather let the USAF go in in the first hours and hit most threatening targets and the USN can back that up. Fast forward to the JSF. We all know as soon as something comes out the replacement is in work. Probably not so much now as it used to be.
Skunk works Everytime they release something they always seem to say "here's what we got but this is how much better it could be" and it's always what we wanted
Imagine trying to land one of these things at night in a storm on an aircraft carrier.
Sorry Tog, but it was Ben Rich, Kelly's protégée who nailed the stealth
Pyotr Yakovlevich Ufimtsev (Пётр Я́ковлевич Уфи́мцев)
It would've been the: F/A-117N // Super Seahawk
For those who think the Su-57 has a 0.1 - 1.0 meter RCS ... think again:
That's a _max RCS of 1m_ (excluding RAM) eg, the _GEOMETRIC RCS._
Or WHAT ..? You thought a purpose built, RAM using, Plane Form Aligned jet ... has an RCS of a 4th Gen, no RAM, no plane form aligned FA-18..??? We can't lie to ourselves. We have amazing (way overpriced with far too small a surge capacity) tech ... but Russia always rivaled us in fundamental physics, bc they have as many STEM grads as the US, without that DEI bullshit or pretending people passed bc their melanin says so.
The biggest challenge would be the inability to carry the Harpoon, HARM, etc., thus maintaining a requirement for F/A18s and limiting the number if F117Ns in a CAW. Otherwise, giving the CVBGs a stealth strike capability 20+ years earlier than the still problematic and limited numbers F35, could have been a ganer changer.
The ”Sea no Hawk”
I read an article in an aviation magazine that had two Navy officers’ opinion on the Hornet versus buying a new stealth aircraft to replace it. When the Navy passed up going stealth they were disappointed but years later they were glad they didn’t. Because they kept the Hornet 2 they have more aircraft than they would ever had and also the expense of flying is less so they get more training. The Hornet 2 currently has a better radar and ECM than the F-22.
What is the Hornet 2?
@@Gridlocked F/A-18E/F Block I/II/III
@@aizseeker3622 Never seen anyone call it that.
I really wish this aircraft had entered service
No...... it would have been a pretty lousy airplane.
Could had been named SeaFalcon
i feel like this idea has been reborn within their ucav research. certainly alot of dimensional similarities. no i get that theyre not the same but its a similar delta, albeit a double, on the ucav. i get it. please dont roast me lol
All good and thanks for commenting!
@@PilotPhotog awe thanks for replying personally homie. i love these what if vids. just imagine operation praying mantis with 18 seahawks involved. what an even more insane day that woulda been. but now the F35 does the job of both and then some hahahah.
A bit of history
Pyotr (Petr) Yakovlevich Ufimtsev (Russian: Пётр Я́ковлевич Уфи́мцев; born 1931) is a Soviet Russian electrical engineer and mathematical physicist, considered the seminal force behind modern stealth aircraft technology. In the 1960s he began developing equations for predicting the reflection of electromagnetic waves from simple two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects.[1]
Much of Ufimtsev's work was translated into English, and in the 1970s American Lockheed engineers began to expand upon some of his theories to create the concept of aircraft with reduced radar signatures.[2]
Afterborner olmadan bu uçak o gemiden kalkamaz. Motor çıkışını YF-23 gibi yapmadığınız sürece bu motor çıkışından afterborner calistiramazsiniz. Çalışsa bile arka taraf çok aşırı ısınmadan ya yanar yada çok fazla ısı tutar. 👍🏻
The tail would need more modification to work well on a carrier
The Air Force should’ve picked the Northrop, F-23 Black Widow II, to replace the aging F-15 Eagle.
The Lockheed, F-22 should’ve gone to the Navy and received the Lightning II name instead of Raptor, to replace the retired F-14 Tomcat.
The Lockheed, F-35 should’ve received the Raptor name (F-35 Raptor has a better ring to it). And on track to replace the Marines AV-8B Harrier and F-18A/B Hornet, with the F-35B. Air Force gets its F-35A to replace the F-16 Fighting Falcon. And the Navy gets its F-35C to replace the F-18C/D Hornets.
And finally… The Northrop, X-47B autonomous flying wing, should’ve been green lighted and gone to the Navy.
The F-18E/F Super Hornet, currently made by Boeing, should’ve never been a thing.
Good idea but in guess F117 would of required to much rework to navy . Don't even see why instead of F35 it isn't just a stealth drone. As F35 and hornet have limited range. And should of upgraded tomcat. Only if running cost and serviceability was improved.
To start with, the F-117N Navy Nighthawk version (base F-117 was 1982 and the F-117N was 1984) could not have been called Seahawk, that name was taken by the Sikorsky made SH-60B Seahawk (base H-60 Blackhawk 1972, Navy SH-60B 1983), so the F-117N 'Seahawk' name was considered a 'nickname' and was never official. Then there is the issue with the RAM Paint used on the F-117 fleet, it required Tyvek bunny suits and booties for techs working on it. Air Craft Carriers are dirty working environments, look at any video of an active flight deck of a ship deployed. All those aircraft are dirty as hell, and dirt and Stealth Coatings simply do not work. Then there was the flight dynamics and flight controls, lack of effective dynamic lift in the marine environment. We are talking about a laundry list of hurtles every aircraft has to address and the underlying F-117 Nighthawk design was inherently unstable in flight, something that does not work well in Carrier Based Aircraft. Then there is the costs, It cost more than an F-14 Tomcat, required special maintenance and materials and it had a limited combat capability. Trust me, Aircraft Carriers are NOT stealthy. Hell every nation with a foot of beach keeps tabs on exactly where our 11 deadly behemoths are at every day. The F-35 Lightening II is Stealth for tactical advantage, the F-117 Nighthawk was Stealth for strategic advantage. In the end it was too little bang for way too much buck.
The F-35B Version of the Marine Corps aircraft should be re-named F-35B "Bulldog". Not Lightning. Love my Citizen 2003 Nighthawk watch!
Sweet video!👌🏾
Thank you!
Whats with everybody and the war thunder sponsors lately
Warthunder has a lot of money. Would you say no to a fat Warthunder check showing up in your bank account?
They've been at it for a little while.
If a force could have done this it would be the Navy.What a thought to done this..
Definitely not a manoeuvrable fighter like the F-35C, just a dedicated attack aircraft.
What's needed now is one stealth 6th gen aircraft that can do everything at a reasonable long range.
Any 4.5 gen like the Super Tomcat 21 or even todays USAF F-15EX would not last over a modern battlefield today.
And if it is proven that a US aircraft carrier cannot take the heat within the 1st chain islands around China and the South China Sea then maybe a SQN or two of a very long range dedicated strike 6th gen Naval aircraft is required...............Drone? not sure.
The proposal for the F-117N certainly isn't new, The earliest mention I can find is in a magazine in 1993, with the Navy reiterating that they didn't want the F-117N. It's also mentioned in a 2003 book.
the naval variant of the F117 could do with a wing (folding) design similar to that of the carrier borne F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter interceptor . . . the original design of the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter bomber is more than capable of being a stealthy naval fighter jet . . . really don't need to change F-117 wings for carrier ops . . . only thing it needs is a more powerful turbofan engine & incorporating a wing fold mechanism to the existing wing design . . . the naval carrier borne F-117AN Nighthawk stealth fighter interceptor . . . it'll also feature under wing hard points, reinforced airframe & strengthened landing gear . . .
I made both of the A and N variant's papercraft.
yes, they were not the best way to compare NH's flying characteristics due to the enormous drag, but I get to prove that the Seahawk glides better than the Nighthawk with its shallower angle of leading edge
I wonder how this is not being reconsidered for redevelopment, as the YF-23 is being actively reevulated in a new stealth aircraft, 22 of the F117's have been pulled out of mothballs, why?
You sure that nighthawk will replace tomcat f-14 and F-117 can carry anti-ship missile And bomb sized-Torpedo
Stealth technology was several generations ahead of it's contemporaries. So, Stealth was lightyears ahead of it's contemporaries. That's no pun.
🪖"War is a Racket "- Maj. General Smedley Butler. US Marine Corps - [check his free audiobook on YT]
Forget the stealth coating, the Nighthawk was notorious for its handling characteristics. It would have been a nightmare to land it on a carrier, especially during adverse weather conditions. I am surprised how little people understand the difficulty in landing an aircraft on the carrier, especially with unused stores.
someone please explain to me why we didnt just build different variants of the F-22? And dont come at me with the whole: "different missions" nonsense. We all know for a fact that every aircraft is a multi-role aircraft if you want it to be.
We will have a even better Duo once the FA-xx comes out... With the F-35C at its side.... Not to mention the drones
Ignore the first half of the video. The actual information about the "Seahawk" starts at 12 minutes into the video...
I believe stealth is more important for naval aitcraft, as there is no terrain masking and stealth aids in breaking the missle locks on Fox-3 BVR engagements, increasing survivability.
What would be the advantage of putting a more complex aircraft into a more harsh environment at greater expense?
When you can fly from anywhere and refuel midair, what’s the point?😂