Bravehardt
0094 Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk Boeing B-52D Stratofortress Boeing B-47E Stratojet McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II Lockheed U-2A Dragon Lady
The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk was developed in response to an Air Forece request for an aircraft capable of attacking high value targets without being detected by enemy radar.By the 1970s,new materials and techniques allowed enginers to design an aircraft with radar-evading or "stealth" qualities.The result was the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk,the world's first operational stealth aircraft.
The first Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk flew on June 18,1981,and the first Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk unit,the 4450 Tactical Group (renamed th 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in October 1989),achieved initial operating capability in October 1983.The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk first saw combat during Operation Just Cause on December 19,1989, when two Lockheed F-117A Nighthawks from the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing attacked military btargets in Panama.
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk again went into action during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991 when the 415th Tactical Fighter Squadron and 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to a base in Saudi Arabia.During Operation Desert Storm,the Lockheed F-117A nighthawks flew 1,271 sorties,achieving an 80 percent mission success rate,and suffered no losses or battle damage.A total of 59 Lockheed F-117a Nighthawks were built between 1981 and 1990.In 1989 the Lockheed F-117a Nighthawk was awarded the Collier Trophy,one of the most prized aeronautical awards in the world.
The Lockheed F-117A built and was specially modified for systems testing.In 1991 after its testing program was completed.It marked as appeared during tests conucted for the Air Force Systems Command between 1981 and 1991.
Boeing B-52 Stratofortrss
-----------------------------------
After it became operational in 1955,the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress remained the main long-range heavy bomber of the U.S.Air Force during the Cold War,and continues to be an important par of the U.S.Air Force bomber force today.Nearly 750 were built before production ended in October 26,1962; 170 of these were Boeing B-52D Stratofortresses
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress had set numerous records in its many years of service.On January 18,1957,three Boeing B-52B Stratofortresses completed the first non-stop round-the-world flight by jet aircraft,lasting 45 hours and 19 minute and required only three aerial refueling.It was also a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress that made the first airborne hydrogen bomb drop over Bikini Atoll,Island on May 21,1956.
In June 1965 Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses entered combat in Southeast Asia.By 1973,they had flown 126,615 combat sorties with 17 Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses lost to enemy action
The Boeing B-52D Stratofortress saw extensive action in Southeast Asia was several damaged by an surface-to air missile on April 9,1972.In December 1972 after being repaired,it flew four addional missions over North Vietnam.
Boeing B-47 Stratojet
-----------------------------
During the early part of the Cold War,the U.S.Air Force needed an aircraft the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.During this time,it was deployed to several locations,including Incirlik Air Base,Turkey,and Yokota Air Base,Japan,and flew missions over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Soviet Union.
The B-47 Stratojet in the Cold War
----------------------------------------------
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet became an essential component of the U.S.Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the 1950s and early 1960s,both as a nuclear bomber and a reconnaissance aircraft.Designed to meet a 1944 requirements,the first Boeing XB-47 Stratojet prototype flew in December 1947,performing far beyond its compertitors.It incorporated many advanced features for the time,including swept wings,jet engines in underwing pods,fuselage mounted landing gear and automated systems that reduced the stadard crew size to three.
In May 1951 the Boeing B-47 Stratojet began replacing the propelleed-driven Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and Boeing B-50 Superfortresses in Strategic Air Command's (SAC) medium bomber units.While it could carry about the same bomb as the aircraft it replaced,the Boeing B-47 Stratojet's top speed was more than 200 mph faster.Since the Boeing B-47 Stratojet did not have the range of Strategic Air Command's (SAC) heavy bombers (the Convair B-36 Peacemaker and later the Boeing B-25 Stratofortress),Boeing B-47 Stratojet units regularly deployed to forward air bases around the world on teporary duty.Initially these deployments lasted three months,but beging in 1957 under the Reflex Action program,they were shortened to three weeks.
In addition to its role a nuclear strike bomber,the Boeing B-47 Stratojet's speed and payload made it a useful strategic reconnaissance aircraft.Between 1952 and 1956 photographic reconnaissance Boeing B-47 Stratojets conducted several overflight of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Soviet Union,proving detailed pitures of Soviet Military and Soviet Industrial facilities.Boeing B-47 Statojets gethered intelligence about Soviet air defense systems and the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile program.Weather reconnaissance version of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet not only collected weather data,but also took air samples of Soviet nuclear detonations.These essential Boeing RB-47 Stratojet missions over and along the border of the Soviet Union (USSR) were hazardous,and Soviet fighters damaged one reconnaissance Boeing RB-47 Stratojet and shot two,with the loss of seven U.S.Air Force personnel killed and two temporarily imprisoned.
Between 1947 and 1957,The Boeing Aircraft Company,Douglas Aircraft,and Lockheed Corporation built over 2,000 Boeing B-47 Stratojets.At its peak use in 1958,the U.S.Air Force operateed 28 Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombing wings and four Boeing RB-47 Stratojet reconnaissance wings,totaling 1,357 Boeing B-47 Stratojets and 175 Boeing RB-47 Stratojets.The U.S.Air Force phased out its last Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombers in 1965,and the U.S.Air Force retired its last Boeing WB-47 Stratojet,in 1969.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
------------------------------------------------
First flown in May 1958,the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II originally was developed for the U.S.Navy fleet defense.The U.S.Air Force's first version the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II,made its first flight in May 1963,and production deliveries began six months later.McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II production ened in 1979 after over 5,000 had been built--more than 2,600 for the U.S.Air Force,about 1,200 for the U.S.Navy and U.S.Marine Corps,and the rest for friendly forein nations.
In 1965 the U.S.Air Force sent its first McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom IIs to Southeat Asia,where they flew air-to-air missions agaist North Vietnamese fighters as well as attacking ground targets.The first U.S.Air Force pilot to score four combat victories with McDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs in Southeast Asia was Colonel Robin Olds,a World War II ace.In which Colonel Robin Olds,the pilot and 1st Lieutenant Stephen B.Croker,the weapons system officer,destroyed two Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-17s in a single day,May 20,1967.
In its air-to-ground role,the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II could carry twice the normal load of a World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.The armamet loaded on the aircraft McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a typical configuration for an McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II in 1967.It consists of four AIM-7E Sparrow III and four AIM-9B sidewinder air-to-air missiles,and eight 750 pound M117 general purpose bombs.The aircraft McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II also carries two exteral fuel tanks on the outboard pylone and one ALQ-87 electronic contermeasures (EMC) pod on the right inboard pylon.
Lockheed U-2
-------------------
In completed secrecy,a team headed by Clerence L."Kelly" Johnson at Lockheed's "Skunk Works" in Burbank,California,designed and built the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady to fly surveillance missions.With sailplane-like wings suited for the thin atmosphere over 55,000 feet (over 70,000 feet for later models),this single-engine aircraft made its first flight inAugusat 1955.Entering operational service in 1956,its use remained secret until May 1,1960,when a surface-to-air missile shot down a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) a civilian-piloted by Francis Gary Powers Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady on a reconnaissannce flight over Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) territory.
One of the important Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady missions took place on October 14,1962,when a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady piloted by Major Richard S.Heyser obtained the first photographs of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) offensive missile sites in Cuba.Eight days later,Major Rudolf Anderson Jr.was killed on a similar mission when his Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady also mhave been used for programs as divere as mapping studies,atmospheric sampling and collecting crop and land management photographic data for the Department of Energy.
During the 1960s,it made 285 flights to gather data on high-altitude,clear-air turbulence,and in the 1970s it flight tested reconnaissance systems.
0094 Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk Boeing B-52D Stratofortress Boeing B-47E Stratojet McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II Lockheed U-2A Dragon Lady
The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk was developed in response to an Air Forece request for an aircraft capable of attacking high value targets without being detected by enemy radar.By the 1970s,new materials and techniques allowed enginers to design an aircraft with radar-evading or "stealth" qualities.The result was the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk,the world's first operational stealth aircraft.
The first Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk flew on June 18,1981,and the first Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk unit,the 4450 Tactical Group (renamed th 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in October 1989),achieved initial operating capability in October 1983.The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk first saw combat during Operation Just Cause on December 19,1989, when two Lockheed F-117A Nighthawks from the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing attacked military btargets in Panama.
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk again went into action during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991 when the 415th Tactical Fighter Squadron and 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to a base in Saudi Arabia.During Operation Desert Storm,the Lockheed F-117A nighthawks flew 1,271 sorties,achieving an 80 percent mission success rate,and suffered no losses or battle damage.A total of 59 Lockheed F-117a Nighthawks were built between 1981 and 1990.In 1989 the Lockheed F-117a Nighthawk was awarded the Collier Trophy,one of the most prized aeronautical awards in the world.
The Lockheed F-117A built and was specially modified for systems testing.In 1991 after its testing program was completed.It marked as appeared during tests conucted for the Air Force Systems Command between 1981 and 1991.
Boeing B-52 Stratofortrss
-----------------------------------
After it became operational in 1955,the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress remained the main long-range heavy bomber of the U.S.Air Force during the Cold War,and continues to be an important par of the U.S.Air Force bomber force today.Nearly 750 were built before production ended in October 26,1962; 170 of these were Boeing B-52D Stratofortresses
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress had set numerous records in its many years of service.On January 18,1957,three Boeing B-52B Stratofortresses completed the first non-stop round-the-world flight by jet aircraft,lasting 45 hours and 19 minute and required only three aerial refueling.It was also a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress that made the first airborne hydrogen bomb drop over Bikini Atoll,Island on May 21,1956.
In June 1965 Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses entered combat in Southeast Asia.By 1973,they had flown 126,615 combat sorties with 17 Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses lost to enemy action
The Boeing B-52D Stratofortress saw extensive action in Southeast Asia was several damaged by an surface-to air missile on April 9,1972.In December 1972 after being repaired,it flew four addional missions over North Vietnam.
Boeing B-47 Stratojet
-----------------------------
During the early part of the Cold War,the U.S.Air Force needed an aircraft the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.During this time,it was deployed to several locations,including Incirlik Air Base,Turkey,and Yokota Air Base,Japan,and flew missions over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Soviet Union.
The B-47 Stratojet in the Cold War
----------------------------------------------
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet became an essential component of the U.S.Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the 1950s and early 1960s,both as a nuclear bomber and a reconnaissance aircraft.Designed to meet a 1944 requirements,the first Boeing XB-47 Stratojet prototype flew in December 1947,performing far beyond its compertitors.It incorporated many advanced features for the time,including swept wings,jet engines in underwing pods,fuselage mounted landing gear and automated systems that reduced the stadard crew size to three.
In May 1951 the Boeing B-47 Stratojet began replacing the propelleed-driven Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and Boeing B-50 Superfortresses in Strategic Air Command's (SAC) medium bomber units.While it could carry about the same bomb as the aircraft it replaced,the Boeing B-47 Stratojet's top speed was more than 200 mph faster.Since the Boeing B-47 Stratojet did not have the range of Strategic Air Command's (SAC) heavy bombers (the Convair B-36 Peacemaker and later the Boeing B-25 Stratofortress),Boeing B-47 Stratojet units regularly deployed to forward air bases around the world on teporary duty.Initially these deployments lasted three months,but beging in 1957 under the Reflex Action program,they were shortened to three weeks.
In addition to its role a nuclear strike bomber,the Boeing B-47 Stratojet's speed and payload made it a useful strategic reconnaissance aircraft.Between 1952 and 1956 photographic reconnaissance Boeing B-47 Stratojets conducted several overflight of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Soviet Union,proving detailed pitures of Soviet Military and Soviet Industrial facilities.Boeing B-47 Statojets gethered intelligence about Soviet air defense systems and the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile program.Weather reconnaissance version of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet not only collected weather data,but also took air samples of Soviet nuclear detonations.These essential Boeing RB-47 Stratojet missions over and along the border of the Soviet Union (USSR) were hazardous,and Soviet fighters damaged one reconnaissance Boeing RB-47 Stratojet and shot two,with the loss of seven U.S.Air Force personnel killed and two temporarily imprisoned.
Between 1947 and 1957,The Boeing Aircraft Company,Douglas Aircraft,and Lockheed Corporation built over 2,000 Boeing B-47 Stratojets.At its peak use in 1958,the U.S.Air Force operateed 28 Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombing wings and four Boeing RB-47 Stratojet reconnaissance wings,totaling 1,357 Boeing B-47 Stratojets and 175 Boeing RB-47 Stratojets.The U.S.Air Force phased out its last Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombers in 1965,and the U.S.Air Force retired its last Boeing WB-47 Stratojet,in 1969.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
------------------------------------------------
First flown in May 1958,the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II originally was developed for the U.S.Navy fleet defense.The U.S.Air Force's first version the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II,made its first flight in May 1963,and production deliveries began six months later.McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II production ened in 1979 after over 5,000 had been built--more than 2,600 for the U.S.Air Force,about 1,200 for the U.S.Navy and U.S.Marine Corps,and the rest for friendly forein nations.
In 1965 the U.S.Air Force sent its first McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom IIs to Southeat Asia,where they flew air-to-air missions agaist North Vietnamese fighters as well as attacking ground targets.The first U.S.Air Force pilot to score four combat victories with McDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs in Southeast Asia was Colonel Robin Olds,a World War II ace.In which Colonel Robin Olds,the pilot and 1st Lieutenant Stephen B.Croker,the weapons system officer,destroyed two Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-17s in a single day,May 20,1967.
In its air-to-ground role,the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II could carry twice the normal load of a World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.The armamet loaded on the aircraft McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a typical configuration for an McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II in 1967.It consists of four AIM-7E Sparrow III and four AIM-9B sidewinder air-to-air missiles,and eight 750 pound M117 general purpose bombs.The aircraft McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II also carries two exteral fuel tanks on the outboard pylone and one ALQ-87 electronic contermeasures (EMC) pod on the right inboard pylon.
Lockheed U-2
-------------------
In completed secrecy,a team headed by Clerence L."Kelly" Johnson at Lockheed's "Skunk Works" in Burbank,California,designed and built the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady to fly surveillance missions.With sailplane-like wings suited for the thin atmosphere over 55,000 feet (over 70,000 feet for later models),this single-engine aircraft made its first flight inAugusat 1955.Entering operational service in 1956,its use remained secret until May 1,1960,when a surface-to-air missile shot down a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) a civilian-piloted by Francis Gary Powers Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady on a reconnaissannce flight over Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) territory.
One of the important Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady missions took place on October 14,1962,when a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady piloted by Major Richard S.Heyser obtained the first photographs of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) offensive missile sites in Cuba.Eight days later,Major Rudolf Anderson Jr.was killed on a similar mission when his Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady also mhave been used for programs as divere as mapping studies,atmospheric sampling and collecting crop and land management photographic data for the Department of Energy.
During the 1960s,it made 285 flights to gather data on high-altitude,clear-air turbulence,and in the 1970s it flight tested reconnaissance systems.