STEALTH

RUNTIME: 60 MINS

CAT: AWA143
UPC: 881482314393
RRP: $14.95

Stealth or LO (Low Observables) governs the design of all today's combat aircraft: Any aeroplane or helicopter that might enter hostile airspace has to do its best to be undetectable. This means it must try to be invisible to radar, invisible to the eye, invisible to sensitive infra-red, or heat sensors, and silent. 

This programme traces the attempts made by aircraft designers since World War 2 to try to achieve invisibility. The first such Stealth warplane, the USAF's amazing Lockheed F-I17A, which looks like a flying pyramid, has already been used in action during Operation Just Cause in Panama. Close' behind in timing comes the Northrop B-2, which was designed by computers, is made by computers and flies its mission by computers. In 1991 the USAF expects to pick either the Lockheed/GD/Boeing YF-22 or the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23A as its future Advanced Tactical Fighter, and this programme examines the prototypes of these aircraft. 

These aircraft are highly supersonic, and remarkable success has been achieved in making them invisible to radar, which is widely considered to be the chief objective of stealth design. The fascinating footage of Stealth is accompanied by a detailed script by aviation expert Bill Gunston.