Northrop-Loral F-19A Specter
From The Infomercantile
Northrop's developments and new veil-of-secrecy policies did not go to waste; the XST team was kept in place, and development began on further advanced stealth technologies under an open-ended DARPA experimental contract. In compliance with FTC securities laws, an exceedingly short press release was made, announcing the stealth contract, but then silence was achieved.
New Stealth Concept
The faceted angles of Lockheed's designs were a simple method for designing a low-radar-profile aircraft; without flat surfaces perpendicular to the radar source, reflections would not be detected. Northrop designer Fred Oshira developed a new technique for designing low radar reflectivity called the "Source Distribution Technique." This complex method of calculating the positive radar reflectivity of a curved surface was highly accurate, but difficult to calculate by hand and required computer aided design assistance. While the concept was around before the XST competition, by the early 1980s the technique was in full use. Lockheed continued their production of the highly faceted F-117 (and largely continuing in the YF-22 Raptor), but Northrop diverged into curvier designs seen in the F-19, B-2 Bomber, and YF-23 attack fighter.
Collaboration with LoralThe F-117 had numerous drawbacks; it was subsonic, it had a lower ceiling, and it was more difficult to fly than its smaller peers, the F-16 and F-18. Northrop had completed a proof-of-concept aircraft under the project name "Tacit Blue," a oddly shaped curvy aircraft . While Tacit Blue was not intended for production, it proved Northrop had the skills to produce a high-performance tactical interceptor surpassing the F-177's capabilities.
Loral, a spacecraft and aerospace manufacturer, was not an aircraft manufacturer and had not been included in the XST competition. The company, however, had great expertise in high-speed, high-altitude transportation, and an in-depth understanding of radio wave propagation. Loral had produced proof-of-concept designs for a futuristic high-speed upper-atmosphere interceptor, and used an image of the craft in an advertisement and poster, not thinking it would ever be developed. Northrop had acquired some of its designers and technicians from Loral during XST, so it began a partnership with the company to adapt the conceptual design to production, using Northrop's Source Distribution Technique.
In the early 1980s, there were still great concerns in the military regarding Soviet supersonic bombers reaching American soil. The USSR's newly-developed supersonic TU-160, a variable-geometry supersonic bomber comparable to (but exceeding in speed and size) the US' B1 bomber, was a formidable threat. The US had high-speed interceptor aircraft, but the advancement of radar technology and the possibility of being confronted by guard aircraft (such as the agile SU-27) before having the opportunity to attack an approaching bomber, DARPA returned to the XST competitors for potential designs. Lockheed provided an advanced version of the F-117, but did not meet specifications; General Dynamics' aircraft division was producing the F-16 and declined, and Grumman was experiencing financial difficulties so could not participate. Northrop had proved their abilities during the Tacit Blue tests, so the contract went to Northdrop almost by default. In May 1981 Northrop-Loral was awarded the contract for a high-speed interceptor fighter.
Development of the F-19
The air inlets, as in the Northrop's XST submission, are located on top of the craft and to the rear of the pilot. This prevents radar reflection off compressor blades from being visible to ground-based radar installations. RAM-coated angular 'vents' in front of the compressors scatter radar reflections to other aircraft. Cold War requirements for the interceptor included in-air refueling; the best place for the Northrop designers to position the inlet was behind the pilot, but directly in front of the intake vents. Small amounts of fuel spilled during refueling are immediately sucked into the engine causing a small burst of power and making the F-19 lurch slightly, much to the concern of the nearby inflight-refueling crews on the tanker.
The craft was built without a machine gun, under the assumption that at such high speed engagements the gun would be useless. The craft has four internal hardpoints hidden within the body of the craft that could be used to carry a machine gun pod, hiding its reflectivity and heat when the ordinance bay is closed. The hardpoints may carry any combination of air-to-air armament. The small payload is considered the plane's greatest drawback, although the need for more than four missiles was never tested.
The low side profile of the craft forces the pilot into a reclined seating position; this is actually an advantage for the pilot, because it reduces the possibility of blacking out during high-G turns.
Six F-19 testbed airframes were built (only five were flightworthy), and the first, test craft #2, flew at Groom Lake on 14 September 1982. Initial flights were promising, but tweaking of the fly-by-wire controls were necessary most every time. Test aircraft #4 was lost on the ground due to fire, resulting in a change in the fuel hosing in all five remaining aircraft. Test aircraft #5 hit a top speed of Mach 3.1, but was unable to sustain the speed for very long. An effective top speed of mach 2.5 was determined, slightly lower than predicted but still above the specifications' top speed of mach 2.0.
The results were presented to select members of Congress, Air Force officials, and DARPA representatives, on 18 June 1983. The project was deemed a success, and 50 F-19 aircraft were ordered for delivery by the end of 1985.
The remaining flightworthy F-19s were scrapped, while the non-flying test craft #1 was given to the Longmont Aircraft Museum in Longmont, Nebraska, the hometown of test pilot Jon Green, the first pilot to fly the F-19.
There was a brief attempt to consider the F-19 for aircraft carrier deployment in the U.S. Navy; early tests found that upon hitting the deck the drooping wingtips would contact the tarmac hard, resulting in damage. As the wingtips were modular, intended to fold up for transportation, the damaged tips were replaced without difficulty and the aircraft was returned to service.
Acquiring the unique materials used in the construction of the RAM coating on the aircraft proved troublesome. While the project remained only slightly over budget, the timeframe was becoming unattainable. Northrop took a five million dollar penalty and delivered only 15 F-19s by the end of 1985. All but three were delivered to 17th Fighter Squadron "Black Falcons" wing. The remaining three aircraft, delivered to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, were fitted with reconnaissance equipment and relabeled RF-19; two were flown during the later days of the Iran-Iraq War, and one flew over Afghanistan in 1988 to monitor Russia's military presence in the region.
Russian Destabilization Ends The F-19
With Gorbachev's ascension into Soviet leadership in 1985, the beginning of the fall of the USSR began. Ten more F-19 Specters were delivered in 1986 and 1987 (these got the "A" designtion, due to an engine upgrade), but as Russia's ongoing destabilization continued it became clear that supersonic bombers were not the threat they had been in the 1970s. The team of Northrop and Boeing (with Loral contributing as a subcontractor) had produced the B-2 Spirit bomber using technology honed during the design of the F-19, thus bringing the count to three super-secret stealth projects in production despite the declining threat of the Soviet Union. As a concession to continuing the F-117 and the B-2, the F-19 contract was terminated after delivery of only half the initial order.
The Air Force, while flying the aircraft secretly stateside, had not publicly recognized the existence of the F-19 Specter yet, and with the termination of the contract they had no plans to do so. The three reconnaissance craft were transfered to CIA control, but the rest were dismantled for the expensive and recyclable carbon-fiber parts.
- Year: 1987
- Crew: 1
- Length: 53 feet 11 inches
- Wingspan: 36 feet 10 inches
- Height: 11 feet 4 inches
- Powerplant: 2x GE-F118 Turbofan engines
- Dry thrust: 17,300 lbf (each engine)
- Maximum speed: Mach 2
- Service Ceiling: > 70,000 feet
- ↑ http://www.vectorsite.net/avb2.html
- ↑ http://www.fas.org/irp/mystery/tacitblu.htm
- ↑ http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/misc/scifi/eggersf19.htm , but I've got a different story.
- ↑ http://www.opensecrets.org/pubs/cashingin_defense/defense3.html