Based on a theoretical study published in 1962 by the Russian mathematician Pyotr Ufimtsev, Lockheed scientist William Schroeder concluded that a surface cut into facets such as diamonds could be used to reflect radar waves in all directions... except for the receiver. If the use of right-angle junctions was avoided, it would be possible to disperse 99 per cent of the incident electromagnetic energy.
In theory this physical principle could be useful to camouflage land vehicles and even warships, but its use in airplanes seemed impossible, it would have been necessary to re-write everything that was known about aerodynamics.
In 1975 a team of computer scientists from Lockheed, under the direction of Denys Overholser, created the "Echo-1" program capable of automatically determining the radar signature of any aircraft model.
Thanks to "Echo-1" Lockheed designers were able to create an aircraft, with sharply swept wings, capable of flying at high subsonic speed despite being fully covered with polygonal facets that avoided 90-degree corners.
The first prototype code named "Have Blue" made its first flight in the
Area 51 test site on December 1, 1977.
Both the development and flight tests of the "Have Blue" were carried out under Special Access Programs (SAF) restrictions that override normal chains of command.
Adding a layer of disinformation to the Black Project, false reports about future stealth configurations were leaked to the press in the early eighties.
On January 1981,
National Geographic published the article “They’re Redesigning the Airplane” by Micheal E. Long and James A. Sugar.
The article included two illustrations painting by NGS artist William H. Bond and a three-view scale drawing of a stealth aircraft with ojival delta wings, downturned wingtips and two tailfins with variable cant angle.
National geographic magazine. Year 1981. First number in the year.
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The article included the following text: "Stealth low radar and infrared profile penetrator, length 105 ft., wingspan 73 ft., crew 2, maximum speed Mach 2.2, speed surface operational Mach 1.2”.
In 1981 the artist Atilla Hejja created the eye-catching illustration of the William H. Bond aircraft and Loral Corporation used it in its advertising between 1981 and 1987 to promote its passive digital electronics. Also commissioned the construction of several dozen of desk models (15” x 10”) to
Wesco Models, a company specialized in the construction of mock-up models and prototypes for the aerospace industry.
In 1982 the CIA became interested in the commercialization of Loral models in an interview with Wesco owner Dick Nyland.
In June the Italian magazine
Aerospazio Mese published the
National Geographic three view drawing with the caption “Northrop ATB stealth”.
In October 11, Loral Corporation published in AW&ST a cutaway of the Atilla Hejja artwork.
In 1983 the model maker
Revell Germany announced the next appearance of a 1/32 scale model of the Loral concept, called “F-19”, but according to some rumors the project was canceled at the request of US government.
In June 1985, artist John Andrews was working on the design of a futuristic aircraft with SR-71 style nose, oval wings, canted tailfins and boundary layer suction air intakes, for the advertising of an electronic products company.
It is possible that Andrews was inspired by a series of designs (P.1224 to P.1243) of an unmanned interceptor developed by the British company Hawker Siddeley Dynamics between 1970 and 1988.
Gary Cadish, the marketing director of model maker
Testors, was impressed by Andrews' work when he casually saw his drawings.
At the time people knew a stealth fighter was flying but didn’t know its shape yet, Cadish understood that this was a huge commercial opportunity for
Testors and persuaded company director Chuck Miller to authorize the production of 75,000 plastic kits based on Andrews' design.
In January 1986 the new plastic kit was publicly revealed as
Testors No. 595 "F-19 stealth fighter 1/48 scale” at the annual Chicago Modeling Exhibition.
When journalist Tim Gaffney saw one of these models, he wrote the article "Stealth Fighter Is a Secret, Model Is Not" that was published on the front page of the
Dayton Journal Herald and was later widely disseminated by the
Associated Press (
Los Angeles Times, October 1986, Ciotti, P., “Tempest in a toy box: The Stealth Fighter Is So Secret the Pentagon Won’t Admit It Exists. John Andrews Shocked Everyone by Building a Model of It. To Tell the Truth, He Says, It Wasn’t All That Much Trouble”) giving rise to a national scandal with repercussions in Congress.
The publicity obtained was very beneficial for
Testors, the sales of the "F-19" grew by 600 per cent making it the best-selling model kit of all time.
According to an urban legend several members of the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C. were seen buying the kit. In any case the hedging operation worked and the world believed that the stealth configuration consisted of rounded shapes.
On April 27, 1986 a Loral model was exhibited at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the Air Force convention “Gathering of Eagles”.
That same year Putnam’s published the novel “Red Storm Rising”. In the episode titled "The Frisbees of Dreamland" author Tom Clancy wrote: “Lockheed called her the
Gostrider. The pilots called her
Frisbee, the F-19A, the secretly developed stealth attack fighter. She had no corners, no box shapes to allow radar signals to bounce cleanly off her. Her high-bypass turbofans were designed to emit a blurry infrared signature at most. From above, her wings appeared to mimic the shape of a cathedral bell. From in front, they curved oddly toward the ground, earning her the affectionate nickname of
Frisbee”.
In 1984 the Northrop/Loral Corporation still used in its advertising a silhouetted artwork by Erik Simonsen (based at the National Geographic three view drawing) with the caption: “Northrop/Loral F-19A SPECTER pursuit fighter is the next-generation of stealth and speed in flight. With a radar cross-section smaller than a duck in flight, an IR heat signature nearly as low as the heat background, and a noise level so quiet, it won’t be heard until the engagement is over, the F-19A is invisible to everything but the human eye. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the F-19A succeeds in all cases”.
That same year the model maker
Monogram released a 1/48 scale plastic kit based in the Loral concept under the denomination “F-19 stealth fighter”.
"Have Blue" continued to be a secret project until November 10, 1988 when a photo of the real aircraft was shown at a press briefing by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, J. Daniel Howard.
In December 1988 and January 1989 several illustrations were published in
Interavia magazine and the first photograph of the authentic F-117 appeared in the cover of
Aviation Week on May 14, 1990.
When the highly angular, facetted F-117
Nighthawk was unveiled, new generation of drawings and scale model kits appeared: in 1990
Revell produced two F-117 plastic kits at 1/72 and 1/144 scale and the “F-19” was featured in the computer game “Operation Stealth”.
In 1997
Flight International magazine revealed that the Germans had been working on two stealth projects between 1981 and 1987.
Dornier GmbH had designed the La-2000, a subsonic ground attack aircraft with a very low radar signature and the shape of a perfect triangle.
Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm also conducted some research into stealth technology with the
Lampyridae demonstrator (
Das Polyeder-Konzept Stealth Jäger).
It was the project of a stealth light fighter with rhomboidal wings, rhomboidal front view and angular canopy very similar to that of the
Nighthawk.
The enormous success of the “F-19” kit prompted
Testors to release in 1989 the “Soviet” counterpart, under the denomination “MiG-37B (
Ferret-E) Soviet Stealth Fighter”.
This fictional airplane, based in the Northrop ATF concept of 1987, has outward canted tailfins, facetted cladding, straight wings, boundary layer suction intakes and cooled exhausts.
According with
Testors the
“MiG-37 B
” had 10.2 m wingspan, 13.5 m length, 16,000 kg take-off weight and Mach 5 maximum speed, but the drawings patented by the manufacturer on April 3, 1990, had different proportions.
Some other AF2K poster art:
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