There was supposed to be an aircraft that was designed to work in conjunction with TACIT BLUE. That aircraft companion aircraft, I believe, was the Northrop AP-2 Shark. However, I don't believe there is any evidence to suggest that it ever flew.
? TACIT BLUE was basically JSTARS but in a stealthy package to fly behind the front lines of battles, deep in the AA umbrellas.
It would then send the radar data out to other planes to engage the targets. Part of Assault Breaker, IIRC.
No dedicated companion aircraft.
As a side note, I strongly suspect that there will be a drone version of TACIT BLUE flying around to support 6th gen aircraft.
Sounds like Lockheed were planning on doing something like Project Suntan which used liquid hydrogen as its fuel and that also got cancled for exactly the same reasons as the classified aircraft. Quite why they would do something that used dangerous chemicals or fuels is beyond me.
You probably don't want to read the MSDS for the epoxy resins used in composite manufacturing, then.
Nasty chemicals is basically the price you pay for composites. (Hello, Methyl Ethyl Ketone and MEK Peroxide...)
As to fuels, sometimes you need the nasty chemicals to get the performance required. Rocket fuels in particular are known to be nasty. Even plain hydrogen is a deep cryogen and has some of the widest explosive limits known to man. Plus the stuff will migrate straight through solid steel...
I need to stop thinking that every craft flown at Groom Lake is a super-cool, super-secret stealth plane.
I dunno, I think a plane designed to
fly for months is pretty cool.
