MBB Lampyridae (1987) German Experimental Stealth Fighter Prototype

[g0229]

In the 1980s, the German company Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB) developed a 3/4 testbed for a top-secret Medium Range Missile Fighter (MRMF) code named "Lampyridae" (Firefly). Using a polyhedral airframe that eschewed right angles and curved surfaces to avoid radar detection, the "Lampyridae" completed several successful tethered test flights before the project was cancelled in 1987. Eerily similar to the then top-secret American F-117 Stealth Fighter, the "Lampryridae" was considered by many to actually have superior radar-avoidance properties even though it had only half the number of facets of its American counterpart.

 

[UpForce]

Usually I'm not one to second guess historical developments too much but "Lampy" is one exception. European military aviation and even defense policy might be in a somewhat markedly different place today had this resulted in a concerted stealth push at the time.

 

[galgot]

Nice model ! A bit concerned by VLO extreme shaping been spoiled by two Sidewinders and pylons.
Was the project suppose to have a weapon bay ?

 

[Hobbes]

No. There's more info in this thread, but Lampyridae was purely a research project, to see if they could build an aircraft that was both stealthy and aerodynamically sound.