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Boeing Looks To First Silent Eagle Flight
Avation Week and Space Technology ^ | 1/16/2010 | Amy Butler

Posted on 01/16/2010 7:51:40 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld

With radar-cross-section (RCS) trials for Boeing’s Silent Eagle semi-stealthy F-15 prototype complete, company officials are now focusing on South Korea as a possible first customer.

The RCS testing took place during a two-week period last August and September, although Boeing has only just acknowledged it because of proprietary issues, says Mark Bass, vice president of F-15 programs.

The company is eyeing South Korea’s forthcoming F-X3 competition for 60 fighters as the first sales opportunity for the Silent Eagle. The South Korean parliament’s recent hesitancy about investing in all-stealth aircraft “validates our approach” with the aircraft, says Bass. The company is considering potential international co-development partners for a Silent Eagle conformal fuel tank, although no announcements have been made.

Boeing is developing the variant for international customers that already operate F-15s and are seeking additional aircraft. The system is a possible alternative for nations interested in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Silent Eagle is not as stealthy as the JSF, but it could provide flexibility for countries trying to stretch their defense dollars.

In the early days of an air campaign, the Silent Eagle can be outfitted with weapon bays suitable for carrying air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons that would be tucked inside conformal fuel tanks, thus reducing the aircraft’s front-quadrant RCS. The aircraft could then be reconfigured in hours to handle the F-15’s characteristic heavy load of weapons once early threats are removed and sustainment operations begin.

The RCS tests on F-15E1, an Air Force test asset leased to Boeing, took place at the company’s anechoic chamber in St. Louis. Various coatings were evaluated and a final candidate has been selected and applied to the appropriate portions of the airframe. Testing produced the desired results, he said. Bass declined to provide details on the coating or the precise

(Excerpt) Read more at aviationnow.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: aerospace; aviation; avionics; boeing; f15; f15eagle; rcs; silenteagle; southkorea; stealth; stealthtechnology
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To: El Sordo
Groovy.

Not at $100 million a pop for a bird that is 40 years old when the F-22 is the same price and we've shut down the lines.

21 posted on 01/16/2010 10:03:18 PM PST by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: tradergem

That was a really interesting show about the Horten. I did not know it actually flew.


22 posted on 01/16/2010 10:07:14 PM PST by C19fan
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To: F15Eagle

Ping


23 posted on 01/16/2010 10:25:47 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Werner Von Braun)
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To: C19fan

Iam just glad that Hitler kept interferring with the Horten brothers and his other weapons designers other wise we would most likely be speaking german today instead of english.

I read a book many years ago by German General Heins Guderian (not sure of the spelling) and the general claimed that the general staff originally didn’t plan to go to war until 1945.

But Hitler couldn’t wait to go to war.

Could you imagine what it would have been like if Hitler had waited until 1945?

They would have had most of their super weapons in mass production by then.

What a scary thought.


24 posted on 01/16/2010 10:44:12 PM PST by tradergem (Frustrated and Pissed Off Beyond All Reason!)
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Comment #25 Removed by Moderator

To: F15Eagle

It was very important to get your opinion on this particular subject.


26 posted on 01/16/2010 10:54:15 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Werner Von Braun)
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Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

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Comment #30 Removed by Moderator

To: F15Eagle

Thanks for the links. I watch them.


31 posted on 01/17/2010 12:54:56 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Werner Von Braun)
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To: F15Eagle

forgot “will” in the sentence.


32 posted on 01/17/2010 12:55:50 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Werner Von Braun)
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To: tradergem
Could you imagine what it would have been like if Hitler had waited until 1945?

You're looking at it the wrong way. Hitler was into bluff & bullying. Look at the sequence. Remilitarize the Rhineland, Anschluss with Austria, the Sudetenland Crisis, finally a lightning war against Poland. Meanwhile Russia was attacking Finland, absorbing the Baltic Republics, and finishing off Poland through the back door. It wasn't until Britain & France declared war on Germany in support of Poland that these events crystalized into a world war.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not blaming WW2 on Britain & France -- far from it. What I'm suggesting is that Hitler may have miscalculated what Britain & France would do in response to his invasion of Poland. After all they did exactly squat in support of Czechoslovakia.

The bottom line is that if things had gone slightly differently, the German General Staff's warplan timeline might have worked out.

33 posted on 01/17/2010 7:30:00 AM PST by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
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To: F15Eagle

Cool stuff. I still like the Raptor.


34 posted on 01/17/2010 9:29:25 AM PST by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier whose wife is expecting twins SONS.)
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To: sonofstrangelove; Yo-Yo; Oztrich Boy

It is surprising to use the F15 as the base platform when pursuing stealth. The Eagle is an inherently unstealthy platform, wity an RCS of 25m2. Compare that with true stealth aircraft like the Raptor and JSF, which have an RCS of 0.0001 and 0.001m2 respectively. To be honest, if you want cheap stealth it would be better to use the Typhoon orthe Rafale as the base platform, since they have about 0.1 to 0.3m2. Not true stealth, but definitelt discrete and far more useful for further stealthiness measures than the Eagle. Beoing would never publicly release the RCS figures for the Silent Eagle, but it is impossible to make a 25m2 airframe stealthy. You can reduce it to maybe F16 or T38 size, but itwill never be even that of a Rafale.


35 posted on 01/17/2010 10:50:22 AM PST by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: 300winmag

Complete idiots.


36 posted on 01/17/2010 10:55:29 AM PST by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier whose wife is expecting twins SONS.)
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To: tradergem; sonofstrangelove; C19fan

Some of that story and pics: http://gizmodo.com/5305249/the-nazi-stealth-planes-that-could-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-in-nyc


37 posted on 01/17/2010 2:08:45 PM PST by El Sordo
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To: buccaneer81

I too weep for the F22, but the plane itself is still pretty groovy.


38 posted on 01/17/2010 2:10:12 PM PST by El Sordo
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To: Tallguy; tradergem
My Uncle was around when the Allies captured the first Hortens. He said it scared the crap out of the brass.
39 posted on 01/17/2010 2:15:08 PM PST by mad_as_he$$ (usff.com)
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To: NCC-1701

It looks a lot like the F-15I with conformal fuel tanks.


40 posted on 01/17/2010 11:36:57 PM PST by Colorado Cowgirl (God bless America!)
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