Sunday, November 3, 2019

This Is How The F-35's Stealth Capability Is Maintained

Tech. Sgt. Edmundo Pena, 388th Maintenance Squadron Fabrication Flight, does low observable restoration on an F-35A wing tip at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, October 3, 2019. US Air Force/R. Nial Bradshaw

Business Insider: How Air Force maintainers make sure the F-35 stays a 'stealthy beast'

* The F-35A Lightning II boasts a "low observable" technology that makes it difficult for enemies to detect and track the fifth-generation fighter jet.
* But that technology is subject to wear and tear like any other component, and it takes airmen with special skills to keep it working.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – How do you make a 51-foot-long, 35-foot-wide fighter jet, with an engine that generates 43,000 pounds of thrust, vanish?

You don't. There's no black magic that exists to make something that big disappear.

The F-35A Lightning II isn't invisible, but it does have a "cloak," which makes it very difficult to detect, track, or target by radar with surface to air missiles or enemy aircraft.

The real term used to describe the cloak is "low observable" technology, and it takes skilled airmen to maintain.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This must be tedious work.

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