was run against ground radars and infrared systems.[372] A cover story to 'explain' how an airplane could be invisible to radar was also prepared. The people involved with the tests were told that an ordinary plane was carrying a 'black box' in its nose. This emitted a powerful beam which deflected the radar signals.[373]
In the final series of tests, Have Blue 1002 was flown against a simulated Soviet air defense network. These included the SA-6 Straight Flush tracking radar, and the Bar Lock, Tall King, and Spoon Rest early warning radars. These were either actual Soviet radars captured by the Israelis during the 1967 and 1973 wars, or copies built from scratch or modified from U.S. equipment. Tests were also run against airborne radars.
The results were phenomenal — most SAM radars could not detect the Have Blue until it was within the missiles' minimum range. This made it impossible for the SAMs to intercept it. The best approach was to fly directly toward the radar. This exposed only the Have Blue's tiny head-on radar return. Against VHP early warning radars, such as the Spoon Rest and Tall King, the results were more limited. Even so, the faceted shape reduced the detection range to half that of a normal aircraft. Against these radars, the plane would have to remain out of range, but since these radars were few in number, it would be a simple matter to bypass them. The Have Blue was undetectable by any airborne radar including the E-3 AWACS (airborne warning and command system). Fighter pilots would have to pick it up visually, the same as their World War I counterparts.
The Have Blue showed that further advances in RAM would be needed for operational aircraft. On the RCS tests, special care had to be taken.
Before each flight, doors and access panels had to be sealed with metallic tape and the landing gear doors had to be adjusted for a correct fit. Then after Dyson climbed into the aircraft, the gaps around the canopy and fuel-fill door were filled with a paint-type RAM material and allowed to dry before the plane took off.[374]
On one flight, the Have Blue was picked up at a range of fifty miles. After landing, the plane was given a close inspection. Three screws had not been fully tightened and were sticking up less than an eighth of an inch above the plane's skin. This was enough to compromise the plane's low RCS. [375]
Special efforts such as these were acceptable for a test aircraft, but for the operational aircraft, a more routine kind of procedure would be necessary.
The second Have Blue, 1002, was lost on July 11, 1979, during its fifty-second flight, a test against an F-15's radar. A weld in a hydraulic line cracked, spraying fluid onto the hot section of an engine. The fluid caught fire, and the blaze soon became uncontrollable. Dyson tried to get back to Groom Lake but had lost hydraulic power and was cleared to bail out.
Dyson ejected and parachuted to a safe landing.
The plane crashed near the Tonopah Test Range, in the northern part of Nellis Air Force Base. A tall column of smoke rose above the debris.
Seeing the smoke, a group of people at the test range boarded trucks and headed toward the crash site. To chase them off, the F-15 pilot buzzed the trucks at 600 knots. One truck drove off the road as the fighter blasted past.
The curiosity of the drivers was 'satisfied,' and they turned around and headed back. A helicopter from Groom Lake arrived and picked up Dyson.[376]
The loss of the aircraft did not affect the program, as it was the next-to-last flight planned, and most of the test data had already been acquired. The wreckage of Have Blue 1002 was also buried at Groom Lake.[377]
Park was philosophical about the loss of the two Have Blue aircraft (and the accident that nearly killed him and ended his own flying career). Years later he noted, 'We knew we had a problem but we couldn't fix it without a long delay in the program, and it was vital that we get the information. I don't mean we were going haphazardly. We did [the development] fast with a minimum amount of money. We wrecked two airplanes, but they were prototypes and served their purpose… 1 smile a lot because I am just happy to be here alive. I believe that circumstances can occur that you cannot overcome no matter how good you are.'[378]
The shape of the Have Blue remained secret for fourteen years. The code name was revealed in an October 1981 article in
The Have Blue was a particular shade of Black. The concept of faceting and, more importantly, its accomplishments were the darkest shade of Black. With a single pair of prototypes, every radar ever built had been rendered blind. The Have Blue had turned SAMs into expensive fireworks.
Strategic airpower had undergone a revolution as great as that brought about by nuclear weapons.
The
As time passed, it was becoming harder to keep the program a secret.
A 1979 article in the
It also described 'a new top secret fighter-bomber, tentatively known as the F-20.' It claimed, 'This plane would be outlawed by the proposed SALT II Treaty, but is secretly being developed in case the pact fails, the source claimed. The F-20 would be an advancement on the old B-l design, which was scrapped last year by President Carter.'[380]
The article did more to confuse than inform about stealth. The F-20 was only an improved F-5 fighter, which had nothing to do with the SALT II
During the summer of 1980, the pace of stealth leaks picked up. In the week of August 10,
(The latter was entirely inaccurate.)
President Carter and Defense Secretary Brown said later that they had considered three options to deal with the leaks. Saying 'no comment' would only fuel speculation. Disinformation — attempting to discredit the stories through false information — was also ruled out. It was seen as counter to the post-Watergate attitudes. The final option was to confirm the reports, in order to create a 'firebreak' to additional leaks.[381]
And 1980 was also an election year.
Carter had been elected on the promise to cut defense spending, and during his presidency there was a major decline in U.S. military power. Funding shortages had caused over 7 percent of air force aircraft to be grounded due to a lack of spare parts. Air force crews wore flight suits that were so old the flame retardant had been washed out, but there was no money to buy new ones. The navy was particularly hard hit; it had half the number of ships of ten years before and could not fully man them. Nor was there enough ammunition to fill every ship's magazine. Enlisted personnel were so poorly paid — below minimum wage — that they had to put their families on food stamps or work second or third jobs.[382]
By 1980, the American public had become convinced the nation was in decline, pushed around by Third-World countries like Iran and facing a growing Soviet threat. The breaking point came with the failed attempt to rescue
