'STEALTH' PLANE: A SECRET THAT'S BEEN OUT SINCE 1976

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92B00478R000800340048-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 23, 2013
• Sequence Number: 48
• Publication Date: August 25, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/12/23: CIA-RDP92B00478R000800340048-5
CHRISTIAN SCIENCF, YIONITOR.
25 August 1 90
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in This view, . a bomber "that mighti
emerge from this technology is still a dec-
ade off," and he brands the defense secre-
tary's announcement of the Stealth technol-
ogy "highly premature," asserting that its
effectiveness "has yet to be demonstrated.",
He notes; moreover, that the project was
launched under the Ford administration and
observes "President Ford certainly didn't
divulge it."' ?
? It would be hard to overestimate the mili-
tary utility of aircraft that- are _virtually
undetectable to radar.' ?
Ever since Britain used a rudimentary I
form, of the technology to great effect during
the Battle of Britain,' radar has posed an in-
creasingly ? serious threat to attacking
aircraft. ? -
'Subsequent to World -War II, defensive
missiles ---- both ground-launched and air-
launched ??-? were married with radar
fire-control systems," explains William
Perry, undersecretary of defense for re- ?
search and engineering: "This substantially
increased the effectiveness of air-defense
systems."-,
Currently. US aircraft-rely on a combina-
tion of electronic countermeasures and low
flying - through so-called
ter,"'. where radar cannot distinguish bed
.f.`ground clot-'
them and other signals: ?
But the -Soviet Air Defense Command!
poses a' formidable challenge_to. assaulting.'
,.. ? ?
. ...??..
By Stephen Webbe
Staff correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor ,
Washington
. The Carter administration's disclosure
that it has developed aircraft capable of
streaking unobserved through Soviet: air
defenses was as politically motivated as it
was unwise, claims Ronald Reagan's senior
defense adviser, William Van Cleave,:
'I think-' it -? essentially compromises
whatever prospects of success the program
might have," Dr, Van Cleave declares..-.-a,--
In confirming Aug. 22 that 'supersecret
"Stealth"- aircraft have developed a near-
invulnerability to existing air-defense-syS-
- tems.--'Defense-- Secretary Harold Brown
blamed regrettable press- and television
leaks for the need to make the announce-
ment now.: - -?
"I-think- it is a fair question as to who
started those leaks in the first- place,". re-
torts Van Clea veadirector of the defense and
strategic studies program at the University
of Southern California.
"Stealth" rumors have been rife in
Washington for the last few weeks. The au-
thoritative magazine Aviation Week : &-
Space ? Technology ' referred to the ---"ad-
? vanced technology Stealth bomber" in its
Aug. Il issue. and Armed Forces Journal re-
ported Aug. 22 that the United States has
been test-flying several versions of "virtu-
. ally invisible new aircraft for over two
years," a story that CBS had eartier_picked
up on its evening news.
Calling it "a major technological -ad-
vance." the defense secretary claimed that
so-called "Stealth" technology now enables
the us to build manned and unmanned air-
craft that cannot be intercepted by existing
air defense -systems. - "We have -demon-
strated to our satisfaction that the technol-
ogy works," he added. ?.'
.The secretary declined to comment on
5
J-epprts that three of the new, aircraft have
crashed.
According to Armed Forces Journal, the
Stealth aircraft are virtually invulnerable to_
air defense radar and infrared, electronic,
and acoustical detection While only fighters
have been tested so far (supposedly at Nellis
Air Force Base, Nev.) a strategic bomber is
_being designed, the magazine added:
- Dr. Van Cleave contends that the admin-
istration has revealed the Stealth program:
DOW to counter criticism of President
Carter's "poor defense' record' and specifi- ?
cally his cancellation of the B-1 bomber
a . . ? .. .
???
With 10,000 surfaCe:to-air 'missiles, and
2,600 interceptor aircraft, it represents the-
largest air-defense system in the world: Its
effectiveness' was demonstrated in 1960
when a SA-1 missile shot down Francis Gary
Powers'SlU-2 spy plane at a height of 65,000
According to Dr. Perry, a chief architect
of the Stealth program, the Soviet Union
continues to place heavy emphasis on air-
defense missiles to offset US advantages in,
air power; -.? ? .,? '
. .
'."TheY have built thousands of surface-to-
air 'missile systems. They employ radars
with high Power and monopulse tracking
circuits, which are very . difficult to jam..
And in the last few years they have devel-;.
oped air-to-air missiles guided by 'look-
down' radars, which are capable of tracking .
aircraft _flying in 'ground clutter,' ". Perry.
_
_Hence, Stealth technology -- which, says
_Perry, does not involve "a _single technical -;
-approach, but rather a complex synthesis of .!
many.," More he will not reveal.. ? ?-1
According to Armed Forces Journal, the
deception techniques involve the special
shaping or contouring of aircraft; the use of
nonmetallic materials that give a weak or
undetectable radar return; infrared shield-
ing of engine exhausts; special paints to ab-
sorb, deflect; and shroud radar signals; and
electronic countermeasures to generate
false returns. .- -
While unwilling to discuss any- of the
. .
techniques that render Stealth aircraft ai
but undetectable, Perry notes that' 'this
technology - theoretically, at least - conid.
be-plied to any military vehicle which can
be-attacked by radar-directed fire."
Both Brown- -and Perry insist that the
Stealth program Was shrounded in the deep-
est secrecy until' they revealed it Aug. 22.
Perry even maintains that its -very exis-
tence was classified information.
In fact., that existence was far from se-
cret. On july.23, 1976. readers of Aerospace
Daily were informed that Clarence L.
(Kelly) Johnson, "the nation's premier air-
craft designer" and architect of the U-2 and
SR-71 spy planes, was building -a new
12,000-pound, one-man Stealth aircraft" at
the Lockheed plant in Burbank, Calif.
The magazine claimed tat the $90 mil-
lion program, sponsored by the Defense Ad-
vanced Research ProjectsAgency. was de-
signed "to redike -aircraft visibility?
' optical, acoustic, and radar signatures -
throughnew technology." '
Lockheed spokesmanDave Crowther de-
: clined to comment when asked whether the
company is involved in-the Stealth program.
Johnson. a stickler for secrecy in such mat-
ters, has so far not commented,on the disclo-
sure of the program. ?
-
Whether or not the Soviets have begun
devising countermeasures to combat the
ghost-like Stealth machines is uncertain. If
they were subscribing to Aerospace Daily
four years ago,- they may have ahead start.
At the least:Brown's announcement may
not have overly surprised them.
neclassified and Approved For Release 2013/12/23: CIA-RDP92B00478R000800340048-5