DISAPPEARING FAST - THE STEALTH'S REPUTATION

September 6, 1996
Source: Daily Mail newspaper.
It is the invisible destroyer - a bomber that can strike without being picked up by radar.

At least, that was the theory.

But British scientists have blown a hole in the 2.2 billion dollar technology behind the American Stealth bomber by claiming to have tracked it as it flew over the Farnborough air show.

British missile manufacturers saw Monday's flypast as the ideal opportunity to test their systems against the bomber - seen by many as the most advanced aircraft in the world.

Experts operating a Rapier FSC system at RAF Honington in Suffolk managed the feat and later provided video evidence to the Americans.

British Aerospace, which manufactures the Rapier, was jubilant and said it proved how effective it was against all types of aircraft.

The Pentagon fired back, saying it had allowed the Stealth - known as the USAF Northrop Gruman B2 Spirit - to be tracked for safety reasons and that it could disappear off the screen again whenever it wanted.

However, some doubt was cast on the explanation by the fact that other British systems had failed to track the plane.

The Rapier works by using infra-red systems to look for changed in heat in the atmosphere. Although the B2 is supposed to be able to disguise its heat emissions, sufficient traces must have remained for the Rapier to lock on.

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