How come a stealth bomber is shot down?

So you know the story from 1999 where a Serbian Flak or SAM, I don't know, shot down the American F-117 Stealth Fighter. I've watched a lot of movies on Discovery Channel how this plane is invisible to radars, how it flies very high and can't be targeted by any ground AA gun. All these facts and arguments fell apart in 1999 when a Serbian ground battery shot down a Stealth fighter.

So what is your explanation? Did it actually get detected? Or they were just randomly shooting in the air while the big bird went down from the clouds? Accident ot skill, this event breaks the theory of "stealth" fighters and probably their era as well (since they didn't prove very useful).

It would have been a hell of a coincidence if they were just firing into the air randomly and suddenly they just see this Stealth Bomber going down.

Oops. :lol:

Absolute waste of money.

Well, yeah, everybody was ready to try anything to win the Cold War. I guess this plane didn't win in air supremacy.

It would have been a hell of a coincidence if they were just firing into the air randomly and suddenly they just see this Stealth Bomber going down.

Oops. :lol:

NiteLights

Low frequency radar waves, like in old radars are much more adept at detecting stealth aircraft than newer radars, running high frequencies which stealth aircraft were created to be undetectable from. I think that was the reason why. Even stealth planes have to worry about IR signatures too. While the F-117 and B-2 are well designed for minimizing IR signatures, other craft like the F-22 and F-35 will give off quite a signature, especially in afterburner. That's why their engine nozzles are partially shrouded by the tail surfaces.

Low frequency radar waves, like in old radars are much more adept at detecting stealth aircraft than newer radars, running high frequencies which stealth aircraft were created to be undetectable from. I think that was the reason why. Even stealth planes have to worry about IR signatures too. While the F-117 and B-2 are well designed for minimizing IR signatures, other craft like the F-22 and F-35 will give off quite a signature, especially in afterburner. That's why their engine nozzles are partially shrouded by the tail surfaces.

mouthforbathory

[QUOTE="NiteLights"]

It would have been a hell of a coincidence if they were just firing into the air randomly and suddenly they just see this Stealth Bomber going down.

Oops. :lol:

Bourbons3

[QUOTE="mouthforbathory"]

Low frequency radar waves, like in old radars are much more adept at detecting stealth aircraft than newer radars, running high frequencies which stealth aircraft were created to be undetectable from. I think that was the reason why. Even stealth planes have to worry about IR signatures too. While the F-117 and B-2 are well designed for minimizing IR signatures, other craft like the F-22 and F-35 will give off quite a signature, especially in afterburner. That's why their engine nozzles are partially shrouded by the tail surfaces.

Phoenix6359

Stealth technology isn't 100% effective.

Stealth bombers are incredibly loud.

Most stealth technology can't completely hide the fact you are there, but makes your presence ghost like (you know the ghost is in the house, but not where)

That and these bombers have been flying the exact route for days (a big no no in the current air force). So they knew the bombers where there and fired there rockets at its general path. These AA missile systemswhere armed with the longer wave radar, which is more sensitive (as in it may go after a jet, or it may chase a very unlucky bird). So they fired allot of these over sensitive rockets at the planes known path, and one blowed up close enough.

Can't remember but I think there was a fault with the radar absorbing paint. Wiki says it was due to there being a build up of moisture on the surface. Stealth technology isn't invisible to radar, it just reduces the radar signature.