![]() For example, pilots of Jagdgeschwader I, the famous “Flying Circus” commanded by top German ace Manfred von Richthofen – AKA the “Red Baron” – painted their aircraft bright crimson, while those of Jasta 6 opted for zebra-like black and white stripes.ĭespite this, the Germans did make the first attempt to build a truly stealthy aircraft. However, even late into the war many fighter pilots eschewed camouflage for garish colour schemes intended to aid unit cohesion, display national pride and individuality, and intimidate the enemy. These disruptive patterns were intended to break up the aircraft’s outline against the ground and sky and were printed in a number of versions for use on upper and lower surfaces and for day and night operations. This consisted of a pattern of four or five-sided polygons in a variety of colours including blue, grey, green, black, purple, and even pink, pre-printed on the fabric used to cover aircraft wings and fuselages. One unusually elaborate scheme was the Lozenge Camouflage used by the Luftsreitkräfte or Imperial German Air Force. Most nations thus adopted various camouflage schemes, generally consisting of pale blue or tan lower surfaces to blend against the sky and green or brown upper surfaces to match the ground below. But as the War progressed and aviation technology improved, greater emphasis was placed on camouflage both on the ground and in the air. For this reason, during the First World War aircraft were prominently marked with national insignia like British and French tricolour roundels or the German Balkenkreuz. Anti-aircraft defences were primitive, and it was more important for aircraft to be easily recognized as friend or foe by ground forces and other aircraft. In the early days of military aviation, little attention was paid to stealthiness. But how does this technology work? How is it possible to render an entire modern jet aircraft nearly invisible? Well strap in as we dive into the fascinating history and technology of stealth. Since then, the F-117’s revolutionary technology has proliferated throughout the world’s militaries, completely reshaping the face of modern warfare. Known as the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, this revolutionary “stealth fighter” would go on to fly 1,250 sorties and drop more than 2,000 tons of bombs on Iraq without a single aircraft being shot down, helping bring Operation Desert Storm – the UN-backed expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait – to a swift and decisive conclusion. Little did the Iraqis know that they were up against an entirely new type of weapon: an aircraft designed to be almost invisible to radar, allowing it to penetrate deep into enemy territory and strike at critical targets with impunity. But the 60 surface-to-air missile batteries defending the country remained silent, their radars fruitlessly searching the skies for the unseen intruders. Immediately, Iraq’s aerial defence system sprang into action, its 3,000 anti-aircraft guns saturating the air with explosive shells. The explosions were exact and devastating, destroying Iraqi military radars, command bunkers, and communications hubs with surgical precision. At precisely 3 in the morning on January 17, 1991, a series of explosions rocked the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
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