(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=75, TM=2, BM=2)
Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
PO BOX 1031
Mesquite, TX 75150
There are ABSOLUTELY NO RESTRICTIONS
on duplicating, publishing or distributing the
files on KeelyNet!
January 14, 1991
BLACKAIR.ASC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thu 27 Dec 90 9:57p
By: Harrison Hopper
To: All
Re: Aviation Week - I
--------------------------------------------------------------------
@MSGID: 1:19/19.10 277abc12
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This file courtesy of Lance Oliver.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the latest on sightings of unusual aircraft
in the Western United States.
********************************
AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY
********************************
24 December 1990
***********************************
Scientists' and Engineers' Dreams
Taking to Skies as 'Black' Aircraft
***********************************
Super-classified "black" aircraft developement programs have
served the U.S. and its allies well during the last 40-plus years,
providing specialized vehicles such as the U-2/TR-1, SR-71 and F-
117A. Still unproven, but also products of this special access
shadow world, are the B-2 bomber and Navy A-12, among others.
How many additional air vehicles may have been developed, yet
never revealed publicly, often is debated but rarely proven.
It is certain, however, that eight years of Reagan
Administration were good to the black world. For whatever reason,
billions of dollars were pumped into highly classified, special
access programs and new facilities, allowing creative scientists and
bright engineers unprecedented opportunities to experiment and test
their wildest dreams. Their only constraint, apparently, was that
projects be linked to operational considerations and pragmatic
applications.
A number of those dreams have taken wing in the past few years,
and increasing numbers of new, exotic vehicles have been reported by
ground observers throughout the U.S. recently (AW&ST Dec. 18, 1989,
p. 42; Oct. 1, p. 22). In addition, airline and military pilots
have reported seeing unusual high-speed, high-altitude, maneuvering
Page 1
vehicles during the last few years.
What these sightings add up to is this: The U.S. has developed
a fleet of new aircraft and is either testing them or already flying
several types in operational service. Because they are considered
"super-super-black" programs, military and other government
officials deny their existence.
Those who are briefed and know such aircraft exist cannot admit
it, and those who are not briefed simply do not know. The best
guesses of experts - and those who think they should know, by virtue
of their position -really are no more revealing than those of a
technically minded layman extrapolating from the known state of
"white world" technology.
But for all those billions, what has the American taxpayer
bought? Is the nation - and the world - any safer? Do we now
possess the "ultimate" weapons featured in comic books - the ones so
devastating any potential adversary would never think of disturbing
the peace for fear of the good guys' retaliation? Are exotic black-
world aircraft real peace-makers?
Maybe.
Briefings and well-choreographed show-and-tell sessions given
to slected members of Congress and key government officials in the
late 1980s would lead one to believe some of these exotic aircraft
just might be such weapons. While unabashedly appealing for
continued funding under the Bush Administration, proud hosts of
these sessions referred to unique air vehicles on display as "the
reasons the Iron Curtain Fell."
Unfortunately, proving the existance of such aircraft is not a
trivial task for those well-grounded on the unclassified side of the
fence, despite bits and pieces of strong evidence in hand. So, most
of the curious among us are reduced to watching the night sky,
sifting through tons of technical literature and making educated
deductions. Through this process, a natural first question any
technical skeptic worth his salt might ask is: "What would such a
vehicle look like, and what would be its mission?"
For sake of argument, let's consider the following details as
comprising a theoretical possibility of a hypersonic U.S.-developed
aircraft which could be cruising the skies tonight:
* An elongated, diamond-shaped unmanned vehicle measuring about
110 ft. long and 60 ft. wide at its midpoint. Call it a
flattened football shape. But fore and aft end points, as
well as the leading edges, are rounded rather than sharp.
Although diamond-shaped, the aircraft's basic contours might
be described as similar to those of a smooth "skipping
stone." The vehicle has a heavy appearance, likened to the
blocky sturdiness of a Caterpillar tractor or even the space
shuttle.
* All surfaces are covered with black ceramic tiles, quite
similar to those now used on the shuttle orbiter. They have
a scorched, heat-streaked appearance, and seem to be coated
with a crystalline patina indicative of sustained exposure to
Page 2
high temperature. A burnt-carbon odor emanates from the
surface. The aft body tiles are distinctly more pockmarked
and degraded than those on the forward half of the aircraft,
as if they had experienced the most heat.
* Jet engines buried in the lower fuselage are fed by inlet
ducts that open into the tile surface. These powerplants
boost the aircraft to supersonic speeds, at which time an
external burning mechanism takes over as the primary
propulsion method. The turbojets are shut down, and their
inlet/exhaust ports are closed until speed drops to the low
Mach numbers again.
In the high-Mach regine, misted fuel is ejected from the
fuselage midsection - the "break point" of the elongated diamond -
across the aft surface tiles, into the area between the fuselage and
a shock wave attached to this break. In essence, the sloping,
converging aft fuselage sections form the inside of a "nozzle," and
the shock boundary constitutes the outer surface, creating and
expanding exhaust effect, much like that on a conventional rocket.
The fuel is ignited by surface heating - or other means -
creating combustion that accelerates the aircraft up to the Mach 6-8
regime.
* Narrow leading and trailing edge sections provide aerodynamic
control in all axes.
* On the fuselage underside, forward of the midsection and
between the buried powerplants, is a clipped-diamond section
covered with 121 tile-covered ports. Behind each cover -
which is flush with the fuselage surface - rests a nuclear
warhead which approximates the shape of either a reentry
vehicle (RV) or an artillery shell. Each RV stands
vertically, pointing down.
When released, the cover tile is discarded, the weapon is
ejected downward, and a second tile automatically is moved into
position, closing the port and retaining a smooth aircraft surface.
These weapons are dispensed only at subsonic speeds to enhance
accuracy and avoid internal heating problems from opening a port in
the lower, heated external surfaces, especially when in the
hypersonic regime.
* The unmanned vehicle is capable of onboard self-control, but
also will accept external commands via satellite or a ground
station. Sandia's Winged Energetic Reentry Vehicle
Experiment project confirmed that electromagnetic signals can
be received by such a vehicle, even through the ionized layer
surrounding it at hypersonic speeds (AW&ST Aug, 6, p. 25).
Clearly, an unmanned vehicle of this type would be a powerful
strategic weapon, able to devastate targets over a wide area. Its
Mach 6-8 speed would improve the ability to survive greatly, because
fighters and ground-to-air missiles would be hard-pressed to
intercept the vehicle. Even though it must slow to possibly
subsonic speeds for weapons delivery, the aircraft's surface
structure and low radar cross-section contours would give it a
respectable low observable characteristics which could complicate
Page 3
targeting by defenders.
Reconnaissance versions would have twice the speed capability
of the now-retired SR-71, yet, being unmanned, would not risk the
loss of a human crew when operating over high-threat areas. Once
proven effective, such an aircraft would be a dream come true for
any four-star in charge of the Strategic Air Command.
Of course, it also would complicate the Air Force's arguments
for funding expensive armaments such as the B-2 bomber, MX missile
and small ICBM. Could these still be justified, in the numbers
originally requested?
Finally, as Persian Gulf tensions continue into 1991, one must
question whether the U.S. commander in chief and his defense
secretary are fully aware of super-black weapon systems' potential.
Let's hope so.
Hard as it may be to fathom, there is reason to wonder whether
complete knowledge of the most exotic aircraft may reach "The Top,"
all for super-security.
One would like to think America's staggering black-world
expenditures have yielded weaponry that could neutralize Iraqi
President Hussien's most valued military and political assets
quickly. Some say that capability is in hand and could be used -
albeit with conventional payloads - if the right people choose to do
so. If they do not, why not?
If so, why are almost 400,000 U.S. and allied troops dug into
the sand in Saudi Arabia, prepared to slug it out in a bloody ground
war?
Maybe it's time for America's taxpayers to demand an accounting
of their black-world investments.
The tradeoffs between national security - the reason for
keeping programs "black" in the first place - and the lives of those
troops are worthy of wider consideration.
********************************
End of Article
********************************
--- via Quickpoint XRS 3.2- (286)
* Origin: From Locale II? Clearwater, Florida (Quick
1:19/19.10)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have comments or other information relating to such topics
as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the
Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page.
Thank you for your consideration, interest and support.
Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson
Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet
--------------------------------------------------------------------
If we can be of service, you may contact
Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 4