STEALTH BOOMBER

The term "stealt" is commonly applied to aircraft or missile systems that have been designed to produce as small a radar signature as is praticable. In fact, stealttechnology goes beyond this to include reducing as many "observables" of an aircraft or missile system as possible-for example,its visual, noise, and heaat signature, as well as its electromagnetic ones. Stealth technology is applicable to other system as well, particularly to ship design. Overall, while the term"stealth"is convenient shorthand, a more precise and - all encompassing term used in the military community is low observables.

Development of he firs stealth aircraft encouraged the development of the Northrop B-2 stealth boober(which entered air force service in december 1993), and an advance stealthly creise missile, the General Dinamics AGM-129. Stealt is an important development in military aerospace, for itrenders an aircraft or missile dificult to detect, an virtually impossible to track, engage, and distroy. The success of these early stealth efforts has spawned interest both in countr-stealth studies and in a variety of other stealth designs. But as of this writing, only the United State prossesses stealth aircraft and missiles in operational service