Key Points and Summary – Have Blue was the code name for a top-secret DARPA program in the 1970s that created the world’s first true stealth aircraft.
-Developed by Lockheed’s Skunk Works, two Have Blue prototypes were built to test the revolutionary concept of using faceted, angular surfaces and radar-absorbent materials to evade enemy radar.
-Despite initial skepticism from even legendary designer Kelly Johnson, the ungainly-looking jet’s successful test flights in 1977 proved the concept viable.
-Though both prototypes ultimately crashed, the program was a resounding success, paving the way directly for the F-117 Nighthawk, America’s first operational stealth aircraft.
Have Blue: the First Stealthy Jet that Flew in the 1970s
It has been nearly half a century since the first stealthy aircraft lifted off the tarmac and into the air. Now a fixture of upcoming aircraft design, the technology faced strong skepticism in the United States from some of America’s most talented aerospace engineers.
The United States Air Force recently announced the winner of the Next Generation Air Dominance initiative, a program to field the first sixth-generation aircraft for the United States Air Force, the F-47, designed and built by Boeing. Though that fighter jet won’t enter service for several more years, stealth technology has made significant progress since the initial research into the field, pioneered by Lockheed and their Have Blue technology demonstrator.
That platform, developed in the 1970s by Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works division, ultimately yielded the F-117 Nighthawk, the world’s first operational stealth fighter. Retrospectively, the advent and development of stealth technology has clearly been a success, an innovative solution to an acute threat from the Soviet Union. But Have Blue’s success was not guaranteed.
The Soviet Threat
A history compiled by Lockheed Martin, the aerospace firm, details the threat environment that led to Lockheed’s initial foray into the world of stealth technology.
“In the early 1970s, a DARPA study brought to light the extent of vulnerabilities of U.S. aircraft and their on-board equipment to detection and attack by adversaries, who were deploying new advanced air-defense missile systems,” the company explained.
“These systems integrated radar-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and air-launched radar-guided missiles, all networked with early-warning, acquisition, and targeting radars, and coordinated within sophisticated command and control frameworks.”
To reduce vulnerability to these threats, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, began researching the technologies that would reduce a fighter jet’s vulnerability to radar detection. The leap forward in multiple areas of technology was significant, and included:
-Reduction of radar cross section through a combination of shaping (to minimize the number of radar return spikes) and radar absorbent materials
-Infrared shielding
-Exhaust cooling and shaping, and enhanced heat dissipation; reduced visual signatures
-Active signature cancellation
-Inlet shielding
-Windshield coatings
Interestingly, a Soviet mathematician, one Pyotr Ufimtsev, published an initial study on electromagnetic wave reflection, the basis for today’s stealth aircraft. Ultimately, the breakthroughs made by DARPA yielded a flyable, though visually ungainly, fighter.
The jet’s highly angled surfaces did reflect radar waves away from radar receivers, though the design was so aerodynamically unstable it relied on a sensitive fly-by-wire control system to maintain level flight.
The promise of stealth technology was tantalizing, but some of Lockheed’s most distinguished engineers expressed strong skepticism about the project. Fast-forward to today, and DARPA remains involved in cutting-edge American stealth technology.
“That’ll Never Fly”
Though Have Blue contributed to the development of stealth jets, the initiative faced stiff criticism during the project’s early, pre-production development.
“Under Have Blue, Lockheed built two single-engine stealth demonstrators, which began test flights in 1977. Each was about forty percent smaller than the F-117.
Each was distinguished by tail surfaces that pointed inward. Even some Lockheed partisans were initially unimpressed with the Have Blue’s unusual appearance,” Air & Space Forces Magazine wrote in a 1992 article covering the development of American stealth aircraft.
“Kelly [Johnson] came in, kicked me in the ass, and said ‘That’ll never fly,'” Mr. Rich recalled.
The eighteen-month Have Blue test series, however, was a striking success and convinced the Air Force to go ahead with development of a stealth fighter.
Johnson’s skepticism likely carried significant weight during the Have Blue development. Johnson, one of Lockheed’s most accomplished aeronautical engineers, contributed to the U-2 spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird, as well as the first American jet fighter, the first fighter capable of Mach 2, the first fighter to exceed Mach 3, and several other notable American aerospace projects.
The odd-looking jet did fly, however, a strong riposte to Johnson’s criticism. Have Blue was flight-tested and would be further refined into the F-117 Nighthawk. Although both of the two Have Blue prototypes would ultimately crash during test flights, the program was a success.
“On November 16, 1978, Lockheed received the contract for full-scale engineering development of what became the F-117, but the Have Blue flights foreshadowed a number of critical problems that would not be resolved until F-117 testing. Among them: how to mask the aircraft’s exhaust and how to integrate a host of off-the-shelf avionics packages with the new airframe. In addition, the designers had to grapple with 1,001 details that could have derailed the program.”
“It was very good that we did Have Blue prototypes first,” said Mr. Brown. “That gave us a real head start.”
Have Blue and a Powerful Legacy
Have Blue’s legacy to modern, stealthy military aviation was of foundational importance, and set off a revolution in how air forces think about survivability, air dominance, and their strategic and tactical decision-making processes. It also gave the United States a technological overmatch that would not be challenged for many decades.
Stealth technology today is rapidly proliferating. Along with Soviet and now Russian attempts to build fifth-generation stealth aircraft, China has made significant strides in recent years, with several fifth-generation fighters and other aircraft either in service or soon to be operational.
Have Blue proved that what seemed very unlikely was actually possible, and set off today’s race toward stealthy aircraft.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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