Don’t compare the F-117 in terms of its role in the real world and here in the game, here in the game, knowledge of history is sometimes very detrimental…
I’ve been following that plane, since the first information that it will be in the game…
Game:
the first few days after the update in RB, when there was a “bug” in revealing planes at a long distance, you couldn’t see the opponent at more than 10 km …, I think it wasn’t a bug at all, it was a gameplay test and the F-117 succeeded in it, I followed the br, where it was placed and regularly finished the game at the top of the leaderboard…
then they fixed this “bug” and suddenly the Nighthawk was given the MiG-15bis as an attachment
if there were valuable concrete bunkers in the game, with a high SL rating, then the ideal machine, this is how it comes to me in air games as a machine, with a low yield…
so as a squadron machine, for GRB players it’s probably good, although it wasn’t intended for destroying ground targets at all targets, but it’s a game…
the Pantsir system is far more modern than the F-117
Reality:
the combat target of the aircraft: command and communication resistant bunkers for superior enemy forces, resistant concrete bunkers for expensive equipment, simply heavily defended targets with high material and human value
attack primarily at night
… shooting down in ex-Yugoslavia … point by point
take-off in Avian, where YUG. army agents were located nearby, i.e. information about the launch and previously identified, recognized, predictable flight routes
that day, the Prowlers did not take off, bad weather
excellent management of the use of radars, directed by the YUG. air defense commander, that officer was very capable and had studied the use of radio-electronic means in the fight against aircraft for a long time…
penetration into the NATO air force radio communications, so YUG. they had an idea of what was happening in the air from the intercepted calls…
the Soviet-made P-18 surveillance radar ( 1RL131 Terek ) was able to detect a signal within 15 miles, which they had previously confirmed was a Nighthawk…
the anti-aircraft battery commander knew that the Prowlers were out of the way, so he had more time for radar contact
as the 117th pilot opened the bomb bay, the S-125 system targeting system got him served…
So this combination of events was necessary to strip the Nighthawk of its aura of invincibility…
Does a F-117 produces more heat using IR mitigation than a Helicopter with no IR mitigation 2km away from a IR Spaa? Cuz i remember these moments where you couldnt lock a Helicopter 2km or less when using some spaas , that was crazy lol
That was about 5 weeks ago and i haven’t saved any links.
If you are really interested you might find some vids / articles outside propaganda outlets by google search or on yt; i summarized the reports i have seen or read like following:
The guy responded to this post added deviating reports that the recently “upgraded” air defense was able to locate the “holes in the air” created by the EWS systems.
Any “official” source like IDF or the Pentagon wrote only about successful attacks, but none of them mentioned a penetration of the contested airspace by aircraft itself. I remember not a single report about inflicted damages backed up by satellite images or similar evidence.
It looks like that the planned SEAD mission failed completely, a few articles i remember claimed that the first wave tasked with suppressing defenses received a lock on warning, others say that they were concerned about unknown radar systems “burning” trough their EWS screen.
In addition i remember different versions of how many planned attack waves were active; some said 2 - others claimed 3. But there was a consensus that all aircraft were ordered back as the first wave aborted their mission.
The engines it used were extensively modified to produce a far lower heat signature. That’s on the cooler side. The reason why it was designed the way it was so that radar signatures would be absorbed and not bounce off.
Besides that the aircraft itself also shouldn’t be detectable by heat-seeking missiles in general and not referring to the engines but the aircraft itself->is designed to stay on the cooler side of things.
Reading what everyone is saying is simple, you should be struggling to effectively lock onto an F-117 and rely more on guns to knock it out of the sky.
When I also mean by struggling it shouldn’t be based on how close you are. That’s not how radar locking worked.
The reason it got shot down was due to low-bandwidth radar. However, almost all radars in the game aren’t using low-bandwidth their using high-bandwidth.
I mean the F-117 definitely is going to produce heat no doubt about that. Weather it is the heat signature it appears to have now. Maybe? I know heat mitigation was in mind whem development of the aircraft was done. That part of the reason for it being subsonic is to reduce friction and heating of the airframe.
My guy, you can claim, cope however if history is stating one was ever shot down and only one was. Then I don’t know man. Says a lot when only one was shot down despite said country having a complex of radars, SAMs, etc and we are pretty much flying over them. Without being detected. Also once again, it was more or less luck that even one got detected.
True…
If you actually look into the damn thing, the fact they nailed the 117 is pretty close to a miracle, and would have easily been averted had the USAF not flown the exact same flight paths and timetables.
What kind of logic is that to claim it is immune to IR engagement though? No F-15 has ever been lost to an IR missile afaik, should we remove the ability to lock that up too?
Just because something hasn’t been lost to a specific threat type, doesn’t mean it’s impossible for it to be lost to it. We can’t really compare IRL nighthawk to ingame nighthawk either, as they operate completely differently.
IRL they fly at night, they have stealth to avoid radar detection, and they can approach from unknown directions.
Ingame, they spawn against a bright blue sky, and they approach the battlefield from a predictable direction with clear LOS the whole time.
It’s understandable they’ve never been lost to an IR missile irl, because it’s a lot less likely an IR AA even knew where to look - if they even knew it was coming at all. That’s not the case ingame at all. The rare misfortune of factors that F117 faced IRL, is what F117’s ingame face all the time.
Not really - the key thing you are missing is its Achilles heel, that without it would have never been shot down. Had the radar chanced upon its area when its doors were not open, or if it had been even a tiny bit off, it would have not found it.
Anyways, about IR - that thing is specifically designed to minimize its heat signature, it is a stealth aircraft after all. Should it be completely undetectable? No, of course not. There is still a small amount of thermal emissions, but not nearly as much as a non-stealth jet.
From the frontal aspect it is likely that it would be near imposssible to lock it with IR, though. Ingame… well thats a different matter. In all seriousness I think stealth should never come ingame, so I dont particularly mind the F-117 being gimped.
Type of Radar
Generation of Radar
Band of Radar
IR Seekers
Optical Seekers
Yes, I can admit that RCS is bugged at best in game, though stealth is not some invisibility cloak gaining a free pass. There is a reason why modern stealth has been so heavily adapted.