TOP SPEED
2193 mph
3529 km
On January 1966 two ace test pilots prepare for a critical experimental flight the plane they are about to fly is an ultra fast covert military jet and it’s just been modified to maximize performance. Over 11 month engineers draft 10 designs each, some aim for reduced radar signature others to achieve speed or height and none manage all three. The front-runner is the A-10 capable of flying high and at over three times the speed of sound MAC 3.2 but performance comes at a price its shape will make it highly visible to a radar. Project Archangel designs that reduce radar signature and the result is a radical new streamlined look. The new design has a flatter underbelly and sleeker lines that when radio waves encounter this plane instead of bouncing back to the enemy radar receivers they should deflect harmlessly away along the flattened fuselage. The result is an incredible 90% reduction in the radar cross-section.
Photo Credit: www.bbc.com
