1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,159 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and it's time for 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: another classic episode, another Friday classic. We're looking at an 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: episode that originally published on April twenty second, two thousand thirteen. 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: This episode is titled text Stuff Gets Stealthy and Yeah, 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: it's all about stealth technology and how that works. Let's 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: listen in. Are pirates concerned with being stealthy? Then you 10 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: have to know the weapons of your enemy, is what 11 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: I'm saying. And pirates and Ninja being natural enemies in 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: the wild, it's important to study your enemies techniques. All 13 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: let's talk of pirates and Ninja's reminds me very much 14 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: of the Cold War, right, and that is an important 15 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: reason why stealth technology even exist. So thank you for 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: getting us back on track, Lauren. So, stealth technology in general, 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: stealth technology refers to the types of tech we use 18 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: in aircraft to make them difficult or impossible to detect, 19 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: mainly via radar, although we also think about things like 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: infrared scanners that sort of stuff, and uh. And really 21 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: to understand how stealth works, we first have to understand 22 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: what radar is and how that works. Right, Radar radar 23 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: works thanks to to basic concepts and that's echo and 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,040 Speaker 1: Doppler shift. Yes, so yeah and echo. I mean like 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: if you if you were to shout out, uh, you know, 26 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: you go visit the Grand Canyon and you shout as 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: loudly as you can, uh, you might hear after a 28 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 1: few seconds your voice coming back to you. And that's 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: because some when you when you shout something out, you know, 30 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: your your voice is traveling out in sound waves, they 31 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: will collide with the other side of the canyon, and 32 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: some of those sound waves will bounce back at you 33 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: and eventually arrive back to where you will are. And 34 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: if you are loud enough when you make the initial sound, 35 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: you should be able to hear some of that sound return. 36 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: So that's why you've got that little delay right right. 37 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: And now, if if you were to measure the length 38 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: of time that it took for that sound to bounce 39 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: back to you and measure it pretty accurately, then you 40 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: could mathematically calculate about how far that sound went. Yeah, 41 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: And of course you also need to know some other 42 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: factors like air press, your humidity, things that would affect 43 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: how fast the sounds traveled. Yeah, because as we know, 44 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: sound will travel at different speeds through different media, and 45 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: that even includes different atmospheres. So if you are you know, 46 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: if you're really at sea level, sound travels at a 47 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: different speed than it would if you were at thirty feet. 48 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: But it's not necessarily detectable to a human ear. But 49 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 1: we're definitely not a misable in in day to day conversation. 50 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: For example. But you know, I I don't go down 51 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: to Florida and go like, man, it's really humid. I 52 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: can barely hear you from this point five. You know 53 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: it's taking it's taking longer for your words to hit 54 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: my Yeah. But anyway, the same principle works on radar, 55 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: except instead of sound, we're talking about electromagnetic waves or 56 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: radio waves, and so you use radio waves to you 57 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: project them out and if they come into contact with something, 58 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: some of those radio waves will bounce back. So if 59 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: you have a receiver, then you can detect those incoming 60 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: waves and determine by how long it took to go 61 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: out and back about how far away that object is. Now. 62 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: You also mentioned Doppler shifts, So we have to talk 63 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: about right right and Doppler shifts. For example, why a 64 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: car's horn sounds higher pitched when the car is moving 65 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:39,839 Speaker 1: towards you than it does when the car is moving 66 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: away from you. Yeah, there's there's a great article on 67 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works that explains this that I like a lot. 68 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: Marshall Brain actually wrote it. He's the founder of How 69 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works and uh, And in it, Marshall talked about 70 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: how if you were if the car is sitting still 71 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: and the driver leans on the horn for a minute. 72 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: First of all, you must be in Boston. Uh. And second, uh, 73 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: that means that if you are far enough away. Let's 74 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: say that you're far enough away that the sound takes 75 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: six seconds to get to you, all right, and you're 76 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: sitting there, that means that the the horn will have 77 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: been uh sounding for six seconds before you can even 78 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: hear it, right, But then it'll it'll last for a minute, 79 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: that's how long because the person's leaning. Then, now, if 80 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: that car is traveling toward you, then the pitch of 81 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: that is going to be higher than it would be 82 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: if if it were just saying still. Those those waves 83 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: are essentially compressed a higher frequency in the same amount 84 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: of time. So and then of course, if the car 85 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: goes by you. You know you've heard this if you've 86 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: ever heard a siren when an emergency vehicle has either 87 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: come up behind or approached you and then passed. As 88 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: it goes as it's traveling towards you, it's a higher pitch, 89 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:52,359 Speaker 1: and as it's going away it's a lower pitch. And 90 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: that's because of the frequency of the waves and the 91 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: way that the object making the sound is traveling versus 92 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: the sound itself traveling. So the interesting thing about doubler 93 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: shift is if you can detect the if you know 94 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: what the frequency of the waves were when it was 95 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: going out. So, in other words, you've got a transmitter, right, 96 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: that's that's your your radar transmitter and antenna that's transmitting 97 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: the high burst of high frequency radio waves. You know 98 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: what the frequency is when you transmit. When the frequency 99 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: comes back, uh, it's going to be or when the 100 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: radio waves come back, rather it's going to be possibly 101 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: a different frequency than it was when it went out. 102 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: Now that means that the object that hit was in motion. 103 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: If it's a higher frequency, that means that object is 104 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: essentially moving towards you. If it's a lower frequency, that 105 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: object is moving away. So and by measuring exactly the 106 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: difference in the pitch, you can measure how fast it's going, yeah, exactly, 107 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: or at least get an estimate, pretty good idea. Yes. 108 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: And because we're talking, you know, radio waves move essentially 109 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: at the speed of light, so you know, the delays 110 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 1: here are really really super tiny, and and the transmission 111 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: is like, is a fraction of a second long. So 112 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: you transmit these really short bursts and uh, and then 113 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: turn off the transmitter and allow the way it's to 114 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: come back, right, and you measure the delay between when 115 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: it went out and when it came back, and you 116 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: measure the Doppler shift, and that gives you an idea 117 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: of the position and speed at which the object is moving, 118 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: so if it's moving towards you or away. Uh. And 119 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: it's very useful for detecting things like aircraft, and in fact, 120 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: we use it all the time, not just in military applications, 121 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: but air traffic control. So here's the thing. If you 122 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: are running a military operation and you want to run 123 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: surveillance or some sort of sortie against an enemy territory, 124 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: then you probably don't want your vehicles to be detected. 125 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: It's generally a bad policy, yeah, because that means that 126 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: they can be shot down or or otherwise compromised. And 127 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: so you want to be able to run your mission 128 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: without any kind of entanglements. And so that's when people 129 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: started thinking, well, the radar is a really useful tool 130 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: for detection. How can we get around radar so that 131 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: our enemies don't know when we are there? And that's 132 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: what really got the United States thinking about stealth technology. 133 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: And really it was the Cold War. Yeah, yeah, this 134 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: was all during the nineteen sevent days. Everyone was really tense. Yeah. Yeah. 135 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: The Soviet Union or the then Soviet Union and the 136 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: United States had been in a Cold war pretty consistently 137 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: since shortly after World War Two, and by the nineteen 138 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: seventies that said, really we were seeing escalation on both sides. 139 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: Arsenals were getting more and more powerful and complex. It 140 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: was a lot of posturing on the part of both countries, definitely, uh, 141 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: And the rest of the world was mostly saying, guys, 142 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: can we can chill out? Yeah, this is getting a 143 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: little tense for all of us, and we go get 144 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: a pizza. Yeah, because once you start talking about how 145 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: many times each country could destroy the other country via 146 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: nuclear weapons, Like we could just stroy the the United 147 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: States ten times over, well, we can destroy the so 148 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: Union twelve times over. And everyone's just saying, really, is 149 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: there this much need for these many Yeah, Well, one 150 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: of the thoughts was, how can we deliver a nuclear 151 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: payload to an enemy territory without the about them detecting 152 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: that we're there and stopping us. We can, yeah, before 153 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: the aircraft gets shot down or even or you know, 154 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: how can we run spy missions? And you know exactly 155 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: And so at the time, the main aircraft that was 156 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: being used in bombing runs in the United States was 157 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: the B fifty two bomber. And the B fifty two 158 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: is not a stealth vehicle at all. Anti that. Yeah, 159 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,439 Speaker 1: it's actually has a quite quite a large radar footprint. 160 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: It's very detectable, but it can travel quite fast and 161 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,560 Speaker 1: it can carry very large payloads. And it was first 162 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: introduced back in nineteen fifty five, and it's known for 163 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: being a reliable aircraft, so much so that there are 164 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: still more than any fifty two in active service. And um, yeah, 165 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's actually projected after a couple of 166 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: upgrades that will happen between now and it's projected to 167 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: be an active part of our air force until the Yeah, 168 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: so this is a this is a longevity issue here. 169 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's definitely a workhorse, but it is 170 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: not a stealth vehicle. So the United States started to 171 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: open up the possibility for different companies to bid on 172 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: developing an aircraft that could stealthily fly and not be 173 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: detected by radar and still have the carrying capacity to 174 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: deliver large nuclear payloads. Yeah. Yeah, that's it was the 175 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: other part of it. Yes, um, scary scary stuff. Well, 176 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: there was simultaneously development of other stealth stealth technology going 177 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: on that we'll talk about a little bit later on, 178 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: but that was that was more on that research kind 179 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: of side of things. And the B two, which is 180 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: what came out of all that we're talking about right now. Yeah, 181 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: the B two was the big one. I mean, that 182 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,839 Speaker 1: was the one that was unveiled and uh and talked 183 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: about the most. And the B two is also better 184 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: known as the stealth bomber. It's also the called the 185 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: B two Spirit and most of the individual planes are 186 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: called the Spirit of something or other and uh. Yeah. 187 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:27,359 Speaker 1: It was first unveiled publicly on November twenty second, nineteen 188 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,559 Speaker 1: in Palmdale, California, at the Air Force Plant forty two. 189 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: That same year, another stealth aircraft was unveiled, that was 190 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: the F one seventeen Nighthawk, and we'll talk about that 191 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: more in a little bit. It was a North Grumman 192 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 1: that ended up winning that that bidding battle, and they're 193 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: the ones who developed the B two. It took about 194 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: a decade for them to make it, and about forty 195 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,959 Speaker 1: billion dollars in research and development, yeah, which which was 196 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: up over what they had originally stated they might be 197 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: able to do it for. Yeah, and uh, and also 198 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: the sanes themselves, the bombers themselves were more expensive than 199 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,079 Speaker 1: what they originally intended. They first thought that they could 200 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: deliver the entire order for you know, ADO plans aren't 201 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,719 Speaker 1: thirty two planes for like forty billion. Twenty Well, I 202 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: think it went from twenty to seventy. Yeah. Yeah, the 203 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: original contract was for twenty two billions from what I've read, 204 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: and then um as when when when has unveiled it 205 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: had the total priced jump to like over seventy And 206 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: eventually they figured that each aircraft would cost about one 207 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: to two billion dollars a piece, and so it got 208 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: really expensive really fast. Like that ended up being the 209 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: UH the target of a lot of criticism, you know, 210 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: people saying that these contracts are all based on estimates 211 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,319 Speaker 1: that were not realistic, and whether or not the companies 212 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: were aware of how unrealistic they were was a matter 213 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: of doubt, and it just got into a really sore subject. 214 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: But something happened that ended up kind of taking a 215 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: little of the sting out, which is that in n 216 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union collapsed and suddenly people didn't really have 217 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: so much of a need to h to carry large 218 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: amounts of nuclear warheads across enemy territory quietly, and yeah, 219 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: when you're when your chief nemesis goes under, and of 220 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: course we can you know today when you look at 221 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: the United States and Russia, there are other issues where 222 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: you might say things are starting to turn around at 223 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: some points. You know, there's always and and there's always 224 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: tension between various world powers like that. It's like our 225 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,839 Speaker 1: career right now, you know, there's there's always always chicanery, 226 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: right So, so anyway, because the so Union collapsed, that 227 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: that helped UH the United States come to the decision 228 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: to reduce the order from one thirty two to twenty 229 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: one aircraft, twenty of which are still flying around today. 230 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: I'll talk a little bit about that, but before I 231 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: do that, I guess we should kind of describe what 232 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: the B two looks like in case you guys have 233 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,599 Speaker 1: never seen one. They're funky, they are. The design is 234 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: called a flying wing actually because with most aircraft, you know, 235 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: I mean, it's you've seen an airplane, it's got it's 236 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: got a body, it's got wings, it's got stabilizers. Stabilizer 237 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: is coming off in the little strange angles. But yeah, 238 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: but but this flying wing is designed so that the 239 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: entire craft generates lift. Yeah, so it's it doesn't have 240 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: all that like the fuselage and the wings. It's it's 241 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: all one body. It's not it's not like, you know, 242 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: you've got a tube that's the fuselage and then you've 243 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: got the to the two wings attached to that. No, 244 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: it's all one giant wing. And yeah, like you said, 245 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: you know, you just go fast enough and it generates 246 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,479 Speaker 1: the lift it needs to fly. And yeah, the eliminating 247 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: the tail and the fuselage reduced drag and it also 248 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: means that because of its design it doesn't have like 249 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 1: it's it's easier for it to avoid radar detection based 250 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: on the stuff it's made of. And we'll talk more 251 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: about that and how the stealth stuff actually works in 252 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: a little bit. It is one hundred seventy two ft wide, 253 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: which is fifty two point four meters, which is which 254 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: is a bunch. Yeah, it's it's it's essentially if you 255 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: were to look at an American football field, a B 256 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: two bomber from wingspan from wing tip to wing tip 257 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: would be more than half the length of an American 258 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: football field. Yeah, and this is this is a vehicle 259 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: built for two people. Yeah, it's a two person aircraft. Yeah. 260 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: It's also sixty nine feet from tail I mean quote 261 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: unquote tail to tip. It doesn't really have a tail. 262 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: I guess the length of the bit of the wing 263 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: exactly where the B two stops being to where the 264 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: B two starts being right, and is sevent ft high. 265 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: And uh. It can fly about six thousand nautical miles 266 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: which is about eleven thousand, one twelve kilometers before it 267 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: needs to refuel. And if you have an aerial refueling 268 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: as part of its mission. It can go ten thousand 269 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: nautical miles or about eight kilometers. That's a that's a 270 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: long trip. And uh and and we've seen some recent 271 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: use of that. I can carry twenty tons of conventional 272 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: and nuclear weapons. It is considered a high sub sonic flight, 273 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: which means that it's top speed isn't just under the 274 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: speed of sounds some something like what a thousand feet 275 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: per second something like that. Yeah, it's it's it's really Uh. 276 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: It goes about as fast as an aircraft can go 277 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: before it starts becoming super sonic. Right, So, which would 278 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: cause a boom, which is obviously something you want a 279 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: stealth vehicle to do. Right. You know, if the stealth 280 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: vehicle causes booms, it's not that stealthy pirates have discovered 281 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 1: this to their own unfortunate detriment. Right, Cannons go boom, 282 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: whereas the hurricane goes. Yeah, we all are familiar with 283 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: the hurrican sound. Hey guys, it's Jonathan from being all 284 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: quiet and stealthy like. So we can take a quick 285 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: break to think our sponsors. So remember I said that 286 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: there are twenty of those twenty one aircraft still flying around. 287 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: That's because in February two eight, there was an accident 288 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: during a takeoff at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, 289 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: and that resulted in the loss of the Spirit of Kansas. 290 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: B two bomber and UH. Nineteen of those twenty are 291 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: at Whiteman Air Force based in Missouri because I don't 292 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: say Missouri, and the other one is at Edwards Air 293 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: Force Base in California, which is used for flight testing purposes. Okay. 294 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: The thing about these B twos, and I guess anything 295 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: that has that is covered in this stealth technology paint 296 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: and tape and stuff, is that all of all of 297 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: that is extremely temperature and weather sensitive. If you if 298 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: you get it too warm, and it's it's like a 299 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: mad wife. If you get warm, if you get it wet, 300 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: if you feed it after midnight, you it after midnight, um, 301 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: it starts to fall apart, and and all of that 302 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,120 Speaker 1: has to be reapplied frequently, basically every time that they 303 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: take it out of these temperature controlled hangars. And they've 304 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: started designing um portable temperature controlled hangars so that they 305 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: can run missions overseas, right, Yeah, that's that is one 306 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 1: of the big drawbacks to the B two is that 307 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: it does require these these climate controlled hangars to essentially 308 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: live in between missions, because otherwise the material that keeps 309 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: it stealthy would degrade very rapidly, and it would not 310 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: be a secure method of delivering payloads under the radar, 311 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: so to speak. You're not literally going under the radar 312 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: um So, also recently, very recently, and as of the 313 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: Timber recording this podcast, the United States had sent two 314 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: of the B two bombers over the South Korea for 315 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,719 Speaker 1: training exercises. This is all part of that escalating issue 316 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: between North Korea and South Korea, Japan, the United States 317 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: where you know, this is the training exercises. Are are 318 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: this this annual exercise happens over there? And they don't 319 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: necessarily right, yeah, need to be Yeah, it's kind of 320 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,439 Speaker 1: a show of force. It's going just hey guys, remember 321 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: what we got. We got these things right, right. It's 322 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: it's essentially because North Korea has a history of posturing 323 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: and threatening South Korea as well as lots of other 324 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: nations and uh, and then the United States and South 325 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: Korea have a history of sort of giving a giving 326 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: a show of force, not directly against North Korea, but 327 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: just kind of saying, look at all the stuff we 328 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: have think twice before you start to make so um 329 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: and some of the rest of the lots of the 330 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,120 Speaker 1: rest of the world ends up saying, guys again, can 331 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 1: we can You know, you remember the Cold War and 332 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: remember all tense things got it's kind of happening again. 333 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: Remember that pizza, wasn't it good? Can we go back 334 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: to just the pizza. I mean, I'm not want to 335 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: judge whether or not it's the right call, because that's 336 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: way above my pay grade, and I honestly couldn't tell 337 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 1: you what's the right thing to do, but it's definitely 338 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: it was definitely one of those things where the United 339 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: States is saying, look, we want to show South Korea 340 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: that we are not going to abandon them, nor are 341 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: we going to abandon the other nations that are often 342 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: threatened by North Korea, Japan being one of them. So 343 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: really as the United States kind of saying like, you, guys, 344 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: aren't alone. But you know, it's one of those one 345 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: of those deals where when you read the news it 346 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: gets a little nerve racking to see kind of the 347 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: escalation of tensions. But besides the b too, there are 348 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,919 Speaker 1: a couple of other stealth aircraft that are worth mentioning. 349 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: There's actually several aircraft that have been in either prototype 350 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: or development stages, but I wanted to specifically mentioned a 351 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 1: couple that were developed and tested or at least tested 352 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: and one of my favorite places in the hawai world. Yeah, 353 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: it's right there behind Disneyland. There's Disneyland Area fifty one 354 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 1: and then Smithsonian so um yeah. The not not that 355 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: those are locationally adjunct, just that that that's the man 356 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: would that would be terrific? That wouldn't be I mean 357 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: it would be a pretty pretty bad secret base if 358 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,479 Speaker 1: it would also be a pretty warm Disneyland. Yes, being 359 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: out there in the middle of the desert, so um 360 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 1: so Area fifty one, also known as Groom Lakes a 361 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: place that the Air Force has used for testing various 362 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: prototype aircraft secretly to make sure that they were going 363 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: to meet the military specifications and needs uh and be 364 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,879 Speaker 1: away from prying eyes. Now, the B two wasn't necessarily 365 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: flown there. It may have been, but not that we yet. 366 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: But there are a couple of other aircraft that were 367 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: known to have flown out of Area fifty one. One 368 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: of those was called the have Blue Aircraft, which later 369 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: became the F one seventeen, a stealth fighter better known 370 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: as the Nighthawk, and uh, that one also was unveiled 371 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: in although from from what I understand, it had been 372 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: kicking around in research a lot longer. Yeah, the very 373 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:10,719 Speaker 1: first have Blue I think flew sometime in nineteen eleven 374 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: years or maybe maybe January February, I think is the 375 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: first test that. Yeah, so fun, fun factoid. I'm pretty 376 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: sure that before it was called have Blue, the very 377 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: very very first name for this technology was Project Harvey, 378 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: based on the film and stage show Harvey. We're in, um, oh, 379 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: Jimmy Stewarts talking to a Jimmy jusible. A rabbit is 380 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: visible only to Jimmy Stewart's character, not to Jimmy Stewart. 381 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 1: That would be even more meta and awesome. Yeah, I 382 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: know what you're talking about. Yeah, I didn't know that though. 383 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: That's interesting. I wrote the how are you fifty one works? 384 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: And I did not know that that's really cool, So 385 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 1: of course I might have written that in that article, 386 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 1: and I just forgot. The Other thing about that is 387 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,640 Speaker 1: that Lockheed was the one that designed have Blue. Slash 388 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: one seventeen a uh. Northrop Grumman also created another stealth 389 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: aircraft besides the B two bomber. It was called Tacit Blue, 390 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: and that was a stealth surveillance aircraft. So this was 391 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: just designed to fly over and essentially spy on nations. 392 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: It wasn't a combat vehicle, and it was never developed 393 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: beyond the prototype stage. In fact, I think there's one 394 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 1: in a museum at this point. I'd have to go, 395 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: and I'm sure I wrote about in the Area one article, 396 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: But the F one seventeen A actually did go into production, 397 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: so that that's a stealth fighter, not a not a bomber. 398 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 1: Could it could also carry nuclear payloots. The original contract 399 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: was for five test craft and fifteen production craft or 400 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: operational YEP, and it's been used in lots of United 401 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: States operations, including Operation Desert Thunder, Operation Allied Force, Operation 402 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom and uh the During 403 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: Operation Allied Force back in n it was the one 404 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: and only instance of an F one A being shot down. 405 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: It was shot down by an anti aircraft missile that 406 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: was operated by what was at the time the Army 407 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: of Yugoslavia. Because it crashed and seemed to be relatively 408 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: intact after it crashed. The pilot, by the way, ejected 409 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:17,920 Speaker 1: safely and was recovered by the U S forces, so 410 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: he was safe. But the aircraft landed crash landed giving 411 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: clearly because there was no one flying it and was 412 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:31,679 Speaker 1: apparently landed mostly intact, and in fact, UH it seems 413 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 1: that Russian and Serbian forces were able to observe and 414 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: possibly even copy the stealth technology, which means that the 415 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: stealth technology was compromised as a result of that crash out. 416 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: It is again the one and only time that we 417 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: have lost a stealth aircraft in a combat situation as 418 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: opposed to an accident. Yea too, I think I think 419 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,400 Speaker 1: that I've heard UH of at least one test accident 420 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: that happened where and then apart for on the F 421 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: one seventeen, which by the way, was retired in two 422 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: thousand and eight, turned out that it was just it 423 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,640 Speaker 1: wasn't really meeting the needs of the military at the time, 424 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: and they started to rely more heavily on the F 425 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,640 Speaker 1: twenty two Raptor, which also has stealth technology and also 426 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: was designed by Lockheed. UH. They retired the F one 427 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: seventeen and two thousand and eight, but there's still a 428 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: fleet of them, so right, yeah, I think that fifty 429 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: nine in total were built from Yeah, and and there's 430 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: at least some of those still in existence. They're just 431 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: not an active service so um, I mean we I 432 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: guess they could be put back into active service if necessary. 433 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: But the F twenty two Raptors essentially taken over their 434 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: spot in the military, and that was unveiled in nineteen 435 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: ninety seven and that remains in service. So that's kind 436 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: of a rundown on the aircraft, the main aircraft in 437 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: the United States that you stealth technology. Gosh, guys, hope 438 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: you really enjoyed this classic episode of tech stuff. But 439 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: before to get too stealthy, let's take another quick break. Okay, 440 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: back to stealth. So we know that stealth is all 441 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: about avoiding radar, and we know about the various aircraft 442 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: that incorporates stealth technology to some extent. So exactly how 443 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: the stealth work? How can you avoid radar? Well, so 444 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: there this comes in a couple of different parts. First 445 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: of all, you can you can design the shape of 446 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,439 Speaker 1: the plane in such a way that it bounces the 447 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: radar rather than directly back to the transmitter receiver. Apparatus, um, 448 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,120 Speaker 1: somewhere else entirely. Oh, I say. So, let's say like, 449 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: let's say I've got a flashlight and you have a mirror, 450 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 1: Lauren and I, and you're just holding the mirror straight 451 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: up to me. I turned the flashlight on, and I 452 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 1: can see the flashlight reflected right back at me. But 453 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: if you were to tilt that mirror so that the 454 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: top of the mirror comes closer to you and the 455 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: bottom of the mirror is further away from you, then 456 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,920 Speaker 1: the beam is beamed up rather than at me. So 457 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: if you were to design an aircraft so that lots 458 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: of the large flat surfaces were angled in weird wonky 459 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: love crafty in ways using non Euclidean geometry or at 460 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,479 Speaker 1: least some weird angles, those radio waves would not bounce 461 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: right back to the radar station. Correct um. And also 462 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: if you use slightly curved surfaces, um, that will also 463 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: help because you know the same way that if you again, 464 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: if you've got a flashlight and you pointed at a 465 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: curved mirror, yeah, it's not going to bounce right back. 466 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: It's going to bounce in a in a slightly different direction. 467 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,959 Speaker 1: So yeah, the stealth b two bomber as well as 468 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,479 Speaker 1: the other aircraft we've talked about, have these kind of surfaces. Uh. 469 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:44,679 Speaker 1: If you look at the stealth bomber, you see like 470 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: there's some large, really oddly angular flat surfaces and then 471 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:53,440 Speaker 1: some other kind of bulgy, uh curve surfaces. Um. In fact, 472 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: an interesting point, you remember we were talking about that 473 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:59,640 Speaker 1: F one seventeen that was shot down. From what I understand, 474 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: the way that the anti aircraft missile system detected the 475 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: F one seventeen was that the F one seventeens bomber 476 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,120 Speaker 1: doors had opened, which increased its radar footprint just enough 477 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: for it to be detected. Yeah. Yeah, And other things 478 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: that a plane can do can also throw this off. 479 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 1: I mean, if if you start to roll the plane 480 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: it's going to the surfaces might might line up and 481 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: might line up in a different way. Yeah. So that's 482 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: one thing is actually designing the surfaces of the aircraft 483 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: itself can help essentially reflect the radio waves in a 484 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: different direction. So you you send out that burst of 485 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,439 Speaker 1: high frequency radio signal and nothing comes back, it's the 486 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,879 Speaker 1: same as if nothing is there right right, or you know, 487 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,679 Speaker 1: or you might only get as much radio signal back 488 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,400 Speaker 1: as you would get from a bird or an insect, right, 489 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: which in which case you'd say, well, that's that's nothing 490 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: to worry about. You know that you start worrying about 491 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: every bird, which would probably drive you pretty crazy pretty quickly. 492 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: So that's one way. That's one way, and then the 493 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,159 Speaker 1: other way is to use those materials um that you 494 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,479 Speaker 1: are building the outside of the plane from in ways 495 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: that don't that absorb but rather than reflect, right, and 496 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:13,439 Speaker 1: this at first you might think, well, what kind of 497 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: special space age technology is this, But then when you 498 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: think about it, you know, radio waves are part of 499 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 1: the electromagnetic spectrum, as is say visible light. So when 500 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: you think of a visible light, you know, like if 501 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 1: you use black paint that absorbs light, you know, it's 502 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: reflecting some light back, but not very much. I mean, 503 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: depending on how the quality of the paint you're using, 504 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: how how black the black is. It also absorbs heat 505 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: more readily. Yep. So again that's the infrared radiations. So 506 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: in that case, we already know of materials that can 507 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 1: absorb light. So so really this is the same sort 508 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: of thing, except instead of absorbing light, it's absorbing radio waves. 509 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: And it can be paint, it can be um, a 510 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: powder like substance that's worked into the actual composite material 511 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: that makes up the plane tapes. And again it's this 512 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: paint and tape that really needs to be replaced each 513 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: time the B two goes out. The F twenty two 514 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: Raptor relies more on the shape of the aircraft than 515 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: this sort of material, which means that you can fly 516 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,800 Speaker 1: in F twenty two Raptor more frequently without having to 517 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: replace all those exterior parts or or to touch up 518 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: all the exterior plants. In fact, that was one of 519 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: the things that Lockheed put in mind when they started 520 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: designing the F twenty two, and it's because they learned 521 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: their lessons from the F one and the B two bomber. 522 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 1: So yeah, that that's the other thing is that you 523 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: create these materials that actually absorb the radio waves, and 524 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: again that means that there are fewer waves bouncing back 525 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: from the aircraft and less of a chance to actually 526 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 1: be picked up on radar. Now, at the top of 527 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 1: the show, I also mentioned the fact that stealth technology 528 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: is not just about radar. That's the primary that we 529 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: share the well, that's the primary censor that people are 530 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: using to detect planes at longer distances than anything else. 531 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: But you can also detect planes either by hearing them, 532 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: by seeing them, or you know, by detecting a heat signature. Now, 533 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: the heat signature thing, I think that's really interesting. The 534 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: way the B two gets around the heat signature is 535 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: a very creative exhaust system, right, because the way that 536 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: people pick up on the heat of planes is is 537 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: not by you know, reading like the heat of an 538 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: engine directly by reading the exhaust uh and so yeah, 539 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: so so if you if you take steps to disguise 540 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: that by by for example, cooling the exhaust off before 541 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: it actually exits the plane plane, or by putting the 542 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: exhaust ports on top of the plane where fewer sensors 543 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: are likely to be you know, hovering hovering above the 544 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,479 Speaker 1: plane than they are on the ground. Yeah. So so 545 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: that's it's pretty interesting. Yeah. There is this cooling system 546 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 1: that the B two has, So the exhaust actually passes 547 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: through this cooling system, losing a lot of that heat, 548 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: and it just keeps uh ternalized by the plane, by 549 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: the bomber, and so once the exhaust comes out, it's 550 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: not as hot as it would be without that cooling system, 551 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: making it more difficult to detect the B two with 552 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: a with like some sort of thermal sensor. And then 553 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: it's also the way the actual plane is designed. It's 554 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 1: designed such a way that's difficult to tell which way 555 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: it's facing when you just glance at it, because it's 556 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: got that flying wing structure. Yeah, yeah, it's it's just 557 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: sort of triangular at that point. It's like, yeah, so 558 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,040 Speaker 1: if you if you aren't able to get a really 559 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,400 Speaker 1: good bead on it from the ground, it can be 560 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: very difficult or from anywhere, really, it can be really 561 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: difficult to tell what direction it's moving in, which again 562 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: makes it a little bit uh more likely that the 563 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,080 Speaker 1: B two will be able to complete its mission without 564 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: any any problems, right right, if it's flying at night, 565 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: of course, the black paint will also help it kind 566 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: of melt in and uh. And so they're also systems 567 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: aboard the B two that allow it to target to 568 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: to locate target. It's even in darkness. Sometimes you're talking 569 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: about pilots who are wearing night vision goggles essentially. Um, 570 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: so you know, it's it's it's again it's a weapon 571 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: design for secrecy and stealth, so it's it's kind of 572 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: a cool thing and it's scary too. Yeah. They also 573 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: take an electromagnetic energy created on board the plane into 574 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: account when they're doing all of this. Uh, they take 575 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: steps to dampen anything so that it's not going to 576 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: be radiating outward, radiating outward. Lots of lots of electromagnetic shielding. 577 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: That makes sense. Yeah, yeah, I mean there's a lot 578 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: of things you have to think about when you are 579 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: designing an aircraft that is supposed to be uh, it's 580 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: supposed to be able to escape detection um, and so 581 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: it's kind of uh, I mean, it's really it's a 582 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: fascinating subject to me. And by the way, this has 583 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: meant that that there's also been developments in radar technology 584 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: as people have tried to find other ways to make 585 00:32:54,480 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: it more possible to detect their craft. Yeah. Another instrument 586 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: on these planes tends to be a radar warning receiver. Yeah, 587 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: so says so that if you do notice that you're 588 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 1: being watched, you can take steps to write you can 589 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: at least be alerted to that fact and try to 590 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: keep on the lookout for any ground defenses like anti 591 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: aircraft missiles if you need to take evasive maneuver whatever 592 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: they or you know, radio back home and say please advise, 593 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,720 Speaker 1: do we continue on with the mission or do we 594 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: abort the mission? Yeah, and it's it's it's fascinating stuff 595 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 1: and we do we actually do know quite a bit 596 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: about it, although the actual secret sauce of the stuff 597 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: that goes on these aircraft remains a secret for obvious reasons, 598 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: right right. I know that it's sprayed on by four 599 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: independently active robots. Wow, boy, the stories those guys must 600 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: tell when they're just sipping down oil over at the 601 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: oil cooler the end of the long day. My world 602 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: is the magical world. It sounds like it. Yeah, But 603 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: but anyway, that's that's the low down on stealth technology. 604 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: It's actually pretty straightforward and it's mostly all about physics. Yeah, 605 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: when you think about it's kind of it's to me, 606 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,120 Speaker 1: it's kind of interesting that took as long as it 607 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,200 Speaker 1: did to start to develop aircraft that could effectively avoid radar, 608 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: because once you understand how radar works, that you already 609 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: know what it takes to get around it. I guess 610 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: it just mostly depends on developing the materials that are 611 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: very good at absorbing radar. Because obviously you could design 612 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 1: an aircraft that has these weird angles on it. Although 613 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: to make such an aircraft flight worthy, I suppose is 614 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 1: a bit of a challenge, right. And that's the other 615 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:31,879 Speaker 1: really interesting part about the development of all of these 616 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 1: technologies was that it was happening in a time when 617 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: people were first starting to computer design blueprints, right, and 618 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: and also computer construct use computers to actually do the 619 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: construction of materials, you know, those robots that we're talking about, 620 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: using robots on an assembly line to extremely precisely put 621 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:58,200 Speaker 1: something together. And that concludes another classic episode of tech Stuff. 622 00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 1: Hope you guys enjoyed it. If you have a suggestion 623 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,719 Speaker 1: for a future topic, something that you want to know 624 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: more about. It might be a company, might be a technology, 625 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,120 Speaker 1: might be a person in tech, might be a trend, 626 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: any of those things. Let me know. Send me a 627 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,719 Speaker 1: message on Facebook or on Twitter. The handle for both 628 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: is text stuff h s W and I'll talk to 629 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:26,759 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart 630 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,600 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 631 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,719 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 632 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.