Unsolved Mystery: How Did They Shoot Down an F-117 Nighthawk?

[GTaudiophile]

I've been going through pics of this airshow and read the following paragraph:

The F-117 flew with total impunity above downtown Baghdad during the Gulf War, without receiving a single hit. However in 1999, during the Kosovo war, one was shot down. The serbs had previously been firing surface to air missiles at aircraft blindly, without using their radar, to avoid coming under attack from anti-radar missiles themselves; however, it seems that they somehow managed to achieve lock on an F-117 and shoot it down.

Was there ever an explanation of how the lowly Serbs did this? Using secret Soviet/Russian technology?

 

[Lonyo]

ALIENS!

 

[Horus]

My bet? They shot an IR seeker blind and it managed to get a lock on the F-117's exhaust before the pilot could react.

 

[imported_FishTaco]

I'm sure if the Air Force did figure out how the Serbs shot down a f-117, they wouldn't advertise how it was done.

 

[Eli]

Probably just a lucky shot.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: FishTaco
I'm sure if the Air Force did figure out how the Serbs shot down a f-117, they wouldn't advertise how it was done.

Damn. I guess you're right

 

[Forsythe]

He prolly got to close to a radar. They're only stealth beyond a certain range.
Bad luck, still a brilliant plane.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I remember the Serbs had a big banner at a rally against the U.S., right after that incident: "Sorry, we didn't know it was supposed to be invisible".

In retrospect, that was another stupid war, considering that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was in cahoots with bin Laden....

 

[tweakmm]

Golden missle?

If you fire blindly enough, with enough flying overhead, you'll probably hit something eventually.

 

[ElFenix]

The SA-3 surface-to-air missile that brought down the F-117 was probably not used in a normal fashion, with its operators relying on their own local radars to detect the target leaving them vulnerable to anti-radiation missiles. Spotters in Serbia, and perhaps in Bosnia and along the Montenegrin coast, may have patched together enough quick glimpses of the warplane from scattered radars to track the elusive aircraft, however briefly, and to fire a missile at it from a battery near Belgrade.

Despite the extremely small radar signature of the plane a great amount of time goes into routing the flight path of each stealth fighter to minimize its exposure to known threats such as surface-to-air missile batteries and radar. At certain points in a mission however the stealth fighter can become quite visible to enemy radar. Turning suddenly at low altitudes can reflect radar waves right back to the radars that sent them. The most visible and risky moments are when the bomb bay door is open - briefly making the plane un-stealthy.

Military officials suspect that Serbian spotters, perhaps starting with agents in Italy watching the F-117's take off, were able to determine a time table of how long it took the planes took to cross the Adriatic and from there on to Belgrade. With this information Serbian radar operators had a better sense of when and where to watch for the plane. Once the aircraft's radar reflection crossed their screens all the radar operators would be alerted down the line. When the F-117 dropped one of its two laser guided bombs on a target near Belgrade this probably provided the final clues to fix its position and fire several missiles.

Enough was known to "cue" up the SA-3's own radar so the operator had only to briefly flip it on to track and fire. After the F-117 was shot down other planes on bombing runs recorded instances when the Serbian forces lobbed surface-to-air missiles at them without radar guidance suggesting that this indeed was the tactic used to bring down the stealth jet - minimal or partial radar data guiding a volley of missiles.

from here

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

The SA-3 surface-to-air missile that brought down the F-117 was probably not used in a normal fashion, with its operators relying on their own local radars to detect the target leaving them vulnerable to anti-radiation missiles. Spotters in Serbia, and perhaps in Bosnia and along the Montenegrin coast, may have patched together enough quick glimpses of the warplane from scattered radars to track the elusive aircraft, however briefly, and to fire a missile at it from a battery near Belgrade.

Despite the extremely small radar signature of the plane a great amount of time goes into routing the flight path of each stealth fighter to minimize its exposure to known threats such as surface-to-air missile batteries and radar. At certain points in a mission however the stealth fighter can become quite visible to enemy radar. Turning suddenly at low altitudes can reflect radar waves right back to the radars that sent them. The most visible and risky moments are when the bomb bay door is open - briefly making the plane un-stealthy.

Military officials suspect that Serbian spotters, perhaps starting with agents in Italy watching the F-117's take off, were able to determine a time table of how long it took the planes took to cross the Adriatic and from there on to Belgrade. With this information Serbian radar operators had a better sense of when and where to watch for the plane. Once the aircraft's radar reflection crossed their screens all the radar operators would be alerted down the line. When the F-117 dropped one of its two laser guided bombs on a target near Belgrade this probably provided the final clues to fix its position and fire several missiles.

Enough was known to "cue" up the SA-3's own radar so the operator had only to briefly flip it on to track and fire. After the F-117 was shot down other planes on bombing runs recorded instances when the Serbian forces lobbed surface-to-air missiles at them without radar guidance suggesting that this indeed was the tactic used to bring down the stealth jet - minimal or partial radar data guiding a volley of missiles.

from here

Pretty wild.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Eli
Probably just a lucky shot.

Most likely. Stealth Aircraft are not completely "invisible" nor are they invulnerable.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I've been going through pics of this airshow and read the following paragraph:

The F-117 flew with total impunity above downtown Baghdad during the Gulf War, without receiving a single hit. However in 1999, during the Kosovo war, one was shot down. The serbs had previously been firing surface to air missiles at aircraft blindly, without using their radar, to avoid coming under attack from anti-radar missiles themselves; however, it seems that they somehow managed to achieve lock on an F-117 and shoot it down.

Was there ever an explanation of how the lowly Serbs did this? Using secret Soviet/Russian technology?

google Tamara passive radar

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I've been going through pics of this airshow and read the following paragraph:

The F-117 flew with total impunity above downtown Baghdad during the Gulf War, without receiving a single hit. However in 1999, during the Kosovo war, one was shot down. The serbs had previously been firing surface to air missiles at aircraft blindly, without using their radar, to avoid coming under attack from anti-radar missiles themselves; however, it seems that they somehow managed to achieve lock on an F-117 and shoot it down.

Was there ever an explanation of how the lowly Serbs did this? Using secret Soviet/Russian technology?

google Tamara passive radar

Google "Golden BB" and google "stealth".

Stealth aircraft are NOT invisible. Stealth is simply a force multiplier. Its not a magical vanishing technology, the plane isnt invisible. Its still possible to track, aquire and target albiet much more difficult to do so.
Take into account "stealth" are NOT "invisible", throw in the intel being supplied to the Serbs about flight patterns and give a dose of Golden BB....

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

The SA-3 surface-to-air missile that brought down the F-117 was probably not used in a normal fashion, with its operators relying on their own local radars to detect the target leaving them vulnerable to anti-radiation missiles. Spotters in Serbia, and perhaps in Bosnia and along the Montenegrin coast, may have patched together enough quick glimpses of the warplane from scattered radars to track the elusive aircraft, however briefly, and to fire a missile at it from a battery near Belgrade.

Despite the extremely small radar signature of the plane a great amount of time goes into routing the flight path of each stealth fighter to minimize its exposure to known threats such as surface-to-air missile batteries and radar. At certain points in a mission however the stealth fighter can become quite visible to enemy radar. Turning suddenly at low altitudes can reflect radar waves right back to the radars that sent them. The most visible and risky moments are when the bomb bay door is open - briefly making the plane un-stealthy.

Military officials suspect that Serbian spotters, perhaps starting with agents in Italy watching the F-117's take off, were able to determine a time table of how long it took the planes took to cross the Adriatic and from there on to Belgrade. With this information Serbian radar operators had a better sense of when and where to watch for the plane. Once the aircraft's radar reflection crossed their screens all the radar operators would be alerted down the line. When the F-117 dropped one of its two laser guided bombs on a target near Belgrade this probably provided the final clues to fix its position and fire several missiles.

Enough was known to "cue" up the SA-3's own radar so the operator had only to briefly flip it on to track and fire. After the F-117 was shot down other planes on bombing runs recorded instances when the Serbian forces lobbed surface-to-air missiles at them without radar guidance suggesting that this indeed was the tactic used to bring down the stealth jet - minimal or partial radar data guiding a volley of missiles.

from here

<q3 annoucer voice> IMPRESSIVE </q3 announer voice>

 

[yllus]

I also wonder if the pilot of the F-117A made a classic mistake: It passed over a target once, and then turned back for another pass. The general in charge of the Desert Storm air campaign, by contrast, mandated that to never happen under his watch.