F-18 stealth varient that never was

A big problem with "Stealthifying" existing airframes is "external hardpoints"..They will have a much reduced RCS but nowhere near the F22 and F35 with internal bays.

originally posted by: Blackfinger
A big problem with "Stealthifying" existing airframes is "external hardpoints"..They will have a much reduced RCS but nowhere near the F22 and F35 with internal bays.

Although they put hard points inside the stealth mod on the Silent Eagle.

The F-35 has external hard points for once the stealth has worked its magic.

Only the B2 has its full bomb capacity under its stealth cloak although I don't know about the F-22 I am sure it will have external hard points for ferrying?

a reply to: Bfirez

No one has ever questioned that this is an RCS model, strictly for pole testing. I think the mistake is thinking that it represents a complete airframe shape. It looks like a partial mock-up to examine RCS of the tail fins and/or aft fuselage assembly. The cone shapes over the engine outlets either represent the exhaust plume or simply eliminate unwanted backscatter data from that portion of the model. Similarly, the only reason the forward section of the model looks so stealthy is to eliminate problematic returns from the front aspect of the model that would interfere with the data they were actually hoping to get.

There are historic images online of a partial A-12 model (forward fuselage and cockpit assembly only) that was tested at Groom Lake in the 1960s. Other models of different portions of the airframe were also tested separately. I once saw a partial B-1B model on a pole at the Rockwell RCS range.

a reply to: Shadowhawk

Wasn't the kingfish also tested as a partial model (in the open, that is)?

But thanks for confirming my hunch that this was meant to test RCS returns in the empennage (just from going off the level of detail on the vertical stabilizers vs the rest of the model.

I wonder how aggressive Boeing's RCS reduction updates got with the front of the aircraft, the LERX's, the cockpit, and the air intakes. There may be a good reason why only the rear 1/3rd model made it out to the open.