science

Northrop Tacit Blue

Northrop Tacit Blue is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Northrop Tacit Blue rather than just read about it. In short: The Northrop Tacit Blue is a technology demonstrator aircraft created to demonstrate that a low-observable stealth surveillance aircraft with a low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR) and other sensors could operate close to the forward line of battle with a high degree of survivability. Development Unveiled by the U.S.

Key takeaways

Northrop Tacit Blue belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Northrop Tacit Blue to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Northrop Tacit Blue from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Northrop Tacit Blue is a technology demonstrator aircraft created to demonstrate that a low-observable stealth surveillance aircraft with a low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR) and other sensors could operate close to the forward line of battle with a high degree of survivability.

Development Unveiled by the U.S. Air Force on 30 April 1996, the Tacit Blue Technology Demonstration Program was designed to prove that such an aircraft could continuously monitor the ground situation deep behind the battlefield and provide targeting information in real time to a ground command center.

In December 1976, DARPA and the U.S. Air Force initiated the Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX) program, which was part of a larger Air Force program called Pave Mover. The BSAX program's goal was to develop an efficient stealth reconnaissance aircraft with a low probability of intercept radar and other sensors that could operate close to the forward line of battle with a high degree of survivability. Tacit Blue represented the "black" component in the larger "Assault Breaker" program, which intended to validate the concept of massed standoff attacks on advancing armored formations using smart munitions. The Pave Mover radar demonstrators provided the non-stealth portion of the program's targeting system, whereas Tacit Blue was intended to demonstrate a similar but stealth capability, while validating a number of innovative stealth technology advances. The radar sensor technology developed for Tacit Blue evolved into the radar that was used by the E-8 Joint STARS aircraft. Tacit Blue was given the cover designation of "YF-117D" by the Air Force.

Design

Tacit Blue, nicknamed "the whale" (and sometimes also called an "alien school bus" for its only slightly rounded-off rectangular shape), featured a straight tapered wing with a V-tail mounted on an oversized fuselage with a curved shape. It was the first stealth aircraft to feature curved surfaces for radar cross-section reduction. Northrop would use this stealth technology on the B-2 bomber. A single flush inlet on the top of the fuselage provided air to two medium-bypass turbofan engines. Tacit Blue employed a quadruply redundant digital fly-by-wire flight control system to help stabilize the aircraft about its longitudinal and directional axes.

Operational history

The aircraft made its first successful flight on February 5, 1982, in Area 51, at Groom Lake, Nevada, flown by Northrop test pilot Richard G. Thomas. The aircraft subsequently logged 135 flights over a three-year period. The aircraft often flew three to four flights weekly and several times flew more than once a day. Another Tacit Blue test pilot, Ken Dyson, told CNN in 2014 that Northrop had manufactured additional major components for the jet, which amounted to half of a second plane. "If we lost one, we could have a second one up and flying in short order," Dyson said. After reaching about 250 flight hours, the aircraft was placed in storage in 1985. In 1996, after Tacit Blue was declassified, it was placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio and has been on display in the fourth hangar at the museum since June 2016.

Specifications Data from the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense General characteristics

Crew: 1 Length: 55 ft 10 in (17.02 m) Wingspan: 48 ft 2 in (14.68 m) Height: 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) Airfoil: Clark Y mod. Gross weight: 30,000 lb (13,608 kg) Powerplant: 2 × Garrett ATF3-6 turbofan engines, 5,440 lbf (24.2 kN) thrust each Performance

Maximum speed: 250 kn (290 mph, 460 km/h) Service ceiling: 25,000–30,000 ft (7,600–9,100 m) operating altitude Thrust/weight: 0.36

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Northrop Tacit Blue

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Northrop Tacit Blue claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Northrop Tacit Blue before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Northrop Tacit Blue ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Northrop Tacit Blue

In research: Northrop Tacit Blue appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Northrop Tacit Blue in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Northrop Tacit Blue is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1980s United States experimental aircraft, Area 51, Code names, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Northrop Tacit Blue outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Northrop Tacit Blue” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Northrop Tacit Blue in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Northrop Tacit Blue means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Northrop Tacit Blue out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Northrop Tacit Blue in simple terms?

Why does Northrop Tacit Blue matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Northrop Tacit Blue?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Northrop Tacit Blue.