The irony is that a similar thing had happened many years before. Back when the SR-71 (yeah, it's a lovely bird) used to fly missions in over the Baltic sea a Swedish JA-37 Viggen managed to go up and successfully get radar lock on it thanks to knowing where and when. At this time the US itself hadn't managed to get a lock on one so they thought it wasn't possible... The US ambassador went to the Swedish Defense administration with a cake :-)
Uhh, this is selling the effort short. As is explained in this very video. This wasn't just luck. This squirrel wasn't blind, it was a target was just really (radar-reflection) small, and the squirrel was well aware its sight was restricted for the acorn it tried to locate. This squirrel was really smart and adjusted _and placed_ its gear in such a way to maximise its chances.
@@Hydrazine1000 , totally agree! Thanks for taking my semi-humorous anecdote and totally destroying it with precise, on-the-nose logic. You have totally shown how dumb I was to make an attempt at humor. Congratulations for being way smarter than I am or will ever be. Have a great new year!
@ewasteredux Sorry man, I guess I just really missed the point. *WHOOOSH* it went over my head. (Getting all the intentions and nuances right, from just a bit of plain text is sometimes really difficult. I guess I needed this as a reminder.)
interesting story. I did actually hear this story not so long back and that story did also mention that when the night hawk opened the bomb bay doors it gave zoltan a radar signature that could be locked onto. thanks great vid
I remember this event. "Experts" were calling it the "Day the stealth technology died"... It turned out to be the first and, by today, last stealth jet taken down in almost 40 years... As for the moral boost.. OK.. But the ultimate moral "boost" was the fact that Serbia capitulated and turned out to be the first, and still the only, country in history that was defeated exclusively without a single enemy's military boot ever touching their ground (if we don't count a downed pilot and the team that rescued him in front of the Serbian search party, with it giving another slap to Milosevic regime).
Remains to this day one of the biggest US strategic mistakes, with rippling issues and problems to this day. They bombed a European nation and capital! And they backed muslim rebels and terrorists (as of UN court), in Europe. Also they set up a precedent of forceful regional separation. In example Russia is citing Kosovo example for much of it's activities. If Belgrade can be bombed because of Kosovo separatists. Madrid can be for Basque separatists. London can be for NI separatists. Kiev can be bombed because of Donbas separatists.
They were flying on the same path and time for several days. SAM operators said they heard the planes and fired in the general direction, already expecting them on the path. In short US underestimated the opponents and got too cocky.
Lots of old wives' tales. They detected it from 17km and attempted two lock ons, which failed. On the third lock on, at a range of 8km, they managed to get it to track.
The US air force should have studied the CIA's stealth tactics, such as predictability. Perhaps the plane could disguise itself as a low value target, not worth attacking? Just saying.
russians can put different seeker heads on their missiles. I think here they had a heat seeker head even if the missile was launched using radar information. But do not quote me.
I thought this would be some kind of never released new information. I was like why would he be telling this extremely well known story? Oh well. We really were operating lazy as hell and feeling invincible.
The b2 bomber was the first technical stealthy jet in the us fleet. Yes it's a bomber and not a attack air craft but the f117 was primarily used as a bomber jet as well!
The F117 struck the Serb regime hundreds of times before they got a lucky shot. The Serbs got very lucky with the USAF complacency that night. I would presume this situation will be learned from and not done again.
So... this dude made a good trap based on man-made vulnerabilities created by the US airforce. It took a long time of investigation, modifications, and planning to exploit the careless use of the F-117 in this particular case. The F117 was shot down after it already had completed its mission. It did change anything to the outcome of the war. No F-117 has been shot down before and since. I don't want to deprecate this dudes achievement, but it seems that stealth is still going strong, and no serious countermeasures have been found yet by USA's adversaries. I understand that for Servia this was a major victory, but it feels like as if England won the WC ones, and they never shut about it even though other countries have won it multiple times.
Without watching first, here's my non-educated guess: Even in a stealth aircraft, if you fly right over a radar, you will be locked on to. Standoff weapons go great with stealth.😅
It was much more clever than that. The Serb air-defense colonel took advance of the the advantages provided by the older low-frequency radar’s on his missile systems, which were actually better at detecting stealth tech than newer high-frequency radars. Moreover he noted that NATO bombing runs followed very predictable patterns. He used this knowledge to bag one F-117A. Another was damaged shortly thereafter but was still able to return to base, I believe.
The irony is that a similar thing had happened many years before. Back when the SR-71 (yeah, it's a lovely bird) used to fly missions in over the Baltic sea a Swedish JA-37 Viggen managed to go up and successfully get radar lock on it thanks to knowing where and when. At this time the US itself hadn't managed to get a lock on one so they thought it wasn't possible... The US ambassador went to the Swedish Defense administration with a cake :-)
The old adage is true... "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while."
There also something called the “golden BB” principle….
Uhh, this is selling the effort short. As is explained in this very video.
This wasn't just luck. This squirrel wasn't blind, it was a target was just really (radar-reflection) small, and the squirrel was well aware its sight was restricted for the acorn it tried to locate. This squirrel was really smart and adjusted _and placed_ its gear in such a way to maximise its chances.
@@Hydrazine1000 , totally agree! Thanks for taking my semi-humorous anecdote and totally destroying it with precise, on-the-nose logic. You have totally shown how dumb I was to make an attempt at humor. Congratulations for being way smarter than I am or will ever be. Have a great new year!
@ewasteredux Sorry man, I guess I just really missed the point. *WHOOOSH* it went over my head.
(Getting all the intentions and nuances right, from just a bit of plain text is sometimes really difficult. I guess I needed this as a reminder.)
last month you where at 35k nice to see that it is growing :D you deserve it man. great content :)
Very impressive and a reminder to never underestimate your opponent.
interesting story. I did actually hear this story not so long back and that story did also mention that when the night hawk opened the bomb bay doors it gave zoltan a radar signature that could be locked onto. thanks great vid
Wes, thank you for a clear and insightful presentation. I love listening to your work.
I remember seeing that on the news. That war happend more or less next door!
MAGNIFICENT Analysis Wes…!! 🤩 🤩 👌🏻 👌🏻
I remember this event. "Experts" were calling it the "Day the stealth technology died"... It turned out to be the first and, by today, last stealth jet taken down in almost 40 years...
As for the moral boost.. OK.. But the ultimate moral "boost" was the fact that Serbia capitulated and turned out to be the first, and still the only, country in history that was defeated exclusively without a single enemy's military boot ever touching their ground (if we don't count a downed pilot and the team that rescued him in front of the Serbian search party, with it giving another slap to Milosevic regime).
Remains to this day one of the biggest US strategic mistakes, with rippling issues and problems to this day. They bombed a European nation and capital! And they backed muslim rebels and terrorists (as of UN court), in Europe. Also they set up a precedent of forceful regional separation. In example Russia is citing Kosovo example for much of it's activities. If Belgrade can be bombed because of Kosovo separatists. Madrid can be for Basque separatists. London can be for NI separatists. Kiev can be bombed because of Donbas separatists.
Thanks, great story- learned a lot
Still a very cool looking aircraft and STILL very stealthy by today’s standards…
Great piece Wes, thanks,
Happy New Year.
F117 flight simulator was the first true video game I ever played on an RGB monitor LOLOLOL
They were flying on the same path and time for several days. SAM operators said they heard the planes and fired in the general direction, already expecting them on the path. In short US underestimated the opponents and got too cocky.
Lots of old wives' tales. They detected it from 17km and attempted two lock ons, which failed. On the third lock on, at a range of 8km, they managed to get it to track.
Too 'breathless' and dramatic a presentation thank you.
The US air force should have studied the CIA's stealth tactics, such as predictability. Perhaps the plane could disguise itself as a low value target, not worth attacking? Just saying.
it is stealth as long as it is not being detected and locked on target.. once it is locked the stealth or concealment will drop into 0%..
Wasn’t it because they repeatedly flew the same mission profile do they were looking for them in a specific place
The people of the Balkan know why the Serbs downed the stealth airplane; they didn't know that it was invisible.😄
I think you're burying the lead😂
russians can put different seeker heads on their missiles. I think here they had a heat seeker head even if the missile was launched using radar information. But do not quote me.
I don't remember that.
1999 you say?
Yep and they turned it over to their commie friends 😢
He said that.
The enemy gets a vote.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
I thought this would be some kind of never released new information. I was like why would he be telling this extremely well known story? Oh well. We really were operating lazy as hell and feeling invincible.
The b2 bomber was the first technical stealthy jet in the us fleet. Yes it's a bomber and not a attack air craft but the f117 was primarily used as a bomber jet as well!
The f-117A is a fighter in name only. It doesn’t have any air-to-air capability. It’s strictly a bomber.
They had intelligence of when it was coming through so they put up a wall of flack.And shut it down.What is the big mystery to you😂
A bit of arrogance caused this
The F117 struck the Serb regime hundreds of times before they got a lucky shot. The Serbs got very lucky with the USAF complacency that night. I would presume this situation will be learned from and not done again.
So... this dude made a good trap based on man-made vulnerabilities created by the US airforce. It took a long time of investigation, modifications, and planning to exploit the careless use of the F-117 in this particular case.
The F117 was shot down after it already had completed its mission.
It did change anything to the outcome of the war.
No F-117 has been shot down before and since.
I don't want to deprecate this dudes achievement, but it seems that stealth is still going strong, and no serious countermeasures have been found yet by USA's adversaries.
I understand that for Servia this was a major victory, but it feels like as if England won the WC ones, and they never shut about it even though other countries have won it multiple times.
Most knows this stuff.
They knew where it was flying, ya di ya shoot down.
10 sec video. Your welcome
1999 🤣🤣🤣
😂
Heroiam slava
Without watching first, here's my non-educated guess: Even in a stealth aircraft, if you fly right over a radar, you will be locked on to. Standoff weapons go great with stealth.😅
Yup. No stealth is “invisible”, just harder to see.
It was much more clever than that. The Serb air-defense colonel took advance of the the advantages provided by the older low-frequency radar’s on his missile systems, which were actually better at detecting stealth tech than newer high-frequency radars. Moreover he noted that NATO bombing runs followed very predictable patterns.
He used this knowledge to bag one F-117A. Another was damaged shortly thereafter but was still able to return to base, I believe.
I guess I was half right anyway.