Stealth Bombing

Rudy Klucik

ASEN 3046-002

1. Explain why this person, aircraft or significant development has had significant impact.

One of the biggest catalysts for aviation development has been the utility that planes and helicopters serve on the battlefield. There are an innumerable set of utilities that aircraft serve in terms of purpose, from moving military personnel around quickly and efficiently, to their integral function in activities such as surveillance and active military engagement. It is because of that utility that in the time that spans from pre-WWI to Vietnam that aviation has seen it’s largest leaps and bounds, but the in the times that span past Desert Storm, through the Gulf War, and into current day military operations in the middle east, that the most important development has taken place, the development of Stealth Bombers with precision

Discuss the background of this person, aircraft or development that led to its important contribution.

The utility of stealth bombing found its initial uses in the Gulf War where the military was praised for successes surrounding “surgical bombing” of key targets in the Middle East. President Clinton’s decision to enter the war with on January 17th, 1991 was well documented with surreal imagery of laser-guided bombs precisely targeting the Iraqi Air Force [fas.org]. Despite the smart-bombs hitting a technological wall with regard to the utility in areas of targeting using line-of-sight laser techniques, similar bombs would be used in the later conflicts of 1998. The limitations of these bombs would be realized in interference of sand and dust storms, clouds, and high-humidity, where laser beams would lose focus and/or fail to penetrate the dust [fas.org]. Limitations in precision due to weather were only part of the technology, another shortcoming was the range of these missiles based on where their trajectory began from. In the timeframe of the Gulf War, the US troops had access to 8 of