Blackbird

History of Stealth Technology

By tymeline
  • Invention of camouflage

    Invention of camouflage

    Soldiers used varying colored materials to blend into their surroundings during battle.
  • Germans develop transparent plane

    Germans develop transparent plane

    When flown above 900 feet, the plane was next to invisible.
  • Invention of RADAR

    Invention of RADAR

    RAdio Detection And Ranging detects distant objects.

  • Diffused Light Camouflage

    Canadian Royal Navy experiments with camouflage diffusing lighting.
  • First stealth submarine built by Germans

    First stealth submarine built by Germans

    Used RADAR-reflective coating to combat RADAR detection.
  • Horten Ho-229

    Horten Ho-229

    Germans built the jet-powered plane and experimented with sharp angles for stealth.
  • British Stealth Bomber - The Avro Vulcan

    British Stealth Bomber - The Avro Vulcan

    Had a very small RADAR appearance despite how large it was.
  • SR-71 Blackbird

    SR-71 Blackbird

    A very fast high-altitude stealth plane developed by Lockheed. Used extensively and successfully by Americans in Cold War and Vietnam missions.
  • Have Blue - the "Hopeless Diamond"

    Have Blue - the "Hopeless Diamond"

    Prototypes designed by a computer program to be the most invisible to RADAR. Both prototypes destroyed and never saw combat.
  • First flight of the F117 Nighthawk

    First flight of the F117 Nighthawk

    A very successful and widely used plane, only one of which was ever shot down.
  • Gulf War

    Gulf War

    The Gulf War saw very large scale use of the F117 Nighthawk, which was also used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.