Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

thedrive.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 160 posts

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#51

Post by dmix »

nabla9 wrote: post #39
mNovak wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize this is a joke, but just wanted to add that Rogoway is a consistently great and thorough writer on defense subjects. I've been reading his stuff since the Foxtrot Alpha days.

I completely different view. Rogoway's is not into critical thinking or good analysis. He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy.

> He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy.

A lot of these otherwise sensible warfare blogs are getting heavily into this. I don't understand it.

But clearly it attracts a big audience and they've always been a niche blog topic so I guess they like the attention.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#52

Post by farseer »

blackflame7000 wrote: post #24
aidenn0 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the YF-23 wins a lot of cool points on looks alone[1], and it was faster and stealthier than the F-22. Taking the -22 was probably the right choice given that it was lower risk and absurdly better than anything it's likely to encounter in its operational life. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YF-23#/media/File:YF-...

It seems the Airforce likes their bombers from Northrop, their fighters from Lockheed, and unmanned vehicles from Boeing.

There are a lot of political and national security concerns involved in that. The Air Force wants to maintain three aviation vendors in the industry as a matter of policy, otherwise Boeing and Lockheed are equally capable of making bombers.

Awarding the JSF to Lockheed two decades earlier had similar connotations. Boeing could maintain its aviation capabilities and expertise on the back of its commercial business. For Lockheed, losing the JSF would have meant the end of its aviation unit which the USAF deemed critical for national security.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#53

Post by Kliment »

ridgeguy wrote: post #36
tlb wrote: post #7

> It’s also not clear from the available records how much [cesium] was necessary per gallon of [jet fuel] Come on, you lazy reporter! Go find a jet engine and some cesium and a radar reflectometer and make a graph of reflectance vs. cesium content. Presumably, some engineer at Lockheed in the late 50s got exactly that assignment, with a budget. There would be a notebook with a table of numbers and a hand-drawn graph.…

Well, what I could find quickly comes from the 1960s, out of Avco Laboratories and the Naval Research Labs: "Plasma Diagnostics in Supersonic Flow Containing Cesium and Potassium" [1] Burn Cs in a rocket engine, check for absorption up to 70 GHz (or cps, in those days). Looks like fun work. [1] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4323385 (paywalled)

https://sci-hub.tw/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4323... (anti-paywalled)

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#54

Post by regularfry »

DuskStar wrote: post #41
treggle wrote: post #11

Of course, because nothing matters more than getting the advantage. Same line of thinking that results in depleted uranium tank shells.

> Same line of thinking that results in depleted uranium tank shells. Yeah, since neither was particularly toxic, and both offered significant performance gains over the alternatives. (Uranium is extremely dense, self-sharpens on impact instead of mushrooming, and catches fire after penetration giving you an incendiary payload for free. Supposedly, nothing else comes close for tank rounds)

Uranium is... not nice stuff. I wouldn't classify it as "not particularly toxic". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819790/

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#55

Post by manigandham »

There’s a fantastic recent special on the history channel about the Skunk Works, Kelly Johnson, and the development of the SR-71

Secrets in the Sky: The Untold Story of Skunk Works: https://www.history.com/specials/secrets-in-the-sky-the-unto...

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#56

Post by manigandham »

throwawaynihil wrote: post #49

The science and technology is awe-inspiring .. as in awwww-mother fucker, we could have had universal healthcare and a peaceful world if we didn't spend trillions of dollars on this bullshit.

These recon and offensive capabilities have in fact led to a more peaceful world. It’s the harsh reality that we live in.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#57

Post by TeMPOraL »

dmix wrote: post #51
nabla9 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely different view. Rogoway's is not into critical thinking or good analysis. He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy.

> He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy. A lot of these otherwise sensible warfare blogs are getting heavily into this. I don't understand it. But clearly it attracts a big audience and they've always been a niche blog topic so I guess they like the attention.

Attention -> pageviews -> ad money. The fundamental value chain of most news reporting today.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#58

Post by derefr »

nabla9 wrote: post #39
mNovak wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize this is a joke, but just wanted to add that Rogoway is a consistently great and thorough writer on defense subjects. I've been reading his stuff since the Foxtrot Alpha days.

I completely different view. Rogoway's is not into critical thinking or good analysis. He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy.

I've completely missed the boat (heh); what is "Navy-UFO conspiracy"? Because at least one interpretation of that combination of words is entirely level-headed (UFOs as Naval materiel, e.g. penaids and their friends, electro-optical EW missile-countermeasure systems), while the other, not so much.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#59

Post by Roritharr »

nabla9 wrote: post #39
mNovak wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize this is a joke, but just wanted to add that Rogoway is a consistently great and thorough writer on defense subjects. I've been reading his stuff since the Foxtrot Alpha days.

I completely different view. Rogoway's is not into critical thinking or good analysis. He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy.

As a pair of eyeballs that likes to read about the Navy-UFO stuff, can you point me to something more critical of it?

I just get a lot of noise and nothing really makes sense, so I just treat it as entertainint Sci-Fi.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#60

Post by cyberferret »

dboreham wrote: post #14
skunkworker wrote: post #6

If you haven't read it, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben Rich is a pretty fun read into the U2, A-12 Oxcart, SR-71, Sea Shadow and other craft. And has a lot of good stories from pilots. But the ultimate SR-71 book would be Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet.

Funny story: decades ago I bought a copy of Sled Driver. I think it was in that remainder/coffee book section of the book store near the front, so it was probably $10. Today they sell for $200-$350 used. Due losing track of the first copy, buying a second one (when they were available new), then finding the first copy, I have two copies and high hopes of them funding my retirement..

I've got a copy of one of the first print runs that a friend gave me decades ago. About 10 years ago, I use to see them on eBay for up to $3000, but the prices have dropped recently as I believe they had another print run done.
Post reply on HN