An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
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Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#2The joke at that time was Serbs saying: "Sorry, we didn't know it was invisible."
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#3This reminds me of the Soviet blockade of West Berlin. Virtually overnight two sides that had been trying to kill each other were working hand in hand to save the Germans living in Berlin.
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#4Thank you for sharing this amazing story. Now I need to go find this documentary.
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#5It is so weird that men in army are willing to go and kill each other and later behave as friends "because they have a shared experience". Is it a coping mechanism to help oneself' conscience? Or maybe just an example that we really are just machines following the program of the day?
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#6It is so weird that men in army are willing to go and kill each other and later behave as friends "because they have a shared experience". Is it a coping mechanism to help oneself' conscience? Or maybe just an example that we really are just machines following the program of the day?
Modern warfare is increasingly buttons rather than bullets, so the psychology is different to (say) meeting the man who bayonetted you after the end of the great war.
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#7For those curious (the article doesn't address it) it was the bomb hatch that momentarily gave away the planes position.
I'm curious as to how such a huge oversight in the design of the craft made it to production, since it's widely known that 90 degree angles is a surefire way to get instantly detected on radar.
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#8A wonderful story indeed, heart warming with a sense of humor. War is really stupid.
But there is still an unsolved mystery here, How did the radar pick up the signals? Didn't the pilot turn off all the radios?
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#9This wasnt very surprising when it happened as historically The united states is its own worst enemy when it comes to military counterintelligence assessments. Id surmise no general wants to openly admit to the enemies asymmetric advantage.
Francis Gary Powers was no doubt stunned to find his U2 spyplane tumbling from the skies in 1960 thanks to what I can only imagine is inherent bias in the war room against the enemy. Its also worth noting the Tupolev TU95 bear left Washington scratching its heads for nearly a decade, furiously revising the numbers for speed and range. https://web.archive.org/web/20081211055010/http://www.aviati...
in 2006 china managed to tail a US aircraft carrier and emerge in torpedo range with a Song 039 type submarine, a generation behind the US, which was previously thought incapable of such an operation. https://thediplomat.com/2015/11/closest-encounter-since-2006...
Those unfamiliar with history text might also recall the day when Iran not only detected but casually landed a sophisticated US military drone at one of its airbases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incid...
Re: An F-117 pilot and the officer who shot him down meet, 15 years later (2013)
#10For those curious (the article doesn't address it) it was the bomb hatch that momentarily gave away the planes position. I'm curious as to how such a huge oversight in the design of the craft made it to production, since it's widely known that 90 degree angles is a surefire way to get instantly detected on radar.
How else do you release bombs? I believe that even modern stealth aircraft are more vulnerable when releasing missiles or bombs.
The thing is if the aircraft gets to the point of releasing bombs or missiles it has pretty much done its job. You won't get that far without being stealthy.