Anigrand Craftswork ANIG2097 1:72 Lockheed XST Have Blue

Description

Lockheed XST Have Blue. Stepping stone of the F-117A Nighthawk. In 1975, the USAF and DARPA initiated a XST program to study the concept of a very low observable military aircraft. DARPA penned the requirements for the ATA designs that was a small aircraft about the size of F-15. Northrop and Lockheed were asked to design a prototype. In early 1977, Lockheed won the contract for the construction of two 60-percent scale flyable test aircraft. The designation XST was replaced with the code name Have Blue. The two Have Blue aircraft were built at Lockheed in only a few months. The first example was intended to evaluate the type's flying characteristics, while the second was to evaluate the radar signature. The first flight of the Have Blue 1001 took pla ce in December 1977. Have Blue 1002 took to the air for the first time in July 1978 shortly after the loss of number 1001. The Have Blue prototype 1002 proved to be essentially undetectable by all airborne radars except the Boeing E-3 AWACS. For this reason, the USAF awarded Lockheed a full scale engineering development contact for 20 operational F-117A Nighthawk fighter-bomber.