Earliest Purpose-Built Stealth Aircraft

Well, does anyone have an idea what a 1960s stealth aircraft would look like, or how it would differ from modern stealths (F-117, B-2)?
 
Well, does anyone have an idea what a 1960s stealth aircraft would look like, or how it would differ from modern stealths (F-117, B-2)?
It Would be a LOT More Like The SR-71 ...

It Also has a Pretty Stealthy Radar Cross-Section, And there was Originally an Interceptor Variant Planned ...

At The Time However, Speed was Very Much Favoured Over The Ability to Hide!

:p
 
The two go hand in hand if applied correctly, which unfortunately the Blackbird wasn't, it's all about reaction time. If a radar first tracks a conventional plane at 300 miles out from a target moving at 600mph the defence will have half an hour. But for an SR71 the stealth measures may mean it won't get picked up until 200 miles from target, and moving at 2000mph gives the defence 6 minutes to react.

Ideally the 60s stealth plane won't go Mach 3 because of the stealth reducing-effects that creates; ionised radar-reflective exaust plume, vast heat signature. Something which cruises subsonically until detection values are reached and then guns-it to mach 2-2.5 over the last 150 miles or so (an arbitrary figure, I don't know how much 60s stealth would decrease detection ranges) would get the best of both worlds in the circumstances.
 
Stealth aircraft must stay below the speed of sound or aircraft skin temperature will be too hot to hide. The idea of a Mach 2 or Mach 3 "stealth" aircraft is science fiction even with today's technology.
 
If a plane get detected on radar at 150 miles then the fact that it gets hot in a Mach 2+ final dash to the target isn't that important. What's important is that a 300+ mile range radar can't detect the plane until half that distance. This make huge holes in an integrated surveilance system for the plane to fly through.
 
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