Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk

[quellish]

What is the OS? It's not something produced by Microsoft is it?

IIRC it was Windows NT 4.x or 2000.

 

[Forest Green]

Least it's not Vista.

 

[TJDougherty01]

It was CP/M baby!!!!!

Many people don't know about CP/M and the late great Gary Kildall. My son got his masters in computer science/cybersecurity at Naval Postgraduate School, where Gary is fondly remembered. Also, the story about how IBM wanted to CP/M but Gary wasn't there is more nuanced than it has been presented.

DOS & Windows- Why I finally switched to a MacBook Pro.

 

[Empire]

HI All,
In Oct 1983
Once IOC had been met, the CTF began to refine the capabilities of the F-117. Although the F-117 attained IOC by the determined date. TAC considered it very “limited”. The F-117 could only drop an MK-84 or a GBU-10 and the accuracy left something to be desired, a result based on the weapon and not the weapon system. The weapon, a GBU-10, consisted of a 2,000-pound bomb body and a MAU-169 laser guidance unit. The laser guidance section worked on what was known as the bang bang system verses a proportional guidance system. In the bang bang system when the bomb left the bay it acquired the laser and flew to the target. As it corrected , the canards would fully deflect, attempting to find the laser. After a few of these deflections the bomb began a “porpoising” effect that in many cases caused the bomb to miss the target.

My question is did they ever resolve this problem for the GBU-10? If so how and how long did it take? I'm interested if the F-117 could have attacked the bekka valley in Nov 1983 for the Marine Barracks bombing or its bombs where not yet ready for that action.

Respectfully,
Empire

 

[eagle]

The Paveway II series weapons to this day use the "bang bang" guidance afaik. It has been resolved by using Paveway III series weapons when highest accuracy is needed. More specifically the GBU-27 in the case of the F-117. Those entered service in 1987 according to wiki...

 

[Halcyon66]

Some images, awesome aircraft.

Regards,

 

[Hydroman]

Some images, awesome aircraft.

Regards,

Looks like an F-117 delivery to someones house. Gotta an 117 delivery for a Mr Nighthawk, sign for it please and where do you want it buddy?

 

[Empire]

Hi All,
Found this info on the early Paveway 1 & 2/ GBU-10 so the F-117 would have had this CEP and limited to using only one bomb bay at a time per pass on a target because of the early computers it used. Still a good CEP for 1983.

Paveway achieved a CEP of 20 feet (6.1 m) with one in every four bombs scoring a direct hit.[2][3]

Paveway kits attach to a variety of warheads, and consist of a semi-active laser (SAL) seeker, a computer control group (CCG) containing guidance and control electronics, thermal battery, and pneumatic control augmentation system (CAS). There are front control canards and rear wings for stability. The weapon guides on reflected laser energy: the seeker detects the reflected light ("sparkle") of the designating laser, and actuates the canards to guide the bomb toward the designated point.

The original Paveway series, retroactively named Paveway I, gave way in the early 1970s to the improved Paveway II, which had a simplified, more reliable seeker and pop-out rear wings to improve the weapon's glide performance. Both Paveway I and Paveway II use a simple 'bang-bang' control system, where the CAS commands large canard deflections to make course corrections, resulting in a noticeable wobble. This had relatively little effect on accuracy, but expends energy quickly, limiting effective range. As a consequence, most users release Paveway I and II weapons in a ballistic trajectory, activating the laser designator only late in the weapon's flight to refine the impact point.