RAF Regiment Jernas missile crews had America's super-secret B-2 Stealth bomber firmly in their sights on Monday during the aircraft's brief appearance over Farnborough, perhaps revealing cracks in it's protective cloak.
Using the BAe Jernas thermal optical tracking system, they acquired and targeted the Northrop Grumman Spirit at a range of 6km. "We could have shot it down easily," says the operator Cpl Richard Varlow.
Video and still photographs exclusive to Flight Daily News indicate that the B-2 has a large heat signature in a number of flight profiles.
Intriguingly one of the images clearly shows the aircraft's four ‘hot' General Electric F118-GE-110 engines glowing through the underside of the fuselage.
It is unclear if the B-2's much vaunted infra-red head suppression system, which reduces the aircraft's vulnerability to heat-seeking missiles or tracking systems, was activated during its display.
IR suppression is an integral part of the B-2's ‘low-observable' or stealth features, complementing the radar-evading technology. When seen from side, front and head-on, the B-2 still showed a number of other hot spots.
A tight-lipped Northrop Grumman spokesman says the company would not comment on the low observable characteristics of its aircraft, adding: "It's easier to detect the B-2 at airshows than in combat."
Alastair McInness, head of BAe air defence sales, says the Jernas was specifically designed to take out the most advanced combat aircraft protected by electronic and electro-optical counter measures.
"As a demonstration of this capability we acquired and tracked, manually and automatically, the B-2 over Farnborough," he says. "Jernas is in service and available now."
Source: Flight Daily News
