Although some of the U.S.-operated MiGs were now on public display, they were still Black airplanes, in the darkest shades. When the author filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request for the unit history of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the air force responded: "It has been determined that the fact of the existence or nonexistence of records which would reveal a connection or interest in the matters related to those set forth in your request is classified… By this statement, the United States Air Force neither confirms nor denies that such records may or may not exist."[711]
It is clear that the air force had created a security "firebreak" around the MiGs. The fact the air force had some MiGs was not considered sensitive.
How the MiGs came into U.S. possession, or any records connected in any way with this, were out of bounds. In some fifteen years of filing FOIA requests, this was the first time the author had run across information considered this sensitive.
Another reason the air force was so protective of a project that seemingly had ended became apparent in March 1994. In an article on Groom Lake in Popular Science, a photo was published of an Su 22 Fitter in flight. The plane was painted in a green and tan finish. The Su 22 is a swing-wing, light-attack aircraft. It is currently in frontline Russian air force service and has been exported widely to Eastern European and Third-World countries.
The article also said that MiG 23s had been seen flying above Groom Lake.[712]
U.S. Air Force MiG operations had resumed in 1993, when Germany exported nine MiG 23s and two Su 22s to the United States. With East and West Germany now unified, there was an ample supply of both Soviet-built planes and the spare parts needed to support them.
There were also suggestions that operations were not limited to MiG 23s and Su 22s. In October 1994, Aerospace Daily reported that "reliable observers" had sighted an Su 27 Flanker on two occasions. The Su 27 is the Russian's most advanced interceptor. It is in operation with both the Russian and Communist Chinese air forces. The first sighting took place in late August near Lake Tahoe, while the second occurred near Yosemite National Park in September. In both cases, an F-117A had been seen a few minutes before the Su 27. The F-117Awas flying in the opposite direction at about the same altitude as the Su 27.[713] It has also been suggested that the sightings were actually of F-15s, which resemble the Su 27.
While U.S. Air Force operation of Soviet-built aircraft is still sensitive, the U.S. Army use of ex-Soviet helicopters is not. These include Mi 2 Hoplites, Mi 8/17 Hips, Mi 24 Hinds, Mi 14 Haze, and a Ka 32 Helix. The helicopters are flown out of Fort Bliss and Fort Polk and are used for training. The pilots were particularly impressed with the Ka 32, due to its lifting power. Although their existence is not a secret, some things remain classified. A photographer was not allowed to go inside the helicopters, as this would indicate the country of origin.[714]
According to one account, MiG operations are conducted under the name "Special Evaluation Program." During the early 1990s, this was budgeted at only a few million dollars per year. In 1993, this jumped to $336 million.
The budget in 1993 for "Foreign Material Acquisition" was $500 million.
This, however, covered all such activities, not just purchasing the MiGs.[715]
THE MiG CRASH AT RACHEL — A CAUTIONARY TALE
In reconstructing the history of Black airplane programs that are still secret, such as the MiG operations, where reports are many, but the confirmed facts are few, one must take care not to be led astray. One observer noted, "Those who need to know, know; the trouble is that those who don't know are the ones doing the talking."[716] One need only recall the confusion over the D-21 and F-19 to understand the truth of this statement.
One such cautionary tale is the report of a MiG crash that occurred near the town of Rachel, Nevada. In 1994, an article on Groom Lake was published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It claimed that three MiGs had crashed, "including one that landed in a woman's backyard in Rachel."[717]
The possibility that debris from a crashed MiG was in someone's backyard attracted attention. An individual went to Rachel and was able to track down the crash site. It was located next to a dirt road and near a trailer.
When he asked the owner how she knew what type of plane it was, she said that "the word around town was that it was a MiG." On this note, he looked at the impact point. It had been cleaned up very well; the only visible debris was tiny bits of aluminum. He got out his rake and started "farming aluminum." The rake was soon pulling up compressor blades, hose clamps, and a data plate. These had part numbers, contract numbers, and inspection stamps. The way the debris was spread out was also consistent with a plane crash.
All this proved conclusively that the "MiG" had been built at General Dynamics Fort Worth. It was an F-16!
Later, he found a person in Rachel who had kept a scrapbook of newspaper articles about the town. The crash had occurred on July 10, 1986, (the day before the loss of Maj. Ross E. Mulhare's F-117A). A Royal Norwegian Air Force never confirms […]
Air Force F-16 at a Red Flag exercise clipped another plane, and the pilot was forced to eject. Several people in town saw the collision. The F-16 impacted about seventy-five yards from two different trailers and three hundred yards from the town's gas station. The Norwegian pilot landed safely by parachute and was picked up by one of the townspeople.
The local sheriff's office was called and told of the accident and that the pilot was safe. (The wingman's plane was not badly damaged, and he was able to return to Nellis.) No property on the ground was damaged, and the fire was allowed to burn itself out. The sheriff, his deputies, the paramedics from Alamo, and the Lincoln County SWAT team all showed up. Helicopters brought in an air force recovery crew. Because of the possibility of toxic fumes from the burning metal, it was decided that people living in the immediate area should go to the Stage Stop Saloon.
The next day, the locals set up a picnic for the air force recovery crew. A Major Flynn talked to the townspeople about the crash. Channel 8 from Las Vegas came out to film the crash site, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal called several people for interviews. On July 12, a truck came and carried away the remains of the F-16. Letters of appreciation were sent by the Nellis base commander and the Norwegian pilot.[718]
Over the subsequent years, the story had gotten "better." The facts had been forgotten, and the myth started to grow. The F-16 was transformed into a "MiG." Then the myth was printed, and the myth became "fact."
Beware.
Despite the secrecy that still surrounds MiG operations, there is no doubt that the United States has owned and flown MiGs. The public displays and photos of the MiGs in flight are proof enough. But stories are also told of another Black airplane. There are no photos of this Dark Eagle, no confirmation of its existence. There are only vague stories of a plane whose shape seems to change with every telling.
It is called "Shamu."
CHAPTER 11
Still Black
The Enigmatic Shamu
In such a case I must be deep and subtle. Then I can assess the truth or falsity of the… statements and discriminate between what is substantial and what is not.
Sun Tzu ca. 400 B.C.
By the mid-1980s, with stories of the stealth fighter increasing in frequency, suspicions began to grow that there were other Black airplanes. A small technology demonstrator like the Have Blue could be built at low cost and in a short time. Speculation grew that there was a kind of Black X-plane program, where different stealth configurations could be tested — one- or two-of-a-kind prototypes or aircraft with a very limited production run.
Reports, stories, and sightings of still-secret Dark Eagles began to appear.
Many of these dealt with the enigmatic "Shamu."
SHAMU
The story of Shamu began with the June 1, 1981, issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology. The magazine carried a report that a fighter-sized stealth aircraft built by Northrop was to make its first flight "soon."[719]
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br /> Northrop had lost the competition to build the Have Blue, but interest in stealth aircraft was not limited to attack aircraft. A stealth strategic bomber could render the huge Soviet air-defense network useless. As support for a "stealth bomber" grew in 1980-81, Northrop soon emerged as the leading contender. In the 1940s, John K. Northrop had designed the XB-35 and YB-49 flying wings. Perhaps the most graceful bombers ever flown, they were beset with a number of problems that prevented them from entering service.
The XB-35's propeller system was redesigned several times but never proved reliable. With the emergence of jets, a propeller-driven bomber was considered obsolete. The YB-49 was an all-jet conversion, but it suffered from short range and instability. The second prototype crashed during a stall check, killing the crew (including Capt. Glen Edwards, for whom Edwards Air Force Base is named).
Before the program ended, the YB-49 made several flights against a coastal radar site at Half Moon Bay, California. The aircraft proved hard to detect.[720] Even given the primitive state of radar technology in the late 1940s, it was clear that a large flying wing had good stealth properties. With RAM and the proper shape, a flying-wing stealth bomber could be as hard to detect as the Have Blue.
Such an aircraft would use a different design philosophy. Both the Lockheed and Northrop Have Blue designs used faceting, in order to make RCS calculations easier. The Northrop stealth bomber would use "smooth" stealth. Given the limitations of computers in the late 1970s, this would be much harder to design.
It was therefore assumed the "Northrop" aircraft described in the Aviation Week report was a Have Blue-like technology demonstrator, built to test smooth stealth. It could also insure the stability system would overcome the control and stability problems that had doomed the YB-49.
SIGHTINGS AND REPORTS
Several sightings were made in the 1980s of triangular aircraft from areas near Groom Lake. People who worked at various sites in Nevada said that such a triangular shape was quite familiar and "has been around a long time."[721] It was assumed these were sightings of the Northrop test aircraft.
Another sighting reportedly occurred in 1986. Despite the Groom Mountain land seizure, Greenpeace continued efforts to infiltrate the nuclear test site. During one such attempt, a group from Greenpeace was trespassing near the Groom Lake area. They reported seeing a black, triangular-shaped aircraft flying slowly overhead. The "group's hair stood on end" at the sight of the plane. Years later, several of the group said they thought it was a subscale flying prototype of the B-2.[722]
In 1988, an article claimed that Northrop had built three of the scaled-down prototypes for its stealth bomber. They had been flying since 1981.[723]
It was not until 1990 that the Northrop aircraft received its name. In a book on the F-117A, it was stated that the project was under way in the early 1980s, the same time as the FSD tests. The plane was described as "a Northrop Stealth prototype" which was "a demonstrator for the 'seamless' design philosophy." Lockheed engineers nicknamed the plane Shamu, because it resembled the killer whale at Sea World.
According to one story, the Lockheed engineers were initially not cleared to see the Northrop aircraft, while the Northrop personnel were not to see the Lockheed F-117A FSD aircraft. The result was that each group had to remain indoors whenever the other plane was in the air. This disrupted operations for both programs, and each group was eventually cleared to see the other's airplane.[724]
Again, the report implied Shamu was a flying-wing design. Seen from the side, the B-2 fuselage does look whalelike. According to some stories, Shamu was 60 percent the size of the B-2 (the same scale as the Have Blue). This would indicate a wingspan of 103 feet and a length of 41 feet.
It was also said that Shamu could fit sideways inside a C-5 transport. The Northrop aircraft is understood to have operated from a hangar at the south end of Groom Lake, separate from those used by Lockheed. (It also housed the T-38 chase planes.)[725]
Yet, there were inconsistencies. If Shamu really had a wingspan of 100-plus feet, it was rather large for a subscale test aircraft, and far larger than the "fighter-sized" plane Aviation Week and Space Technology had described.
If it was this large, the claim it could fit inside a C-5 is in error — the interior volume of a C-5 is 121 feet long but only 19 feet wide.[726] Additionally, Northrop personnel and the air force have repeatedly denied that a subscale test aircraft for the B-2 was built.[727]
"TR-3A BLACK MANTA"
It was believed by some that Shamu had given rise to a family of flying-wing Black airplanes. Over the years, a number of different reports circulated about triangular or manta-ray-shaped Black airplanes. The smaller of these had a wingspan of about 60 feet. It was described as having a rounded nose and wingtips, with a trailing wing edge that was slightly curved, rather than the W shape of the F-117A.
The sightings began in mid-1989, when daylight operations of the F-117A started. The normal pattern was for several F-117As to fly the same route, separated by eight to ten minutes. Observers would report that three or four F-117As would pass, then the triangular plane, then three or four more F-117As. The plane was described as both larger and quieter than the F-117As. It showed a similar lighting pattern to the F-117As — amber lights at the wingtips and a red light near the nose.
There were also sightings of the triangular plane on moonlit nights. Several such sightings occurred on the night of May 3, 1990. Five different observers reported seeing it over Mojave, Lancaster, Palmdale, and Tehachapi, California, (near Edwards Air Force Base) during a four-hour period.[728]
The triangular plane was soon given the name "TR-3A Black Manta." As the "history" of the program was reconstructed, it is claimed that Northrop was awarded a contract in late 1978 to develop a stealth test aircraft. It was a flying-wing design called the tactical high altitude penetrator (THAP).
The story continues that the test aircraft made its first flight in 1981 (a reference to the 1981 Aviation Week report and the Shamu story). In 1982, Northrop is described as receiving a contract to build a production aircraft, based on the test aircraft. This, the stories continued, became the TR-3A.[729]
The TR-3A is described as a tactical reconnaissance aircraft. It was speculated its reconnaissance data and target information were relayed directly to the F-117As in near real time. It was also claimed the TR-3A could designate targets for the F-117As, that is, illuminate them with a laser so the F-117A's LGB could strike. Reports said it was likely that the plane was operational and had been used in the Gulf War.[730]
THE BIG TRIANGLES
The TR-3A was not the only triangular aircraft reported. Months before the B-2 made its first flight, sightings were made of a large flying-wing-shaped aircraft. Later, sightings were made of this aircraft on moonlit nights while the B-2 was grounded. The aircraft was described as having a wingspan of 150 feet. (This is similar to the descriptions of the large Shamu.) It is also described as being highly maneuverable. In one case, it was claimed that the aircraft turned 90 degrees on its wingtip. It was speculated that this was a prototype B-2, a technology demonstrator for the B-2, or a one-of-a-kind experimental prototype.[731]
Even more remarkable are claims of a huge black boomerang-shaped flying wing that moves silently at speeds as low as 20 knots. It is described as being 600 to 800 feet in wingspan. Several Antelope Valley residents have reported seeing it slowly moving through the night sky. One said it was moving so slowly that he could jog along with it. The big triangle is also described as making such "unlikely maneuvers" as coming to a full stop, tipping upright, and hovering in this vertical position. It is also claimed that a pattern of small white lights on the triangle's black underside provide "constellation camouflage" against the starry night sky.
Although noting this was "a craft that simply strains credulity," and that "such sightings encourage those who link the military with unearthly technology," some suggest that it could be a lighter-than-air craft propelled by slowly turning propelle
rs. The vertical hovering suggests to some that it acts as a reflector for a bistatic radar system. In this system, a transmitter emits a "fence" of radar signals, which is reflected back to a receiver. If a plane crosses the fence, it would be detected. Another possibility put forth is that the aircraft is used for troop transport or covert surveillance.[732]
By late 1993, two new triangular Black airplanes began to be talked about. One was the Northrop "F-121 Sentinel." It is described as being an equilateral triangle with the tips flattened. Its three sloping sides met at a point, giving it the appearance of a pyramid. At the center of the F-121's underside was a depression and a dome-shaped nozzle. It is claimed that a squadron of the planes are based at the Northrop RCS facility at Tehachapi.
The site had no runway, but the planes take off and land vertically from the underground bunkers.[733]
The other new Black airplane is called the "Artichoke." The plane is described as similar to the F-117A in shape; but at least 20 percent bigger, with a two-man crew and a larger bomb load. The rear of the plane has several spikes, giving it the appearance of an artichoke. It is further claimed that the design was tested with a subscale flying model about the size of the Have Blue. The Artichoke is claimed to be based at TTR. Despite the move of the F-117As to Holloman Air Force Base, security has been beefed up at TTR. It is suggested the Artichoke is the F-117A's replacement. The F—117As would, in turn, be modified for Wild Weasel SAM-hunting missions.[734]
Despite the sightings, these stories of large triangular Black airplanes received, at best, a limited following. Shamu, on the other hand, seemed more likely to be real. There were the eyewitness accounts of both the Lockheed engineers and Greenpeace protestors. It seemed likely there was a flying-wing test bed, which had pioneered the technology for the B-2 and the "TR-3A."
Dark Eagles: A History of the Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Page 35