The U.S. Air Force unveiled the Tacit Blue Technology Demonstration Program on April 30, 1996, at the Pentagon. Tacit Blue was created to demonstrate that a low observable surveillance aircraft with a low probability of intercept radar and other sensors could operate close to the forward line of battle with a high degree of survivability. Such an aircraft could continuously monitor the ground situation behind the battlefield and provide targeting information in real-time to a ground command center. Tacit Blue validated a number of innovative stealth technology advances.Tacit Blue featured a straight tapered wing with a Vee tail mounted on an oversized fuselage with a curved shape. The aircraft has a wingspan of 48.2 feet and a length of 55.8 feet and weighed 30,000 pounds. A single flush inlet on the top of the fuselage provided air to two high-bypass turbofan engines. Tacit Blue employed a quadruply redundant, digital fly by wire flight control system to help stabilize the aircraft about the longitudinal and directional axes.The aircraft made its first flight in February 1982, and subsequently logged 135 flights over a three year period. The aircraft often flew three to four flights weekly and several times flew more than once a day. The aircraft has been in storage since 1985.
U.S. Department of Defence
1996-04-30
<table cellspacing="8" cellpadding="0" class="layouttemplate sourcetemplate" style="width:100%; clear:both; text-align:center; margin:0.5em auto; border:1px solid #555555; background:#f6f7f5;" dir="ltr" lang="en"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="Seal of the United States Department of Defense (2001–2022).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Defense_%282001%E2%80%932022%29.svg/80px-Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Defense_%282001%E2%80%932022%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="80" height="80" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Defense_%282001%E2%80%932022%29.svg/120px-Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Defense_%282001%E2%80%932022%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Defense_%282001%E2%80%932022%29.svg/160px-Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Defense_%282001%E2%80%932022%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="892" data-file-height="891"></td>
<td align="center">
<p><span class="layouttemplateargs" style="display:none;speak:none;" title="template=ID-USMil 1%3D960430-O-0000U-002 2%3DArmed+Forces url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.defense.gov%2Fphotos%2Fnewsphoto.aspx%3Fnewsphotoid%3D186"> </span>
This image was released by the United States Armed Forces with the ID <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.defense.gov/photos/newsphoto.aspx?newsphotoid=186">960430-O-0000U-002</a> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Files_created_by_the_United_States_Armed_Forces_with_known_IDs&amp;filefrom=960430-O-0000U-002#mw-category-media"><small>(next)</small></a>.<br><small>This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. <span style="white-space:nowrap">A normal <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Copyright_tags" title="Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Copyright tags">copyright tag</a> is still required.</span> <span style="white-space:nowrap">See <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Licensing" title="Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Licensing">Commons:Licensing</a>.</span></small>
</p>
<hr><p><span style="font-size:small;line-height:1.4" class="plainlinks noprint"><a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/ar"><bdi class="language lang-ar" lang="ar">العربية</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/bn"><bdi class="language lang-bn" lang="bn">বাংলা</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/de"><bdi class="language lang-de" lang="de">Deutsch</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/de-formal"><bdi class="language lang-de-formal" lang="de-formal">Deutsch (Sie-Form)</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/en"><bdi class="language lang-en" lang="en">English</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/es"><bdi class="language lang-es" lang="es">español</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/eu"><bdi class="language lang-eu" lang="eu">euskara</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/fa"><bdi class="language lang-fa" lang="fa">فارسی</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/fr"><bdi class="language lang-fr" lang="fr">français</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/it"><bdi class="language lang-it" lang="it">italiano</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/ja"><bdi class="language lang-ja" lang="ja">日本語</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/ko"><bdi class="language lang-ko" lang="ko">한국어</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/mk"><bdi class="language lang-mk" lang="mk">македонски</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/ml"><bdi class="language lang-ml" lang="ml">മലയാളം</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/nds"><bdi class="language lang-nds" lang="nds">Plattdüütsch</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/nl"><bdi class="language lang-nl" lang="nl">Nederlands</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/pl"><bdi class="language lang-pl" lang="pl">polski</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/ps"><bdi class="language lang-ps" lang="ps">پښتو</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/pt"><bdi class="language lang-pt" lang="pt">português</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/sl"><bdi class="language lang-sl" lang="sl">slovenščina</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/sv"><bdi class="language lang-sv" lang="sv">svenska</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/tr"><bdi class="language lang-tr" lang="tr">Türkçe</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/uk"><bdi class="language lang-uk" lang="uk">українська</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/zh-hans"><bdi class="language lang-zh-hans" lang="zh-hans">简体中文</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:ID-USMil/zh-hant"><bdi class="language lang-zh-hant" lang="zh-hant">繁體中文</bdi></a> <b>∙</b> <small class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:ID-USMil/lang&amp;action=edit">+/−</a></small></span>
</p>
</td>
<td><img alt="Flag of the United States.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/90px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png" decoding="async" width="90" height="47" class="thumbborder" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/135px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/180px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1235" data-file-height="650"></td></tr></tbody></table>