The Most Unstable Aircraft Man has Ever Flown - Tacit Blue

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The Northrop Tacit Blue was often overshadowed by its predecessor, the Lockheed Have Blue stealth demonstrator, but in reality it was one of the most transformational secret aircraft test programs ever developed by the US Air Force.
In the early days of the stealth revolution, combat aircraft were reshaped, and engineers started to use a design principle that put function over form when it came to new airframes. The physical appearance of aircraft was then revolutionized.
Still, even the Tacit Blue program director, Denny Jarvi, was taken aback, saying: (QUOTE) "I was able to hide that airplane in every way you can imagine, except visually. I couldn't make it disappear."
The aircraft was eventually nicknamed 'The Whale' for its particular rectangular yet slightly-rounded airframe, but some even called it an alien school bus.
However, Tacit Blue proved to be much more than that. Conceived to provide a means for real-time reconnaissance of Soviet armor crossing Western Europe, the aircraft known as one of the most unstable airships of all time ultimately never went into combat, but still redefined air warfare.
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Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.
All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.

[@spergicide97]

That's why I respect test pilots. It takes a lot of balls to look at a stubby winged butter dish sitting on the tarmac and say " I'm going to fly that."

[@GusMortis]

Test plane: no you wont.

[@jaybird0312]

It does look like a God damn butter dish 🤣🤣🤣

[@lancerevell5979]

They have balls of chromoly steel. A good test pilot relishes the challenge.

[@lepompier132]

The test pilots fro Northrop knew very well in what they were going to fly, same with the YF-23 and the B-2, Tacit Blue lead the way for these plane. The sad part of the stealth story, that this video has wrong. Tacit Blue tech was never used on the F-117. The F-117 was 100% Lockheed stealth designs and stealth technlogy. Look at it this way. Lockheed had the Ford or GM style stealth tech with radar absorbing material and paint. Northrop has the good stealth stuff, the real deal the best of the best. If you really want a 100% invisible to radar, always bet on Northrop for stealth technology. Because Lockheed only produce the cheap version of stealth.

[@darkhorse13golfgaming]

☝️Brought to you by your friends at Northrop 👍😀

[@kellywright540]

Saw this aircraft at the Wright-Patt airforce museum and yes, you look at it and ask, "Did this REALLY fly?" That and the museum itself is one of the best in the United States.

[@CraigLYoung]

I had the same reaction when I saw it. It reminded of the old saying, "Put enough thrust behind it an any thing will fly."

[@russetwolf13]

Docent: "kinda..."

[@picklerix6162]

The aliens kept at Wright Patterson needed a school bus.

[@stugotswins]

That place is one of the greatest places about living in Cincinnati.. Everytime you go there you see something you missed before

[@hunormagyar1843]

@@CraigLYoung Ikr lol it's two big bathtubs glued together

[@JamesG19771]

They should have called it "battlefield area long loiter surveillance aircraft experimental" or ballsax

[@robertruark8797]

😨😂😂😂

[@martylynn3431]

😂

[@greasymonkeyguitars9292]

LOL! That's funny af!

[@sixstringedthing]

Nicely done.

[@creepycraiyons3519]

Gold

[@glenn_r_frank_author]

I never realized that Tacit Blue had a planned mission purpose. I thought it was purely an experimental platform for early stealth testing - didn't realize it was intentionally planned to be a production reconnaissance ship.

[@weaksignal8009]

Today's stealth and attack drones owe a lot to this project.

[@sargera1]

Predator/gray eagle/lightning ought to salute their OG grandpa

[@kdrapertrucker]

It was originally supposed to house the J-STARs system Which was like an AWACS system for ground units. This saw operational service on be Boeing 707/C135 airframe.

[@danielknauss5019]

One way they hid this program on budgets was to use parts from other aircraft as much as possible, so they would have very few airframe-specific parts internally and draw less attention from budget hawks. The Garrett ATF-3 turbofan engines were sourced from a drone program and were later sent back to that program once the Tacit Blue testing was completed. The USCG also used the ATF-3 on the HU-25 Falcon/Guardian and 5 or so of the Tacit Blue engines ended up in the CG fleet as a result. I looked up the serial numbers used a while back and realized I had been flying around on one for several months at that time. I started calling that falcon our “stealth” plane from that point on.

[@pkelly3463]

They used components from other aircraft out of Necessity. It wasn't necessarily to "hide" anything.

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

@@pkelly3463 This. It's like hot-rodders using a Mustang II or S13 front subframe in a project car. It's cheaper to adapt an existing production part to the project than to design every component from the ground up. Lots of X planes do this, the X-29 has an F-16's FBW and much of an F-5's fuselage iirc.

[@pkelly3463]

@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 Thats the point. This isn't just limited to mil either. Look into the hodgepodge of the DC-9/ MD-80+

[@underwaterdick]

Haha, stealth falcon! Love it. The Falcon 20 was designed around the wings of the mystere fighter. Hence why it was the Dassault Mystere 20 to the French and given the "Falcon" name to appeal to the American Market. Which it did very well with PAN AM buying quite a few of them. I never managed to see an ATF-3 engine example, but have worked on the standard CF700 and the upgraded TFE731s. Really cool that you had Tacit Blue engines in circulation of the fleet though.

[@twizz420]

"alien school bus" is about the most proper description of this thing I have ever heard.

[@ilikenothingtoo]

Really looks like a Star Trek OG shuttle craft with wings.

[@casinodelonge]

I thought it looked like one of those ones the lizards used in "V"..

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

Pretty much a Gelato II

[@edwardfletcher7790]

More like combining a 70's Motorhome with an F35...lol

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

I actually looks like the shuttlecraft designed for _Star Trek: Phase II_ back in 1977. The filming model had yet to be built when the series was cancelled.

[@charleshagenbuch6078]

Technician: why the sudden spike on the radar? 2nd technician: what could have caused that? Owl: who's asking?

[@getsideways7257]

Not sure if it really was an owl, sounds more like a bull to me...

[@bencremer3073]

My grandfather worked on this project. It was truly awe inspiring to hear firsthand accounts about the "whale" nickname and the development involved in making it so stealthy

[@bowez9]

That's odd. I know several people (including family)that worked at ORNL, Y12 and K25 and those secrets go to their grave.

[@bencremer3073]

@@bowez9 I'm sure there are plenty of things I will never hear about.

[@MrJest2]

@@bowez9 I have a lot of "classified knowledge" from my time in the military and working for defense contractors. Some stuff will probably go to the grave, but other stuff has since been declassified and I am free to talk about. I keep up on news of this stuff, mostly because I found the work fascinating and still do, even though I'm long out of the biz, so I generally know what is OK to talk about and what isn't. If I have any question, however, I keep my mouth shut.

[@bryanrussell6679]

I had always (incorrectly) assumed that this aircraft was directly related to the B2 because the cockpit/cabin look very similar.

[@shadowopsairman1583]

You got that right

[@sargera1]

It was lil bro to the 117 some of its technical.aspect ar ebound to be legacy to b2. And another old plane that was supposed to be b52 replace (hustler if im correct) became the skin concept(outer skin)

[@yupyup4209]

Your original assumptions is correct. Technology demonstrator/tester for the stuff that went into the B-2

[@ChannelF451]

Born in 1949, a model airplane builder and flyer i never outgrew my love of aircraft. The "Dark" series continues to amaze and inform of great aircraft designers and builders. These greats coupled dedicated flyers of some strange and wonderful airplanes and spacecraft, give an old man a glimpse of his youth in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Today as we reach the boundaries flight in our atmosphere, its slightly over 100 years ago that original visionaries lifted their shoulders, to stand on, for those that love and honor flight today! Great series! Great voice! And awesome material!

[@chriswhiteaker]

It amazes me how many videos end in "It is now on display at the National Museum of the US Airforce" I've lived 15 minutes from the place all my life and been numerous times their collection is amazing.

[@drmarkintexas-400]

RIP NORMAN "KEN" DYSON '60, LT. COL. USAF (RET.) Norman Kenneth Dyson Norman Kenneth Dyson’s testing of top-secret aircraft put him on the ground floor of stealth technology, flying Have Blue, the prototype for the F-117A Stealth Fighter, and Tacit Blue, which demonstrated radically different stealth technologies from Have Blue. After graduating first in his class from the Department of Aerospace Engineering in 1960, Dyson went into flight training for the Air Force, and was the top graduate in his class. After four years as a fighter pilot, Dyson attended the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School prior to testing weapons in the F-100, F-101 and F-4 aircraft. He flew the F-100 and F-4 aircraft in the Vietnam War before returning to Edwards AFB as an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School and later as an F-15 test pilot and Director of the F-15 Joint Test Force. He began classified work in 1976, where he flight tested Have Blue and Tacit Blue until 1982. After Air Force retirement, Dyson joined Rockwell and flew throughout the B-1B test program. He flew the first flight of the X-31 Post Stall Aircraft in 1990 and flew the X-31 through its early testing. He retired from Rockwell as Chief Test Pilot and Director of Flight Test in 1993. Dyson was awarded the Kincheloe Award in 1989 for test flying Have Blue and in 1996 for Tacit Blue after these programs were declassified. He has also received the Legion of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, nine Air Medals and Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Aerospace Laurels. Dyson is an Engineering Fellow of the University of Alabama, a Distinguished Alumnus of the USAF Test Pilot School and was named to the Aerospace Walk of Honor in 1997.

[@joecollins1823]

I met Ken Dyson when my father worked in the Sabreliner Program Rockwell in Tulsa, Ok. Wow. I never knew his story.

[@drmarkintexas-400]

@@joecollins1823 He was a close family friend and one of the most intelligent, but at the same time, humble people I've ever met. As he battled cancer, he was one of the toughest, both mentally and physically, men I've ever seen. He is greatly missed, but will never be forgotten. He lived a life that other people dream about, but can only imagine. 🛐 I hope your father and family are safe and healthy 🙏

[@maxmustardman298]

Theres even a special place at area 51 named after him, although its probably not the oficial name

[@jessfrankel5212]

Overhead shot of Tacit Blue near the end of the vid reminded me of a platypus. Rather ungainly looking, but it flew, and flew quite well for its time drawbacks aside. Always interesting to learn something new about aviation history.

[@FloridaManMatty]

One of my most prized possessions is a photo of myself booping Tacit Blue’s nose on display in Dayton. It’s funny to think that at one time, I could have spent MANY years in a Supermax Prison just for sharing a photo of the platform. It’s also interesting to see how much of what they developed re: the shape of the plane was later seen on the YF-23. I love seeing that sort of evolution.

[@TheGravitywerks]

Unless you were a high profile politician.....with a server in their bathroom.

[@andrewday3206]

@@TheGravitywerks Come on next Pizza-gate will be told as fact

[@andrewday3206]

@@TheGravitywerks Unless you are a high ranking politician who started an insurrection because you lost an election

[@xodiaq]

“What we need is a flying styrofoam hamburger container. But one you can’t see on Radar… get on it, fellas!”

[@lancerevell5979]

Just keep those pesky owls away from it! 😄

[@uberduberdave]

Some of the footage shows a C-5 Galaxy hydraulic training aid that I learned hydraulic systems on when I went to a C-5 hydraulic systems class on TDY to Travis AFB in 2005. I worked in the Robins Air Logistics Center in the C-5 engine and pylon shop until being drafted into the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III program in July of 2005.

[@videolabguy]

I like the way this one looks. It just needed some pin striping to spiff it up. But, an owl for a hood ornament is right out!

[@Nitrous-ej5zy]

Ever see the sci fi show" V"? Tacit blue looks like the alien run abouts from that show

[@jeff7.629]

I agree

[@BENTLEYQUAMP]

It looks like they took a boat, turned it upside down then fixed wings to it.

[@lancerevell5979]

Or, put wings and tail onto a GMC Motorhome. 🤔

[@merafirewing6591]

@@lancerevell5979 a really stealthy GMC Motorhome.

[@nevrock1]

Dark Skies: 3 parts awesome narration + 2 parts vintage film clips of topic + 1 part random vintage film clips

[@brycelummis941]

Actually i see this aircraft as the genesis of the "Predator" series of drone aircraft in particular its similar looking design to the new Predator C "Avenger".

[@jamesmcgrath1952]

You know the old saying. "Put enough power behind it and even a brick can fly".

[@keyboard_g]

Almost all the B-roll is from before the stealth era.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Yeah, lots of 50’s footage.

[@dirtdiggity1714]

True, but having grown up before most of it was available, it's new to me and pretty cool to see. 👍

[@athompso99]

I found the music to be a bit... overbearing? Like, you already recite the script in a very tension-laden way, now the music is trying to crank up the tension, too? I greatly enjoy the content, the information, the footage. But I prefer documentaries to suspense-thrillers.

[@jasonprivately1764]

Outstanding engineering

[@George_M_]

Skunkworks Expectations : Aurora Skunkworks Reality : This 😂

[@jayburn00]

Alien school bus lol. That is exactly what I always thought it looked like. I always thought it reminded me of a flying saucer crossed with a bus.

[@paulybassman7311]

Great video Dark, you really have to do a video on the aformentioned 'Dark' Star drone..... or even the Blue Steel Missile. 👍😁👌

[@HeadPack]

Nice. This is an aircraft triggering curiosity. One can only wonder what is going on under wraps in our present time.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Yes. Things like the infamous ‘Wichita Triangle’ for example.

[@Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu]

Flying kevlar reinforced concrete submarines.

[@techstuf4637]

@@Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu Interesting supposition given the rumors that such has been done. Subs in space I mean.

[@pgtmr2713]

Their main focus is working on keeping Air Force one from smelling like number 2.

[@techstuf4637]

@@pgtmr2713 lol....which is literally impossible given their long traditional taste for it. They make barn yard pigs and dung beetles look like rank amateurs.

[@pyrtwistPyrtwistWorldInMotion]

I remember seeing this for the first time in Dayton. Never heard of it before. "My God, we built a UFO!" It was parked near the Valkyrie.

[@johndough5596]

YES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Ive wanted a video on this aircraft for a long time, thank you very much. Also check out the ye-5. Its clamed to be the very first stealth aircraft ever. It also has a similar story about a bird sitting on it during rcs testing

[@centaur1a]

When the great earthquake hit in Northridge, California. The plane flew very close ground ( not sure on the altitude) taking pictures and monitoring the rescue around the city. The plane was also known as the flying “Bath tub”. Upside down tub with wings.

[@pompeymonkey3271]

I'd not heard of Tacit Blue until I watched this video. A truly amazing aircratf. I particularly enjoyed the bit where there were serious design issues due to the different engineering departments not communicating effectively, if at all. Ask me how I know... lol

[@evanwetzel8641]

I had no clue this even existed. Thank you for this great content!

[@ronaryel6445]

Tacit Blue's surveillance radar was the basis for the radar installed in the E-8 Joint Stars aircraft, which monitors ad tracks enemy ground forces in real time and allows the US and NATO forces to launch coordinated attacks on them. There is no one replacement slated for the E-8; likely a distributed network of sensors will do the job in the future.

[@keyboard_g]

Yea, it wasnt called a whale because of its rectangular shape. That makes no sense. Its bulbous and white like a beluga.

[@xxZerosumxx]

Imagine what they are working on now.

[@summerkagan6049]

Just from its appearance the aerodynamics of tacit blue must have been real horrorshow. It's like teaching a steam iron to fly.

[@getsideways7257]

Not really. The thing is basically one huge vortex generator with sailplane wings. The lack of stability is partially due to the nature of the vortices generated by the chines, but also due to the CG being far in the rear.

[@mikhailskrinik8458]

yo i really love your videos . i started to really like planes after playin war thunder although its not entirely accurate , but these videos really help me understand a lot more . thank you sir and merry Christmas!

[@cameronmorris3092]

Great vid, very well narrated. Thank you

[@samuelhatman8995]

Do you have enough info to provide a separate video on the RQ3 Dark Star? or the successful RQ170 Sentinel?.. I used to be a Northrop Mechanic, Surface and Structure, Major Subassembly. I absolutely loved working for Nothrop, and Jack Northrop's history, biography held me in "aviation thrall" for years.... still does really. I made the cut for workers in Secret City on the B1 but was found to be "buried" in a seniority snafu. I would never have revocated and moved away to a research firm in Silicon Valley. Your videos are top shelf. I never miss one, and am riveted, no pun, every minute!

[@johntaylor-lo8qx]

Always nice learning amazing history. This channel impresses time and time again. Thank you to all those behind the scenes, researching original topics constantly. Stay true to yourselves please. Bravo 👏

[@GusMortis]

What is especially impressive is the rate at which the high quality content comes out. The rest of KZbin could learn a thing or two.

[@teddy.d174]

What they 👆🏻 wrote.

[@rubadubdubb]

All the info and quotes are directly ripped off from the interview done by 10 percent truth.

[@chubscub]

Starting to get like those Ancient alien astronaut shows. lots of footage that has nothing to do with the sunject

[@Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu]

Did we watch the same vid? I observed the opposite.

[@michaellinner7772]

I remember this plane from back in the late 1970s - early 1980s. I always thought it looked like a giant stuffed ravioli with a couple of tiny wings stuck on. I always wondered what became of it. It clearly was a test plane of sorts but I couldn't recognize any of its features in subsequent craft and it was dreadfully slow comparatively so, it couldn't have been a testbed for advances in jet propulsion technology.

[@obo7707]

Thank you for this. Very informative. I always get a lot out of you videos.

[@eh2341]

"Wow, it's not the prettiest plane I've seen". Agreed

[@agentcovert]

Wonderful content once again..Thank you..

[@yoshisan262]

Cool to see a video on this unique airplane. I may have “accidentally” touched it in person.

[@SkyhawkSteve]

it's great that the USAF museum built the new hangar that allows these aircraft to be displayed properly, but I kinda miss the ratty old hangar across the runway where you could walk among all of the experimental aircraft, look underneath them, and potentially touch them.

[@nicolasmahdavian1793]

Great video, I knew very little about this plan. Great job.

[@watersharer]

Whats with the guy holding the weed plant at 9:07? I had to laugh, they must have been high to build that thing.

[@MisteriosGloriosos922]

*Well done video production. I sure like it, good job!!!*

[@rob5944]

Another invaluable documentary! Merry Christmas all. 🎄

[@mangothe579]

Awesome vlog, I enjoy all your work

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Look what happens when you combine a 1970's Motorhome with an F35.... You get Ummmm an F-350 ?

[@timgarrett203]

Why the Lockheed Georgia shots? LG had nothing to do with it?

[@chuckcawthon3370]

Incredible Aircraft and its technology for its time. Great video presentation. Well Done Sir.

[@robozstarrr8930]

very nice, oh and thanks for the photo clip of my late AF cousin Denis w/a bud branch. . (9:09) off-duty he was known for cultivating some of the best strains of indica around the hangers of Area 51.

[@fixman88]

Was *THAT* what that was?

[@nicholasmazzarella2720]

Dark Amazing look a this cool aircraft. Thanks for the great content.

[@michaelmcginley4887]

You and your team are doing a great job, very happy subscriber. Well done.

[@jerrysstories711]

I just saw this bad boy at the Museum of the Air Force in Dayton. Weirdest looking plane I've ever seen! Why is it shaped like that??? Even the museum doesn't say anything about it. It looks like it was press-moulded and they didn't bother to trim the flash.

[@kloppanator]

You can't help but to hope there is stuff just as crazy as this in development today.

[@hansmaker1236]

I was wating for tessit blue to Show up in your Videos. It has been a important step in Stealth History.

[@dustinshivers774]

I wish he could talk about current topics but i’m sure all of them are classified but great creator

[@robinwells8879]

I can’t decide if it’s the proof of the old adage that if it looks good it will fly good or if it is the exception that proves that rule. It must have been very difficult to feed clean air to the engines at high angles of attack. I wonder how much they impeded development by eliminating cross fertilisation of each project with ideas? Great content.

[@shaunemicheal7362]

It reminds me of the old F-4's... "Put enough power behind it, anything will fly..."

[@scottw5315]

Reminds me of an old flight instructor joke. Ask a student what makes an airplane fly and they describe the Bernoulli principal. Instructor interjects, lots and lots of money is what makes airplanes fly.

[@JSFGuy]

Good one, concept demonstrator......

[@mikesuch9021]

The ground crew sees the pilot walking up and asks. Are you the guy with the big cojones?

[@johngalt3568]

The F-117 was the successor to Tacit Blue, not its predecessor

[@andrewmoore7022]

The f-117 was the successor to Have Blue. (and unless the DOD figured out time travel the f-117 couldn't have been the successor to tacit blue considering the nighthawk flew a year before tacit blue did.)

[@simonm1447]

Tacit Blue was Northrop, Have Blue was Lockheed. The F-117 was also made by Lockheed, but used a diamond shape and no round shape

[@derekeuchner1800]

The reason was an owl standing on it. Did anyone else laught at this? "Sir, there's a bird in the test chamber. Yes sir Im certain. However Im confused as to why it is floating. Is this part if the test?"

[@briansteffmagnussen9078]

Could you imagine the success of this plane if it was available to the same people who buy Learjet and Bombardier?

[@allangibson2408]

There are some “gentlemen” in South America who would have bought a few dozen as freighters…

[@Strykenine]

See that milk carton? I want you to make it fly.

[@tomdemerly]

How does media contact the Dark Skies producers? Thank you for all the great content.

[@SimonWallwork]

" If the Wright Brothers could have built a P five one..." Are you serious?

[@deltavee2]

That is one helluva piece of engineering. During one radar test they couldn't see the plane but they did see the owl standing on it? That made me LMAO. I always thought that TACIT BLUE preceded the 117 program. Live and learn. I signed up with Nord a couple of weeks ago and I am extremely satisfied. Please note that this comment has nothing to do with the company or this channel, just wanted to mention how impressed I am with it.

[@BrandonSLedford]

Thank you bro .. I watch all your channels .. Dark Skies ... Dark5 ... Dark Seas ... Dark Space an Dark Docs !! .. Keep up the awesome content.

[@dutchman7216]

Wonderful documentary thank you. But I have to admit this is the first time I've ever heard a documentary actually acknowledged The Groom Lake area north of Las Vegas.

[@JoeOvercoat]

‘Alien School Bus’ nails it.

[@clarencehopkins7832]

Excellent stuff bro

[@oneshotme]

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@seansullivan4341]

I love that you used a Star Citizen/Pedro Camacho track for this. Very appropriate. :)

[@bxmachine]

Great film, thank you😎

[@tylervanorman492]

If I squint, I see some design ideas that went into our drones and long range missiles. Cool!!!

[@ToneeKeating]

Tacit Blue is a favorite of my family. We live an hour away from the National Museum of the US Air Force, where she's on display.

[@theauthor8901]

Undoubtedly, successful reconnaissance is essential in any age, as it often means the difference between war and peace, victory and defeat.

[@caalcb7]

I've read about this in old magazine that cover spy plane, Tacit Blue, aurora, and the most mysterious of all is TR-3B. Can you do the TR-3B as well?

[@soopersooper3291]

This is just about my favorite thing ever

[@PhatyNug]

9:10 umm I can’t be the only one see that old swag weed he’s holding right 😆

[@ManganeseMan]

excellent, i have taken a recent interest in Tacit Blue as an air enthusiast, now I wanna go see it at Wright Patt.

[@MrChubbyHubby.]

That is an odd looking craft for sure, thank you for showing us.

[@jasonz7788]

Great work Sir thank you

[@Stealth_Pilot]

Love your vids

[@frankthespank]

This was basically a technology demonstrator, it was never thought of to go into production. MAYBE as a drone but it wouldn’t look the same once made into a drone.

[@fantasticalium]

Ah the bathtub, such a comical design. Was waiting for this since the Have Blue

[@Lee0568]

Reminds me of the drones that now fly

[@1954shadow]

Bingo!

[@AtheistOrphan]

As shown at the end of the video.

[@Lee0568]

@@AtheistOrphan the thing is,I didnt watch until the end,I got bored of it and went straight to comments

[@kefkaZZZ]

I REALLY want to visit that museum!

[@ranger175a2w]

Thanks from Texas Dark Dude.

[@_AndromedaGalaxy_]

is it just me or does Tacit Blue look a lot like the Tictac UFO. makes me wonder if theres any relation.

[@googleuser846]

It's definitely it

[@Desire123ification]

Excellent Video! 👍

[@rocketremity9571]

I feel like this would be such an amazing AWACS

[@lepompier132]

Tacit Blue was Northrop prototype for stealth research. What was tested and flown would later end up in the YF-23 and the B-2. The Tacit Blue is the read deal in the puress form in stealth technology, if you compare that to the F-117, F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters. Northrop always had the upper hand in stealth technology because of the way they built the Tacit Blue, YF-23 and the B-2. The stealth technology from Lockheed goes in one direction and Northrop stealth technology goes in an other direction. Last I recall, the Northrop stealth technology of Tacit Blue was never used on the F-117, because the plane was built with flat diamond shape. The Tacit Blue stealth technolgy was designed for curvy surfaces like on the YF-23 and later the B-2. Lockheed had their own stealth technolgy that permited to make the F-22 Raptor and F-35. If you questionned this fact, well, heres why: When they built the first F-177 Have Blue. they could dismantel the plane in pieces and rebuild it to test fly the prototype. If they had used Northrop stealth technology they would have a big problem to move or store the F-117. and not only that, the F-117 that was shot down in the baltic would be still in one piece. When they tried to destroy the Tacit Blue prototype, they tried to burn it, failed it did not burned, they burried the plane in the desert sand, until it was found and removed from the desert and became a museum piece.