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Military aircraft has become more sophisticated in variety, effectiveness in war

situations, and special maneuvering techniques in recent years. With the advance of

stealth

technology, many new and very effective aircraft have been developed. The F-117A was

used during Operation Dessert Storm and every plane came back without a scratch. The

very expensive B-2 stealth bomber has never been used in actual war, but during testing it

was a success. The Advanced Tactical Fighter program was started to make an aircraft

that could supercruise, the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds, and didn't cost very

much. The YF-22 and YF-23 were the first planes to accomplish this. With all the planes

we know of, there are also top secret programs probably going on right now. A new

fighter that has never been heard of before has been spotted. As John Welch, the assistant

secretary of Air Force said, "Stealth gives us back that fundamental element of war called

surprise" (Goodall 9).

After it was found that aircraft could be very useful in war, it was used for large scale

reconnaissance. Then people started to add bombs to aircraft and then airplanes started to

become an essence of war. After World War 2, new bombers were developed with fast

speed, and could travel far distances. They could also carry nuclear bombs and missiles.

The use of the bomber aircraft then led to the fighter, which was equipped with guns and

missiles. Helicopters were also found to be good strike aircraft. They were armed with

cannons, machine guns, rockets, torpedoes, and a variety of missiles. Vertical takeoff

made the helicopter an advantage.

The first flight of the F-117A was in June of 1981 in Groom Lake test...