english 4 term paper final january 28, 2010
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Xavier University High SchoolAteneo de Cagayan
Modernizing Technology in Military Airplanes
In partial fulfillment of the requirements in English IV
Ms. Pamela Quinto
Justin Alexander C. Abellera4 – Sanvitores
January 25, 2010
Table of Contents
I. Background of Modernizing Technology in Military Airplanes
A. A History of Military Airplanes 1
B. Development Projects for Military Airplanes 4
C. Kinds of Military Airplanes 4
II. Advantages of Modernizing Military Airplane Technology
A. A New Kind of Propulsion 5
B. The Age of Metal Planes 6
C. Avionics control 7
III. Disadvantages of Modernizing Military Airplane Technology
A. Guided Missiles 8
B. Stealth Aircraft Technology 9
C. Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle 10
IV. Conclusion 11
V. BIBLIOGRAPHY 12
Modernizing Technology in Military Airplanes
Thesis Statement: Modernizing Technology in Military Airplanes may be
disadvantageous
Questions
1. What are the dangers of further advancing the technology of military airplanes?
2. Why continue to advance military airplane technology
3. Will wars in the future be all about military planes?
I. Background of Modernizing Technology in Military Airplanes
A. A History of Military Airplanes
According to Andrew Nahum, he says that “it seemed that the future of flight lay
with balloons and lighter-than-air craft. But British engineers Sir George Cayley thought
otherwise. He was convinced that wings, too, would one day carry people into the air,
drawing his inspiration from a familiar toy, the kite. Ingenious experiments with kites
taught Cayley so much about how wings are lifted on the air, that he was able to build a
human-size version - the world’s first real glider. Soon, other would-be aviators were
trying their luck with gliders. It was all hit or miss, because no one had any real idea
how to control their aircraft in the air. Then, in the 1890s, a young German named Otto
Lillienthal built a series of small, fragile gliders – much like modern hang gliders – and
succeeded in making regular, controlled flights with them. His example proved crucial,
and he has rightly been called the ‘world’s first true aviator.’ “
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The base required for airplane flight was already designed by Sir George Cayley
and improved by Otto Lillienthal. But flying was only for a short period of time because
there were no modes of propulsion thought up for the glider then. Andrew Nahum says
that “with a glider, it was at last possible to fly on wings – but not for long. To fly any real
distance, an engine was needed. By as early as 1845, two Englishmen, William Henson
and John Stringfellow, hand built a working model of a plane powered by a specially
made lightweight steam engine – the only engine then available. Nobody knows
whether their model ever really got off the ground, but it showed the idea of a powered
flying machine was no longer just a dream. Over the next fifty years, many imaginative
engineers tried to get steam-powered flying machines airborne, both models and full-
size airplanes. But steam engines proved either too weak or too heavy, and it wasn’t
until the invention of the compact gas engines that powered flight became a real
possibility.”
Steam engine planes just couldn’t fly because of the sheer weight of the engine
or the power it just couldn’t produce. By the new millennium or year 1900, the gasoline
engine was already being used widely on cars. Andrew Nahum says that “one cold
Thursday in December 1903, at Kitty Hawk North Carolina, the gasoline powered flying
machine built by the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright rose unsteadily into the air, flow
forty meters, then returned safely to the ground again. The world’s first powered,
sustained flight had been made. At first, reports of the Wrights’ achievements were met
with disbelief in Europe, but there success was no accident. They had been
methodically improving their flying skill – since 1899. When Wilbur brought the Flyer to
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France in 1908, it was clear that the Wrights were far ahead of the pioneers in Europe.
But aviation was now progressing everywhere rapidly. Sustained flights were soon
almost routine. Then, in 1909, Frenchman Louis Bleriot flew one of his little aircraft 26
miles right over the English Channel from France to England.” By the year 1909, the
Wright brothers were contracted with the military to build the first military airplanes.
During the First World War, the airplanes being used by the military were for
spying purposes by flying over enemies and photographing or reporting about the
enemies’ operations. The airplanes were also used to help transport people or
equipment and help in any other way they can. During these times, the pilots flew the
planes without having any way of defending themselves in case of gunfire from the
ground. Later on, the pilots started carrying guns and bringing small bombs that they
can drop from the planes to enemies firing at them. What this method of defending did
was create the first bomber airplane. The fighter plane was created when a French pilot
and his observer were spying over a village in Jamoigne, a German plane approached
them. The French pilot’s observer acted quickly and got out his machine gun which he
brought with him. The observer fired onto the German plane and the Germans crashed,
becoming the first to be shot down by the first fighter plane. (A History of Fighter
Aircraft)
The planes used by the military has changed so much that they were the most
expensive product of the 20th century because of all the investments put into
advancements like computers which will assist the pilot in operating the plane, the new
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powerful engines which replaced the propeller engine, and weapons which can follow a
target until it hits it. How the plane looked changed as well, from the old wooden form to
the sleek and aerodynamic metal form. The kill rate has also increased because of the
payload of bombs that a military plane could now carry.
B. Development Projects for Military Airplanes
The military needed a plane manufacturing company to research, develop, and
build military airplanes like fighter jets for the Air Tactical Service Command. They made
an agreement with Lockheed, an established plane manufacturing company in 1943 to
provide the military with newly developed planes for military purpose. This agreement
turned into a development program called Skunk Works which is today a division of
Lockheed Martin. Currently, there are several other competitive companies like Boeing
that test new designs and ideas on new planes for military use.
C. Kinds of Military Airplanes
There are mainly five kinds of military airplanes and three of these are the ones
in the front line, doing the dangerous jobs in war. The three main military airplanes are
the fighters, the bombers, and the multirole planes. The fighter planes are the ones that
go in combat with other airplanes in what is called a “dog fight”. The basic principles of a
fighter plane is to be extremely maneuverable to dodge gunfire and guided missiles
from another fighter, and be extremely accurate in terms of weapon firing to take down
the enemy fighter. The bomber plane has more basic principles, that it should be able to
carry a huge load of bombs and be powerful enough to fly up to high altitudes even
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when it is loaded to the maximum with bombs. The multirole planes are the planes
which are capable of going into combat with other planes and drop a bomb that
damages a small area. The two minor military planes are the reconnaissance planes
and the cargo planes. Reconnaissance planes are just tasked to gather information on
enemies by flying over their area. Cargo planes are just tasked to transport people and
equipment. The two minor planes are kept basic as they don’t need any special
advancement. Reconnaissance planes have not changed so much since the early
versions. They still use powerful cameras to photograph their findings. Today,
reconnaissance planes were also given some upgrades like infra-red cameras to detect
body temperature inside buildings. Reconnaissance planes were not invested on that
much because of a much better and more accurate substitute, the spy satellite. Cargo
planes are just continuously being redesigned to be able to carry more loads and deliver
more power to take it to the skies.
II. Advantages of Modernizing Military Airplane Technology
A. A New Kind of Propulsion
Continuous flying became possible because of the combustion engines used in
cars and motorcycles being put into the body of a glider. Propellers were then
connected to the engine to provide the propelling force. The problem with these engines
was they were always overworked because of spinning fast. To solve this problem, new
engines were built, specifically designed for airplanes. Soon, planes were able to go
higher and faster as engines kept on getting better and better. The materials used for
the propellers has changed from wood to metal and forged aluminum as engines
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became stronger and stronger. This technology has become a success in development
for the airplane that airliners were soon built. The propulsion needed for a glider has
been successfully developed, but the military were in search for more power. This
sparked the development of the jet engine. The jet engine was originally thought up by
Frank Whittle. His intention for the development of the jet engine was for the mail
service. The Germans then developed their own version of the jet engine and
successfully made a working one before Frank Whittle did. The engine made by the
Germans were comparably faster when compared to even the most fine tuned propeller
engine planes of the time. More comparisons showed that jet engines were able to bring
the plane to higher altitudes because of its ability to compress air inside the engine.
The compressed air burned with fuel produces a jet of hot air pushing out of the other
end. Propeller planes couldn’t achieve heights that a jet engine could because of the
decreasing amount of air as the altitude increases causes the engine to lose power as
the fuel gets less air to burn with. The jet engine was also more efficient because it was
able to get more power from the fuel by being able to compress air. This allowed the
engine to use less fuel as more air is added to get the most out of the fuel. Jet engines
are now used in modern military aircraft and in commercial airliners because of the jet
engine’s increased power and efficiency compared to the old propeller engine.
B. The Age of Metal Planes
The planes we see today are all made of several different kinds of metal like
aluminum for example. The planes we see today also have one set of wings. But the
early planes had two, three or more sets of wings. This is because the planes before
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were made of wood. Planes had to use two or more sets of wings because a single set
of wings made of wood could not hold itself together when overstressed. Using too
many wings also created problems as more wings created drag thus losing speed. The
French and British authorities banned the use of single wing planes. The best decision
was to use two wings as a balance between speed and structural stability. When World
War I began, almost all fighters and reconnaissance planes had two wings. The
demands of war then gave a boost in aircraft development. When World War I was near
its end, the supply of wood was not enough to build new planes with. Since the war was
not over, the military needed a constant supply of fighter planes. Plane makers tried to
experiment by using metal instead of wood for the body of the plane. The experiment
was a success because metal was found out to be better in many ways like being
stronger and lighter than wood. Since the discovery that using metal was a better choice
to make airplanes, airplanes were being redesigned to go faster because of the
decreased weight like using single wing designs again. The engines were also made
more powerful since the body could now take the extra power and speed.
C. Avionics control
Avionics as Pick Collinson says “is the system that an aircraft uses to operate properly.”
The avionics was designed to allow the pilot to control his plane electronically. Avionics
was developed because of a need to decrease the crew of a fighter plane. Fighter
planes during the World War I had at least two men operating for flying the plane and
shooting at the same time was too much work for a pilot alone. Fighter planes today are
usually driven by just one person who controls both plane and its weapon systems
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through the avionics. Without avionics systems, controls would be heavy and the
smallest change on the controls could unbalance the plane and make it more difficult to
regain control. Without avionics, huge commercial airliners wouldn’t exist because of the
impossibility of a man to use human strength for controlling a huge plane with traditional
cable systems.
III. Disadvantages of Modernizing Military Airplane Technology
A. Guided Missiles
During the two World Wars, military airplane weapons were developed but still
had the basic principles of point and shoot where the pilot had to work hard to get his
plane pointing straight at the enemy and fire the machine guns bolted onto the wings.
Bombs had to be dropped at a specific point after several mathematical estimations
were made. Now, however, things have changed. Guided missiles were being
developed just after the autopilot system for planes was perfected. Guided missiles are
set to go after a target on a collision course and set off its explosive war head. Since
guided missiles follow on a locked target set by the pilot, pointing the plane directly
towards the enemy is no longer needed. Instead, through the avionics, a fighter pilot just
has to lock on the target and release a missile which has locked on the target. The
autopilot system and avionics within the missile will control it towards the target on a
collision course. This guidance system for missiles is so accurate, efficient, and
effective that modern jet fighter machine guns are rarely being used. And if missile
technology for military airplanes continue to advance, modern air warfare will be entirely
be about firing guided missiles.
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B. Stealth Aircraft Technology
Radar was invented by Robert Watson-Watt in 1935 during the war. He and four
researchers were sent to a military base for the development of radar. His invention was
able to detect planes from afar by sending a pulse through the air and listening for an
echo. This system made early detection of enemy aircraft possible. Soon, radar was
brought to the skies by putting radar into a plane. This made fighter planes capable of
detecting other planes from afar. The pilot can then have more time to determine if the
detected plane is an enemy. However, a new technological advancement in military
airplanes was developed. This new technology is stealth. Through the use of stealth
technology, planes can go through radar without being detected or give false
information about the stealth plane’s location. This technology was achieved because of
exploiting radar’s weak points. Radar sends a beam across the air for detecting
airplanes. But radar also produces weaker, unwanted beams. Computers in the stealth
plane detect when these weak beams hit the plane and immediately send out a radar-
like pulse to confuse the radar that is searching for planes. The computer of the radar
detects the strongest echo, but is confused by the stealth plane’s computer. The result
could be that the stealth plane’s location could be miles away on the radar screen when
the plane is already close enough to drop its load of bombs. The plane could also not
appear on the radar screen at all. Stealth planes are still in use today and are generally
for high risk operations where being discovered early means losing a life or two.
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C. Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle
The unmanned combat aerial vehicle started out as target practice for top fighter
pilots to practice with real missiles. The unmanned aerial vehicles were so useful that
the US army thought of other uses for the unmanned aerial vehicle. After some design
changes, the unmanned aerial vehicle became an unmanned spy plane. The iconic
General Atomics MQ-I Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle that serves as an
unmanned spy plane. The Predator was a success as an unmanned spy plane. The US
army then planned on giving the unmanned aerial vehicle weapons when the
opportunity comes that an enemy lands on the sights of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
This led to the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. It is the Air Force’s first purpose
designed Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle. The Reaper is capable of spying through
cameras installed on it and attack targets in its sight with bombs and missiles it could
now carry. The Reaper shows a significant evolution in military airplane technology and
unmanned aerial vehicle technology. The Air Force once used it mainly for spying
purposes but now has become an unmanned combat plane. The Reaper has started
taking over the role of fighter pilots in the military and has started to go through its next
technological advancement; self piloting. Boeing proved that autonomous aircraft was
possible through their unmanned combat aerial vehicle, the Boeing X-45. The plane is
able to operate on its own, choose its target, and take it down. The plane may be driven
remotely at times, but is completely capable of piloting itself and controlling its weapon
systems.
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IV. Conclusion
Through the many years that changed the military plane completely, some of
these changes were good and beneficial even to the public society, but the rest of these
changes were meant for having the upper hand in war. The capabilities of military
airplanes have become dangerous because of the improved accuracy from guided
missile technology and being able to further increase the accuracy of missiles by being
able to fire at close range because of stealth technology hiding the plane from radar
detection. A storm of bomber planes already too late to have been noticed to engage in
combat with as the full load is dropped down to its helpless target. Military planes are
evolving to the point where a human pilot is no longer needed on board the plane.
Planes are just sent out on command to destroy living targets without risking the pilot’s
life. These remotely controlled planes evolved further by taking out the human element
altogether. The planes become autonomous, following their own laws of war, taking
targets down on their own, and creating casualties with no one to blame because it was
a machine that fired the weapon, not man. The technology has become so dangerous
that what we believed was science fiction could just turn into a science fact. We no
longer control what the plane does. It goes on its own to hunt and kill targets. War will
bring more casualties because of modernizing technology in military airplanes.
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V. BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. BooksBlakekok, John H. Automatic Control of Aircraft Missiles. Canada, 1991
Collinson, Dick. Introduction to Avionics. Great Britain: St. Edmunds Press, 1996
Crouch, Tom D. Inventors and Discoverers: Changing Our World. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society, 1988
Heppenheimer, T.A. Flight: A Photographic History of Aviation. London: Carlton Books, 2003
Kindersley, Dorling. Chronicle of the 20 th Century. Henrietta, London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1995
Nahum, Andrew. Flying Machine. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1990
No Author. The Military Frontier. Alexandria, Virginia: Timelife Books
No Author. Visual Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1998
Strebeigh, Fred. Inventors and Discoverers: Changing Our World. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society, 1988
Wooldridge, E.T. Winged Wonders: The Story of Flying Wings. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983
B. Electronic SourcesBoeing. Phantom Works. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from
http://www.boeing.com/bds/phantomworks/index.html
Centenial of Flight. Stealth Aircraft. Retrieved January 3, 2010 from http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/Stealth_aircraft/tech31.htm
Global Security. MQ-9 Reaper. Retrieved December 26, 2009, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/mq-9.htm
Lockheed Martin. Skunk Works. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aeronautics/skunkworks
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Seorf. Introduction to Stealth Technology. Retrieved December 31, 2009, from http://www.seorf.ohiou.edu/~af641/
Think Quest. A History of Flight. Retrieved December 30, 2009, from http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112389/airplanes.htm
USA World War I. A History of Fighter Aircraft. Retrieved December 24, 2009, from http://www.usaww1.com/World_War_1_Fighter_Planes.php4
Wikipedia. Air to air missiles. Retrieved January 1, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-to-air_missiles
Wikipedia. Boeing X-45. Retrieved December 26, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-45
Wikipedia. MQ-1 Predator. Retrieved December 26, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-1_Predator
Wikipedia. Radar. Retrieved December 22, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Watson-Watt#The_air_defense_problem
Wikipedia. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Retrieved December 26, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_unmanned_aerial_vehicles
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