Stealth

[MarcusSaurono]

If the Information Age fighter is a stealth fighter, then why not give it stealth? Anyone know how to do this, I've looked but couldn't find it.

[Dahuk]

I think open unitrules.xml and find the fighter you want to change and add s to the FLAGS line. Have not tried this

[MarcusSaurono]

i'll try it, thanks.

[Andrew_Jay]

Actually, isn't it a stealth fighter only once you've researched global prosperity?

[PTM]

Industrial - Biplane
Modern - Fighter
Information - Jet Fighter
Global Prosperity - Advanced Fighter

Not stealth...advanced. The skins they use involve stealth planes (although I don't think for every nation), but they don't appear to have the aspect in-game.

- PTM; webmaster: Halo Online (www.haloonline.net)

[MarcusSaurono]

True, but it seems right that it should have stealth. If the bomber does, then why not the fighter?

[WoodenTaco]

True, but it seems right that it should have stealth. If the bomber does, then why not the fighter?

Well, bombers fly so much higher that it's pretty difficult to see them, especially when in all black for stealth missions at night, where they blend in with the night sky. So, all that ground defenses can use realistically is radar for targetting.

Fighters, however, are not capable of flying as high most of the time. Oftentimes they can be seen in the air from ground with some magnification.

Also, its much harder to make a fighter stealth than it is to make a bomber stealth. I dont know if you know how stealth works, but it isnt a field generated around the plane, it is a diffusion based on the angles and contours of the plane's body, and to a lesser extent, the properties of the paint. The fighter would have to be carefully made in the right shape for stealth capabilities, and when that happens it isnt nearly as maneuverable and is less capable at dogfights.

[MarcusSaurono]

I know how the stealth works, but if its pointless on a fighter then why are they trying to build one?

[Dahuk]

the last fighter you get in game is the skin of a f22 which is a stealth fighter and the exist in real life now. Ill probably enable stealth for it in my game.

[crowell]

Stealth

I think the idea of the AdvancedFighter (F22) being a true stealth fighter would defeat the idea of that unit type. I haven't analyzed the details of this unit but to be an effective multi-roll fighter (remember, we are trying to duplicate the F22, not the F117) you will have hard points for Air to Air and Air to Ground munitions and targeting pods. While the real aircraft does have radar absorbant materials on it's outer skin, the ordinance and pods do not. Thus, they reflect radar, increasing, somewhat, the radar cross section of the aircraft.

You then have to consider the dynamic that such an aircraft would be less visible at extremely low altitudes as well as if it were flying straight at you or flying a concentric arc around your sam site (doplar radar 101).

Quite a bit of information to try to code. It would, I think, be far simpler to change the damage per 'hit' a sam site does to one of these aircraft in the game, simulating near misses doing less damage, etc.

Well, that's my humble opinion as an aviation buff and gamer.

[One_Dead_Villy]

stealth fighters and bombers are invulnerable to ground based AAA / SAM's, they can only be brought down by other stealth fighters

[ded_man_walkin]

why not make em invisible unless moving and attacking? (not moving, im joking)

[Alinestra Covelia]

I think they're vulnerable to a light rain shower though.

[Kri77777]

Over the summer, a man from Lockheed (the company that manufactures most of the aircraft) gave a presentation to a class I was in on the F/A-22. First, it is designated F for fighter and A for ground attack (like the F/A-18). Second, it is 4th generation stealth technology. It includes special paint, special reflecting design, heat signature cover, intake signature cover, as well as many other stealth features. Most of the armament is carried INSIDE the aircraft protecting it from radar (however, there are external mounts for ferrying and for combat which dramatically reduce the stealth ability of the aircraft, though these tend to only be used for ground attacks where extra payload is a must). On a radar scan, the F/A-22 is literaly equivalent to a bumble-bee. Therefore, it is proper for it to be stealth, if talking realistically.

[Jaybe]

In the game, what would you do with a stealth fighter: escort a stealth bomber??

Stealth fighters are not in the game because they wouldn't fit into the game. I wouldn't work; play balance exploits, etc.
I am sure that "realism" had very little to do with it, if it was considered at all. Playability had everything to do with it, I would bet.