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Lockheed Aequare

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posted on May, 20 2018 @ 02:57 AM
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This was a sensor cruise missile that was intended to be launched for a F-4 and the jet would use the missile/UAV as a remote laser designator.

this got me thinking, people deny the fact that there was something that flew alongside the Nighthawk to be a target designator,EW and BDA aircraft

if they were going to use these with the F-4 and there were 15-20 of these systems made doe this add fuel to the companion fire?

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edit on 20-5-2018 by penroc3 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 20 2018 @ 06:40 AM
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a reply to: penroc3

The entire notion of the Companion always made a ton of sense to me specifically because it's such a 70s/80s solution.

Though one wonders what sort of performance envelope it might have had. These drones are all piston designs with performance on par with a typical smaller GA aircraft, which makes sense if they're being launched by infantry in a Vietnam-style situation at targets mere tens of miles away. It makes a lot less sense as a day-one "door-kicker" solution like the F-117 was, where you'd almost certainly be using it on targets hundreds if not thousands of miles away.

At the same time though, these designs are all loiterers, which makes sense as it would likely take at least some time to identify/designate targets, so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to suggest that the Companion might have also been designed to do it's fair share of loitering. And yet, as a "day one" solution, it would still likely need to be able to get in and over targets before the F-117s did, even if the orders to do so came in minutes or hours before it needed to be there.

Part of me wonders if the Companion wasn't something along the lines of a stealth EF-111 that could designate targets, too, not just in terms of capabilities, but in terms of performance as well.



posted on May, 20 2018 @ 07:37 AM
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there was hints of that when I was leaving the air force at Mtn. Home....in 74....the talk was about our buddy's going over to Britain...from an FB-111F squadron......to the new secret forward air electronic warfare bit flyin Ravens



 
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