Original subtitles

♪ (plane roaring)

Narrator: Fast, powerful, and stealthy.

Man: We can fly around bad guys and them not even knowing

That we're there.

Narrator: The f-22 raptor is america's enforcer-in-chief.

(bomb exploding)

Woman: With an f-22 in the airspace,

There is no sneaking around.

Narrator: Its stealth technology,

Born of a cold war need.

(missile exploding)

Man: We were going to have to make a stealth platform

From the ground up.

Narrator: And developed so far under the radar

That even those who flew it questioned its worth.

Man: All the pilots were not sure that stealth

Was gonna work.

Narrator: All of this in a quest to build

The most lethal and feared combat aircraft in the world.

Woman: The air force needed a lot more stealth aircraft

As quickly as they could get them.

♪

(bomb exploding)

(guns firing)

Narrator: June 2014,

(soldiers shouting)

The united states has been fighting

In iraq and afghanistan for over 12 years.

(speaking in a foreign language)

In nearby syria, a new threat emerges, the islamic state.

Man: Isis is an organization that has an apocalyptic,

End of days strategic vision and which will eventually

Have to be defeated.

Narrator: Us war planners must tread lightly.

Sending aircraft into syria could destabilize

The region even more.

Syrian dictator bashar al-assad is at war

With his own people and with isis.

He doesn't want america to interfere.

Isis knows the us is reluctant to attack.

From its base near raqqa,

It continues its violent provocations.

Woman: An american journalist has been beheaded

By isis terrorists.

The victim was kidnapped in 2012

While covering the war in syria.

Narrator: In September, the united states

And a coalition of allies decide they've had enough.

President obama: I will not hesitate to take action

Against isil in syria.

If you threaten america, you will find no safe haven.

Narrator: To accomplish this, air strikes.

Allied forces must wipe out isis targets

But avoid taking sides in the bitter civil war.

The pentagon plans to use all aircraft at its disposal

Including its newest weapon, the f-22 raptor.

♪

Stealth, speed, and air superiority,

(plane roaring)

The f-22 raptor has it all.

Man: What is behind me is the premiere air dominance fighter

In the world, the greatest fighter jet ever built,

Which is the f-22 raptor.

Narrator: 62 feet long, over 40 feet wide,

The raptor brings the thunder

(plane roaring)

And the lightning.

(missile exploding)

♪

Man: The primary mission of the f-22 raptor

Is to either shoot down other airplanes or drop bombs.

(bomb exploding)

Narrator: Air-to-air or air-to ground,

The raptor has a lethal option for any situation.

Man: One, two, three.

Man: We can carry six radar missiles

Two heat-seeking missiles, as well as

A couple hundred rounds of 20-millimeter bullets.

Or we can also go to our air-to-ground load out,

Where we can carry either two 1,000-pound bombs

Or eight 250-pound small diameter bombs.

The f-22 is an enforcer, and we'll put the airplane

Up there to deter any threat that may try

To impose their will.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: September 2014, al dhafra air base,

United arab emirates.

Four f-22 pilots from the 27th fighter squadron

Prep their jets for a mission.

Man: We had been in theater as f-22s for several years already.

Narrator: Lieutenant colonel dave williams

Served in the us air force for over 17 years.

Man: None of the f-22s had been used in combat

Up to that point.

So, the expectation was that we weren't actually

Gonna be used for anything.

But then, at the very end of our six-month deployment

We got the call that they wanted to use us in syria.

♪

Narrator: Williams knows that flying into syrian airspace

Means taking a dangerous risk.

Man: We weren't exactly sure what syria was gonna do

When we first crossed their border.

♪

One of our concerns was that syria would actually mistake

Our entry into their country as an act of war against them.

Narrator: The syrians have an air force,

Anti-aircraft guns, and dozens of surface-to-air missiles,

All keeping a lookout for intruders in their skies.

Man: Because of their robust integrated air defense systems,

Stealth became more of a factor.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: The raptor is the air force's

Ultimate stealth fighter.

It sneaks up to your house

(bombs exploding)

And then kicks down the door.

Its design, classified,

Both inside and out.

Man: For operational security reasons, we're unable to open up

The cockpit and let you film inside the airplane.

That's information that we don't wanna share

With outside sources.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: There's one thing pilots can talk about,

The plane's coating called ram.

It stands for radar absorbing material.

Its active ingredient, an iron based compound,

Designed to trap and reduce radar reflection.

Man: The paint is like an invisibility cloak.

We're adding it to the aircraft to absorb enemy radar

So the enemy can't detect it.

Narrator: To work, the coat must be seamless.

Airmen inspect the raptor's coating for defects

After every flight.

Man: If we notice a paint chip or a scratch in the paint,

We'll bring it in here, and strip it down and reapply,

Because any defects degrade the stealth capability

Of the aircraft.

♪

Narrator: The ram helps make

The raptor nearly undetectable.

On enemy radar, the 43,000-pound plane appears

As small as a bumblebee.

Man: We can fly around bad guys

And them not even knowing that we're there.

Narrator: At al dhafra air base,

A 12-plane strike force lines up on the tarmac.

Among them, four f-15 eagles,

Four f-16 falcons,

And four f-22 raptors.

Man: It was pretty surreal experience.

There was a flurry of emotions.

Probably the biggest thing on my mind was making sure

That we can get all of my guys safely to and from

The airspace and execute the mission.

Narrator: The plan is for the non-stealthy fighters

To dip into syria, take out isis command

And control facilities, and then return to safe airspace

As fast as they can.

Two of the f-22s are loaded up with air-to-air weapons

In order to watch the strike force's back.

Man: They were there to make sure the rest

Of the strike package was unmolested,

That they could get in and out cleanly.

♪

Narrator: Not all of the mission relies

On the raptor's muscle.

Williams and another f-22 are tasked with a job

That counts on its stealth.

Man: The mission that we had that night was to drop bombs

On an isis headquarters building.

It was actually pretty deep into syria,

Very close to the heart

Of their integrated air defense systems.

So, f-22s were used 'cause they could be stealthy.

We were much more survivable

Against the surface-to-air threats.

Narrator: At midnight, the fighters begin to take off.

But just before williams is cleared to go, trouble.

An f-15 up ahead has a mechanical failure,

Shutting the entire flight line down.

Man: We had a specific time on target for all of the airplanes

That were going to the target that night.

So, for us to be delayed getting to the airspace

Was a significant emotional event.

(engine rumbling)

Narrator: The strike is a finely-timed operation.

All four f-22s must fly ahead of the other jets.

Man: We wanted the f-22s to cross the syrian borders first,

Just in case there was a response from syria.

If they did respond, the f-22s would be out front

So that we could handle whatever response

The syrian government provided.

Narrator: 20 minutes later, the f-15

Is pulled off the runway.

Williams and the other f-22s

Are finally cleared for take off.

(plane roaring)

With time slipping away, they push their jets

As fast as they can.

Man: I had my throttles on full afterburner to get to 1.5 mach.

Once I got there at 40,000 feet,

I pulled them out of afterburner

And I was still accelerating at 1.5 mach.

We don't have other assets in the air force

That can do that.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: The f-22 is one plane that never comes late

To the party.

Two pratt and whitney f-119 engines make it

One of the fastest fighter jets on the planet.

Man: We can exceed mach 2 or go faster

Than twice the speed of sound, which up high,

Above 50,000 feet that's roughly about 1100 miles per hour.

Each engine produces 35,000 pounds of thrust

So with both engines operating you're getting 70,000 pounds

Of thrust propelling this war machine through the air.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: The engines offer more than thrust.

These bad boys let the raptor super cruise.

Man: Super cruise, means that we can go faster or sustain speed

Faster than the speed of sound without using afterburner,

Which is the big flame that you see

Coming out of the airplane.

The ability to fly faster than the speed of sound

Without using the afterburner is gonna allow us

To get to places a lot quicker

Than when people are expecting us.

(plane rumbling)

Narrator: 40,000 feet above the ground,

Colonel dave williams and his f-22 speed

Straight towards the target zone.

15 minutes after takeoff, he crosses into syrian airspace,

Right on time.

♪

Man: When we did cross into the syrian border,

It was plainly obvious that there was a civil war going on.

You could see tracer fire rounds going off

All over the place.

Narrator: Two f-22s stay close to the strike force,

Keeping an eye out for enemy planes.

Williams and the other raptor race further

Into syrian airspace counting on their stealth

To shield them from surface-to-air missiles.

♪

If the mission goes well, it's a hard blow to isis.

But in this volatile region, it's also easy

For their plans to go wrong.

(planes roaring)

Man: We had to be prepared.

All of our concern and focus was on the syrian regime

To make sure that they understood that

We were not there to start a war with syria.

We wanted to make sure that we did not start world war iii.

♪

Narrator: High over syria, f-22 pilot

Lieutenant colonel dave williams and his wingman

Prepare to drop a bomb on an isis compound.

To the east, two more f-22s protect the strike force.

Man: We weren't 100% sure what the syrian response

Was gonna be.

Our biggest concern was making sure

That if syria did respond, it wouldn't escalate

Into something where we're now shooting missiles

At each other.

(radio operator mumbling)

Man: Copy.

Narrator: Williams locks on to the isis compound

And drops two 1,000-pound j-dam laser-guided bombs.

(bombs exploding)

Direct hit.

30 miles away, the strike force quickly follows suit.

♪

(bomb exploding)

Man: I was actually distracted from watching my bomb blow up,

Watching the 40 small diameter bombs

That the strike eagles lobbed at their target area.

That was quite a show to watch.

♪

Narrator: The raptors and the rest of the aircraft

Quickly return to safe airspace undetected

And safe from syrian missiles.

(plane roaring)

Man: Officially, that was the first use of f-22s in combat.

We used the f-22s against those targets,

One, because the munitions that we carried.

But in addition to that, our stealth capability

Gave us a lot bigger margin for survivability

Against the syrian regime.

Narrator: A stealth fighter's advantage

Is the element of surprise.

But to truly understand stealth,

You have to first understand what it's hiding from.

September 1st, 1939,

World war ii erupts in europe.

(bomb exploding)

Engineers all around the world develop

High-performance bombers and fighters designed to cripple

The enemy before they know what hit them.

Man: By the time we get to world war ii,

There's been many, many technological advances

Introduced into the combat zone.

Narrator: Yancy mailes is a historian

At the us air force global strike command.

Man: Airplanes were flying higher.

They were faster.

The human eye was not going to be good enough

To alert that there were incoming forces.

You needed something, a piece of technology, to do that.

(planes roaring)

Narrator: That something is radar.

♪

Radar is created by an antenna which generates pulses

Of invisible energy called radio waves.

These waves spread out over a portion of the sky.

If a plane is in their path, the signals bounce off

The aircraft and return towards the ground.

(radar pulsing)

The same antenna that creates the radar waves,

Then captures those returning pulses of energy.

A device called an oscilloscope,

Translates the returned signals and displays

The gathered information to an operator

Revealing how far away the plane is,

And most importantly, where it's headed.

(radar beeping)

♪

By 1940, great britain fully integrates radar

Into their national defense strategy, using it

To alert the royal air force of approaching enemy aircraft.

Man: If the british had not had radar, their forces

On the ground probably would have been decimated

By the german air force.

(plane rumbling)

Narrator: It's clear radar is a game changer,

But the brits aren't the only ones who take advantage.

Man: Radar was not a monopoly by one country.

The germans devised techniques to use their radar

To direct the german pilots to the incoming allied forces.

And then once the german pilots actually saw the flights

Of bombers, they visually would start attacking them.

Narrator: War planners must look for new techniques

To avoid getting caught in radar waves.

Man: There were multiple ways that you could avoid the radar.

♪

The most common one was to use chaff.

It was just large strips of tin foil

That you dropped out of the airplane.

Narrator: Chaff consists of small fibers

That reflect radar signals.

When large quantities are dropped from an aircraft,

They form a cloud that temporarily hides the aircraft

From radar detection.

Another tactic, overloading the radar network.

(planes rumbling)

Man: The british actually were really good at this.

They would flood the german radar network by sending

A whole bunch of their airplanes towards the radars,

And then all of them would break off

And go to predetermined targets.

So, the german radar had no idea where to direct

The fighters to because they had overloaded

The german radar network.

♪

Narrator: Generals on both sides know

That outsmarting enemy radar is key

To winning air battles to come.

By the cold war, radar isn't just used

To see aircraft coming, it's used to shoot them down.

(missile exploding)

(crowd cheering) (troops stomping)

August 1955, the united states is locked in an arms race

With the soviet union and worried

That it's on the losing side.

Man: We believed the soviets are actually building

More bombers than we have.

So, we really wanna see what's going on

In the soviet union.

Narrator: Finding out what the kremlin

Is up to isn't easy.

The soviets have an advanced early warning radar system

Along their border.

Man: The soviets they're using their radar

To not only look and see that the enemy is coming,

But they also use their radar to alert their jet forces

To go up and actually attack.

♪

Narrator: The us considers a solution.

Some believe that the best way to stay safe is to fly high.

Man: We introduce the u-2, which flies very, very high.

We believed that if we could fly high enough,

The u-2 was untouchable by current technology

That was being fielded by the soviet union.

Narrator: But america soon learns

That there's a difference between a spy plane

And one that is stealthy.

Man: On display in moscow was alleged to be

The wreckage of the u-2 spy plane,

Which russia claims to have shot down by rocket.

♪

Narrator: The us knows soviet radar is tough,

But the shoot down reveals the power

Of their new surface-to-air missile, the sa2.

(missile exploding)

Woman: The sa2 was an advance because it could reach

Very high altitude.

Narrator: Dr. Rebecca grant

Is an air force author and historian.

Woman: This sa2 could track an incoming aircraft

From many miles out, lock onto the radar signature,

And send a very lethal, accurate missile

Right into that incoming jet.

(missile exploding)

Man: So the united states started talking about,

How can we make it where the soviets

Can no longer see our airplanes?

And that was the very early introduction of stealth.

♪

Narrator: December 1964, palmdale, california.

The air force tests its top-secret spy plane,

The lockheed martin sr-71.

It's designed to out-fly any soviet missile.

Man: The sr-71 is just one wicked platform.

Three times the speed of sound.

Flew at above 80,000 feet.

That's 16 miles above the earth,

Three times as tall as mt. Everest.

Woman: At its max altitudes, 80,000 feet and above,

Surface-to-air missiles simply ran out of energy.

Narrator: The sr-71 doesn't just rely

On altitude and speed.

This jet is modified for stealth.

Dark paint acts as camouflage against the night sky,

And leads to its nickname, blackbird.

Its thin body and tapered sides help deflect enemy radar,

Making the 100-foot long plane appear smaller

Than a man on radar.

But the blackbird is a plane designed to spy not drop bombs.

Woman: The air force knew they really had to be able

To attack these key targets, but the only way to do it

Was to devise a little fighter bomber

That could use stealth and penetrate

To deliver those weapons.

(plane rumbling)

Man: And we couldn't just take an existing platform

And attempt to make it stealthy.

We were going to have to make a stealth platform

From the ground up.

♪

Narrator: November 1975.

Engineers at lockheed's skunk works launch a secret program

To build the first pure stealth aircraft.

Using advanced mathematical equations,

Designers calculate how visible their prototypes

Will be on radar.

Woman: In order to achieve stealth,

The entire external design

Of the aircraft has to be controlled,

And the skunk works team knew how to tackle that problem

As a practical matter and not just some equations

On the page.

Narrator: Engineers move away from smooth

Aerodynamic surfaces committing instead to designs

With facets and sharp angles, which they calculate

Will better deflect radar signals away from its receiver.

By 1977, skunk works test their most stealthy design yet,

The have blue.

Man: They flew them multiple times from '77 to '78,

And both of them crashed, unfortunately.

But they proved that you could build a stealth airplane.

By 1978, you see that the air force

Is very, very interested in taking this technology

And adapting it to an operational platform,

And to build

What eventually becomes the f-117 stealth fighter.

♪

Narrator: November, 1988.

The air force reveals lockheed's latest,

And highly-classified, stealth aircraft,

The f-117 nighthawk.

(plane roaring)

Woman: The f-117 was, perhaps,

The most top-secret fighter ever developed.

It was critical that the russians not get wind

Of america's success in developing stealth technology.

Narrator: 65 feet long, 43 feet wide,

The f-117 nighthawk looks like a fighter

From another galaxy.

Based off the have blue design,

Its shape makes it nearly invisible.

To enemy radar, it's the size of a baseball.

Man: The reason for that is because

The angles on the airplane

Do not present the radar signature back to the radar.

Narrator: One drawback, payload.

To keep its shape stealthy, weapons are limited

To what can be stored inside.

Woman: The internal weapons bay of the f-117,

The size limited it to carrying basically

Two 1,000-pound bombs.

You can't hang bombs off the outside of the 117

And have it still be a stealthy fighter.

♪

Narrator: Designers know if it only carries two,

They'll have to be precise.

(bomb exploding)

Man: It was a precision-guided platform.

If you look at the airplanes that actually could deliver

Precision-guided munitions,

The f-117 was one of those platforms.

Narrator: The f-117 was built for stealth.

But when war breaks out in panama,

The nighthawk is needed for its aim.

December 1989, operation just cause.

Panamanian dictator manuel noriega

Declares war on the united states.

Us generals respond with a plan.

Drop two laser-guided bombs near the panama defense barracks

In downtown panama city.

The goal is to stun the troops into surrender.

The air force chooses the f-117.

Woman: The f-117 had a precision bombing system.

So that made it a natural choice

For the operation in panama.

♪

Narrator: Over 3,000 miles away in nevada,

Two f-117s take off and head to panama.

At one a.M., they reach their destination

And unload their weapons.

Ac-130 gunships and ah-64 apache helicopters

Quickly surround the area.

(helicopter whirring) ♪

By sunrise, the base is secure.

Woman: The panama mission was a good first combat test

For the f-117.

It was a long rigorous flight

With a precision weapons drop.

Narrator: The operation proves the new nighthawk

Can hit its target, but its stealth is still untested.

Man: There wasn't much of a threat for the f-117

From noriega's air defense system.

Woman: The panama raid

Did not prove that the f-117 could handle

A full-up integrated air defense system.

That was simply a question mark.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: January 1991.

(gun firing)

Iraqi dictator saddam hussein

Refuses to remove his invading army from neighboring kuwait.

The us and its allies decide it's time to act.

♪

The coalition prepares a full scale air war

Dubbed operation desert storm.

The plan, to bomb iraqi hot spots and bring hussein

To his knees.

The only problem, how to get their aircraft in to do it.

Man: The iraqis had the most integrated air defense system

In the world.

Narrator: Major general greg feest

Was an f-117 pilot with over 800 combat hours.

Man: They had radars that would locate aircraft coming in

Right when they got over the border and then they had

Thousands of triple-a guns and thousands

Of surface-to-air missiles they could launch

At the coalition aircraft as they came in

To hit their targets.

Narrator: The iraqi defenses are controlled

From a command post deep in enemy territory.

The us needs a plane that can sneak in

And take out the command post before the iraqis

Know what hit them.

♪

The aircraft they choose, the f-117.

January 17th, king khalid air base, saudi arabia,

Night one of the war.

14 f-117 pilots anxiously prepare their jets for flight.

Man: Our mission was gonna be

Entirely different than panama.

Operation desert storm was gonna be the first test

Of the stealth fighter against any real threat.

Narrator: It's a hell of a test for the unproven fighter

Flying through hundreds of radar sites

Without setting off alarms.

Man: There was a lot of apprehension by all the pilots.

We were not sure that stealth was gonna work.

The engineers had told us we'd be able to get in there

And get out, but we were not positive.

So, we were gonna have to go in and find out

Whether stealth was really gonna work.

♪

Narrator: Feest completes his final pre-flight checks,

Gets into the cockpit, and starts his engine.

He's the first to take off and racing against the clock.

Man: Timing was very important.

We did not wanna be early because once the first bomb

Hit the sky would light up and all the other aircraft

Coming in after us would have to fly through

That triple-a and through those sams.

Narrator: The f-117s fly in formation

All the way to the border.

(planes roaring)

As they cross into iraq, they begin to go stealth.

♪

Man: Some of the things we do are turn off any type of lights

On the aircraft, pull in the antennas so that there's no

Aperture sticking outside of the aircraft

That could be detected by radar.

Man: Once we did that we could no longer talk to anybody.

We couldn't talk to our wingman, we couldn't talk

To a tanker, we were alone.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: All alone, feest gives it gas

And bears down on his target.

He knows there is no turning back.

Man: You think to yourself, I can't talk to anybody.

What if they wanted me to come back

And not deliver this bomb?

(plane roaring)

Narrator: Feest has over an hour

Before he reaches his target.

A long time to be flying on faith.

Man: The f-117 is not an invisible aircraft.

It's a low observable aircraft.

So, it's hard to detect on radar, but it can be seen.

Narrator: On the ground, hundreds

Of iraqi air radar sites keep watch for him

And the other coalition aircraft.

Man: Hopefully the stealth characteristics

That the engineers told us would work would save us.

(plane roaring)

♪

Narrator: January 1991, deep in iraqi airspace,

F-117 pilot major general greg feest is ready

To drop the very first bomb of the war.

Man: I was very relieved because nobody knew I was there.

I was able to concentrate on tracking my target

And delivering my bomb.

Narrator: His bomb of choice?

Two bunker busting gbu-27 laser-guided bombs.

Man: That was a 2,000 pound bomb that we used

To penetrate targets that other bombs couldn't hit.

We were the only aircraft that could carry that weapon.

Narrator: The only catch?

To be accurate, feest must deploy the bombs

Below 10,000 feet, well within the line of fire.

Man: Our worry below 10,000 feet was not only sams,

Surface-to-air missiles, but also

Antiaircraft artillery, triple-a.

There was a lot of it in iraq and we were worried

At any second, we could be hit by some type of triple-a.

Narrator: Feest lines up the target,

Checks his bombs,

(plane roaring)

And fires.

(bomb exploding)

Direct hit.

(plane roaring)

90 minutes later, feest makes it back to base

And checks on the nighthawk pilots following behind.

Man: I thought to myself I'm not sure all of our pilots

Are gonna be as lucky as I was.

So when I saw that each one of them had checked in,

I was relieved.

To me I started to believe in stealth technology

At that point.

♪ man: It's a major success

For the stealthy fighter.

Over the next eight weeks, it remains undefeated.

Man: We flew 1,271 missions in the f-117

During operation desert storm and not one piece of damage,

Not one bullet, not one sam, nothing ever hit

Any of our aircraft.

Woman: There weren't many skeptics left

After operation desert storm.

Everyone knew that the f-117 was a true stealth fighter,

Capable of precision bombing against almost any target

In the world.

And what that told the air force was they needed

A lot more stealth aircraft as quickly

As they could get them.

Narrator: April 1991, washington, dc.

The air force commits to skunk works's

Latest stealth fighter, the lockheed yf-22

Advanced tactical fighter.

Woman: It had to go way beyond the f-117, have lots more speed,

Better maneuverability, onboard avionics, onboard radar,

And advanced stealth.

So to get that they had to go

To a far more sophisticated design that would put back

Some of the aerodynamic curvature.

Narrator: Six years later, at dobbins air reserve base,

Georgia, the public gets its first look.

Woman: The f-22 looked more like a traditional fighter,

And part of the reason they were able to do this

Was that computer design technology had progressed,

So they were able to more quickly evaluate

Alternative shapes without having to rely on strict angles

And facets in order to do that.

Narrator: Right away the new stealth plane impresses

With its speed.

Woman: The f-16 chase plane

Assigned to keep up with the f-22

Had trouble keeping this sleek new fighter in range.

The f-22 was a roaring success.

Narrator: But the new plane is still

Far from combat ready.

And when war breaks out in yugoslavia,

It's the f-117 that answers the call.

January 1999, serbian leader

Slobodan milosevic's parliamentary troops

Kill 45 ethnic albanians, including women and children.

The international community is outraged.

By March, they decide they've finally had enough.

President clinton: If president milosevic will not make peace,

We will limit his ability to make war.

Narrator: A nato coalition of 19 countries

Begins operation allied force.

Generals decide to strike serbian military installations

Crippling serbian forces.

(plane roaring)

Man: The plan was for this to be several nights

Of pinpoint strikes against strategic type targets.

Narrator: Lieutenant colonel dale zelko

Flew the f-117 for over five years.

Man: So the idea was, okay, if we take out

Very, very selective targets to slobodan milosevic

He would come to the bargaining table and he would agree

To nato's terms.

♪

Man: Done.

(gun firing)

Narrator: The serbian air defense is a lot like iraq's,

A capable air force and plenty of sams.

It's a natural fit for the f-117.

Man: Because of the success in desert storm,

There was this feeling and sense that our stealth capability

Would be very, very effective and unstoppable.

And as it turned out, that was not a good attitude

To have, and we greatly underestimated

The serbian war fighter.

♪ (gun firing)

♪

Narrator: March 27th, 1999,

Aviano air base, Italy,

The fourth night of the war.

Zelko prepares to fly into serbian airspace.

His mission, take out a key military command center

Near the serbian capital, belgrade.

Man: My target was in the belgrade area,

One of the most heavily defended cities in the world.

Narrator: F-117 pilots fly with confidence.

Carrying out their mission is almost too easy.

Man: The first three nights of very effective stealth strikes

Definitely added to the sense and attitude

Of we're invincible and invulnerable.

And I thought if there was ever a night for an f-117

To get shot down, it's tonight and it's my mission.

♪

Narrator: Not long after take-off,

Zelko reaches the serbian border.

Man: I went into stealth mode.

Single ship, not talking, radio silent,

Not emitting the transponder,

Completely alone and isolated.

Narrator: With stealth as his only defense,

Zelko gives it gas and flies straight towards a maze

Of serbian air defenses.

Man: It was almost a full moon night,

So there was that huge threat of can they visually see me?

That was always on our minds anytime

We had moon illumination.

Narrator: Zelko quickly reaches

The serbian command center unopposed.

♪

Moments later, he deploys his bombs.

(bomb exploding)

Man: Once I confirmed visually, on my sensor display

That I successfully struck the target,

My mind shifted to now

I needed to make my way back

To aviano air base safely.

Narrator: Zelko's stealth has worked so far,

But maybe not for much longer.

Man: I knew that the most heavily defended part

Of the airspace was still ahead of me.

Narrator: His route home takes him through a maze

Of serbian radar-guided sa-2, sa-3

And anti-aircraft artillery sites.

Less than two minutes later, zelko's worst fear is realized.

Man: I was looking outside the cockpit,

And that's when I saw them.

Two missiles punch through this really low deck of clouds,

And I thought, they got me.

(signal beeping) ♪

(plane roaring)

Narrator: March 1999,

F-117 pilot lieutenant colonel dale zelko

Is deep in serbian airspace.

Two radar-guided sa-3 missiles are headed straight for him.

Man: As the missiles were coming at me,

I was still holding out with that shred of hope.

♪

Narrator: Seconds later, one of the sa-3s

Flies directly over zelko's cockpit

Narrowly missing his jet.

But zelko isn't out of the water yet.

Another missile is barreling towards him.

Man: I thought, man, that's gonna run right into me,

And sure enough...

(missile exploding)

Just was a really, really, really good shot.

♪

Woman: The stealth fighter came down

Near the serbian capital belgrade.

Its pilot rescued by a special team

And taken out of the country.

Man: It was an absolute miracle that I survived the shoot down.

And reflecting on that today

I couldn't feel more grateful

And I couldn't feel more blessed to just be alive.

♪ (crowd chattering)

Narrator: It's a wake up call for the air force.

Their fighter is stealthy, but not invisible.

Man: It turned out that stealth technology alone

Is not the magic answer.

♪

Woman: The f-117 had done a tremendous job yet again,

But it was time to move on to a more advanced form

Of stealth for future air combat

Against more advanced enemy air defenses.

What we need now is the f-22.

(plane roaring) ♪

Narrator: 2004, langley air force base, virginia.

The f-22 is finally ready to go.

Woman: It achieves what they call

Initial operational capability.

That means the f-22 is ready to go to war

Should commanders request it.

Narrator: Each raptor costs approximately $143 million.

By 2008, the air force is short on cash

And deactivates the f-117.

♪

Man: The f-22 could now drop munitions and hit the ground,

But it also could do the dogfighting.

It could do the air-to-air mission.

And, the f-117 never had a radar, and the f-22

Does have a radar, and it can see very, very far.

Woman: So other fighters rely on the f-22 to detect enemies

In the battle space, to chase them down, and to broadcast

That big picture about what's going on in the air battle

Back to our friendly forces.

Man: But in addition, it can get very, very close

Because it's stealthy, and the enemy cannot see it.

Narrator: The f-22 raptor is so capable

The air force trusts it with it's most important duty,

Defending the homeland.

♪

2011, elmendorf air force base, alaska.

F-22 raptors are on alert,

Ready to respond to any air threat

To america's northwest border.

Man: In alaska every day at any hour we've got jets

Ready to go, protect the coast line up there.

Major chris burn served as an f-22 pilot in alaska.

Man: With the increasing terrorist threat these days,

You don't really know when you're gonna need

That type of fighter.

♪

Narrator: Their mission, to stop foreign aircraft

From sneaking into the us.

Man: Even if they send the best fighters

They won't be able to detect the raptor.

The raptor will be able to detect them.

Game over.

♪

Narrator: In June, alaskan north america

Air defense ground control receives a ping on their radar.

(operators chattering)

At least one russian bomber approaches us airspace.

Man: We had indications that it was a tu-95.

We didn't necessarily know how many

And we didn't necessarily know if there was gonna be

Any other platforms embedded with the bomber.

Narrator: The tu-95 is one of russia's

Most ferocious bombers designed to drop nuclear bombs

And other deadly loads.

Us ground control isn't certain of moscow's intentions

And with us-russian relations in decline,

The air force can't be too careful,

Especially when a bomber's involved.

♪

Man: Their long-range bombers have the capability

To get to points along our coast to release weapons,

To strike our cities.

Narrator: Major burn suits up and prepares for take-off.

The russians are a dangerous adversary.

Burn knows this encounter could lead to all-out war.

Man: It was kind of surreal.

This could turn bad really quickly.

We're loaded with live ordinance, we're not sure

If they're loaded with live ordinance,

We don't know what their intentions are.

♪ (plane roaring)

Narrator: 60 minutes later, burn catches

The russian bombers.

He and his wingman are reluctant to get close.

(radio operators chattering)

But ground control needs to record

The bombers' tail numbers.

They task burn and his wingman to find them out.

♪

Under the cover of stealth, burn and his wingman

Maneuver closer to get a better look.

Man: When I flew underneath the tu-95,

That was the first time that reality set in.

This could be a dangerous situation.

♪

Narrator: Burn approaches the first bomber,

Unsure if his raptor appears on their radar.

In a moment things could turn for the worse.

Man: Flying next to a foreign aircraft,

Not talking to that foreign aircraft,

Being loaded with live weapons, not knowing the intent

Of that foreign aircraft is a recipe

That could lead to disaster.

Narrator: June 2011, high above the alaskan coastline,

F-22 pilot major chris burn and his wingman

Sneak up on two russian bombers.

The russians can't see the f-22s right under their tails.

Man: Them not knowing where you are

And you just showing up on their wing,

There's a little bit of job satisfaction there,

But there's also the reality of this could escalate quickly

If things went downhill.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: Burn and his wingman continue to shadow

And radio the bombers' tail numbers down to ground control.

Man: We got the tail number and then we moved back

To a standoff position to shadow and monitor.

We manned that location for a little bit longer

And about 30 minutes later, the russians proceeded home.

♪

Narrator: The f-22s are so stealthy

That the russians might not have known they were ever there.

Man: We never knew what their intent was,

In fact, I don't think we'll ever know

What their intent was, but the important thing is

That we were there.

We were in a position to engage if they decided

To display any type of aggression.

Narrator: It's a job well done for the stealthy f-22

And a display of strength to america's adversaries.

Woman: With an f-22 in the airspace,

There is no sneaking around because the f-22

Has the stealthiness and the radar to be able to detect

The movement of any enemy aircraft in a huge battle space.

(plane roaring)

Narrator: It's clear the f-22 dominates the skies,

But its power comes at a cost.

Since 2008, over 25 raptor pilots have experienced

Oxygen loss mid-flight, occasionally blacking out.

Woman: In the end it was terrible publicity

For the stealth aircraft.

No one wanted to hear about pilots blacking out

Or having problems caused by their airplane.

♪

Narrator: By 2012, the air force discovers the culprit.

An oxygen valve on the pressure vests

Raptor pilots wear when flying.

The problem requires total replacement

Of every valve costing taxpayers millions.

But the pressure vests are not the only piece

Of the raptor that requires a safety check.

(radio operators chattering)

At langley air force base, each pratt and whitney

F-119 engine is removed from the raptor

And tested for potential malfunctions.

Air force mechanics from the first fighter squadron

Run the engines in a soundproof exhaust facility

Called a hush house.

The air force works to certify the engine's longevity

Through a series of rigorous tests making sure

There are no leaks, mechanical faults

Or other performance malfunctions.

It's a necessary process to ensure the f-22s

Can still fly long into the future, but it's a costly one.

That's more money for a program the pentagon

Has already spent more than $67 billion on.

On may 2nd, 2012, the last f-22 rolls off

The production line.

Woman: The production line is closed, and right now

The air force has no plans to replace the f-22

Because it's still at the very leading edge

Of fighter technology.

♪

Narrator: But the f-22 isn't the only stealth plane

Of the future.

The air force's newest fighter can also deceive radar.

Man: The f-35 is one of the latest pieces

Of stealth integration.

It has this stealth capability, but it also has

These enhanced sensor suites that allow it to sniff out

Different information and then passing that on

To be examined by intelligence people.

Narrator: Meaning the f-35 is both a stealthy fighter

And a reconnaissance platform.

Stealth is no longer exclusive to america.

Both russia and china are developing

Their own stealth fighters and more countries

Will likely follow.

Woman: The air force knows that stealth is the future

Of air combat.

To dominate in air combat, the air force will have to have

Stealth fighters on the line defending and deterring

Against any threats that might arise.

Narrator: First across enemy lines, stealth fighters

Are the air force's hidden heroes.

(bomb exploding)

Man: If you have the element of surprise,

You're pretty much guaranteed to win the war.

Narrator: Whether it's hiding from early radar

Or the latest tech, mankind's quest

For an invisible plane remains.

Man: I think it'll be requirement forever.

I don't think we are ever gonna have

Non-stealthy aircraft again.

Woman: Because with our stealth aircraft

We can dominate anything

That an adversary puts up against us.

Narrator: In tomorrow's wars, whomever remains hidden,

Gains the advantage.

And as new threats rise, the united states

Will continue to rely on the stealth fighter.

(plane roaring)