Dear all,
Somethings never change and some people are still at it,
a quote from
http://www.network54.com/Forum/21183...ritain+and+Ger
follows
"The United States keeps a close eye on stealth activity the world over. Washington is determined to maintain its lead in the field and is not afraid, on occasion, to jeopardize its relationship with key allies to ensure that it does. The Luftwaffe's Medium Range Missile Fighter or Lampyridae (Firefly) program, was terminated, according to German sources, soon after the appearance of a fact-finding party of US military officers to the MBB plant where work on the project was coming together.
Lampyridae is proof that Europe does have the ability to prototype in complete secrecy. Begun in 1981 and revealed only last year, Lampyridae progressed as far as wind-tunnel tests of a manned three-quarter scale model before the German government canceled the program in 1987. Though there is no evidence tying the US to that decision, German sources say the US Air Force was amazed -- and not a little rattled -- to discover that Lampyridae utilized the same radar-scattering "faceting" technique employed by the then top-secret F-117 Stealth Fighter. Unlike the F-117, Lampyridae was designed to go supersonic. It was this aspect, some German engineers believe, that led to a concerned Reagan administration exerting pressure on Bonn to ax the program."
Further details at
http://www.f-104.de/exponates/englis...ridae_eng.html
Be lucky
David