Editing Lockheed Have Blue (section)

=== Origins ===
The Lockheed ''Have Blue'' was born out of a requirement to evade radar detection. During the [[Vietnam War]], radar-guided SAMs and AAA posed a significant threat to US aircraft. For this reason, strike aircraft during the war often required support aircraft to perform combat air patrols and [[suppression of enemy air defenses]] (SEAD).<ref name=Crickmore_p9>Crickmore 2003, p.&nbsp;9.</ref> The 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]] again highlighted the vulnerability of aircraft to SAMs – the [[Israeli Air Force]] lost 109 aircraft in 18 days.<ref name=Crickmore_p9/> During the [[Cold War]], the [[Soviet Union]] developed an integrated defense network, central to which were medium- to long-range surveillance radars. SAMs and AAAs would be set up around key locations to defend them from incoming enemy aircraft.<ref name=Crickmore_p9/> If the loss ratio of Israel during the Yom Kippur War was experienced by NATO forces during a military confrontation with the [[Warsaw Pact]], NATO aircraft numbers would be depleted within two weeks.<ref name=Crickmore_p9/>

In 1974, DARPA secretly requested answers from five aircraft manufacturers regarding two considerations. The first was about the signature thresholds at which an aircraft is virtually undetectable. The second point was whether these companies had the capability to design and manufacture such an aircraft.<ref name=Crickmore_p9/> [[Fairchild Aircraft|Fairchild]] and [[Grumman]] declined to participate, while [[General Dynamics]] insisted on the use of [[electronic countermeasures]]. As a result, General Dynamics left the discussion. The remaining two companies, [[McDonnell Douglas]] and [[Northrop Corporation|Northrop]], were each awarded $100,000 for further research.<ref>Jenkins 1999, p.&nbsp;15.</ref>