BTW, really, what this thing for? I mean, this spiralish thing (if I've spelled it correctly)
I guessed that the 'dish' is a radar... But why on the earth they needed this black spiral on it?))) I don't believe that USAF technicians have such vision problems, that they need a huge black spiral to find a dish, placed on the airplane...
It is the aerodynamic housing that houses the radar dish. A large beam antenna is mounted inside the dish. By rotating the dish, the single beam antenna will cover 360 degrees.
The spiral is just for decoration. US Navy crew love decorating their aircraft like this. It also gives a cool effect when flying, and distinguishes the plane from that of other squadrons/carriers. BTW, this particular plane belongs to VAW-123 Screwdogs, currently deployed on the last cruise with the USS Enterprise. They also supported the Gulf of Sidra intervention, and operation Desert Storm.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2011, 06:30:37 am by Virgin Serbia »

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