BLUF
Stealth is the capability to reduce detectability by radar. It’s a key and costly part of military aircraft design and can provide a significant advantage to a strike aircraft.Summary
Kyle Mizokami writing in Popular Mechanics, makes the following points:
- All parts of an aircraft, including rivets, gaps and air intakes, are analysed for their radar cross-section.
- Stealth can lead to unusual aircraft, i.e. the F-117A Nighthawk and the B-2 Spirit.
- A 1960’s Soviet physicist developed a model for predicting how radar waves scattered after hitting 2D and 3D surfaces.
- Lockheed utilised this research, which is the basis for current technology.
- Like other military technology, stealth is in a perpetual arms race of measure and countermeasure.
References
Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:
References from the Web:
- FEB 2023 Here Are The 12 New Stealth Aircraft Currently Heading Toward Service-Sandboxx
- FEB 2023 China’s new stealth drone may revolutionize next-gen fighter-Asia Times
