Posts
5:15 PM
Arvind T.M.
" Stealth " has been probably the most repeated word in military aviation for the past few years. Now comes the basic question that many have - what is it and how does such an aircraft work?
Stealth is just the ability of an object to prevent itself from being detected by a radar. A radar basically sends out radio waves into the sky ,which then bounces off the bodies of aircraft and returns , to be detected by the radar computer.
Now, the amount of radar rays "reflected" by an aircraft is called its "Radar Signature ", which is used to calculate its size,speed and the location.
To be undetected, an aircraft must fly either too high ( which makes it impossible to hit targets on ground accurately) , or too low to be detected by a radar ( no need of radars, it becomes visible to naked eye :-) ).
This leaves with only one option- to fly normally and stop reflecting radio waves.
Easier said than done isn`t it? But yes, there are ways :-
1) Using a RAM ( No, not your computer RAM) which is, the Radar Absorbent Material. This is a coating on the airplane surface which precisely does the same thing- absorb radio waves,and scatter `em in all directions undetectable by the radar. Eg. wood powder and other chemical compounds, which are kept top secret, for obvious reasons.
2)Having a sleek, smooth aerodynamic design. This reduces the "cross section area"of the plane.lesser the area, lesser the radio wave reflection. Common sense , isn't it? Have a look at the pictures below:
Due to these, the Radar Signature for stealth planes is very very less... almost like that of a bird ( for the B-2 Stealth bomber shown above) compared to the traditional plane ( the B-52 bomber) whose signature is about that of a huge trailer truck !
Now you may get an idea of how difficult it would be to deal with stealth fighters/bombers in an actual battle scenario.. no wonder countries around the world are scrambling to get hold of these beauties- The B2 Spirit,F-22 Raptor,F-35 Lightening II , and many more under development in labs around the world.No Radar could possibly see it, and the hideous birds can play havoc in enemy territory. Boom !Boom!Boom!
It would be pretty much like finding a needle in a haystack.
So..... A stealth plane could be a road to total aerial dominance right?Not quite.. Technology always evolves, and it does so in this case too.
As they say, every great warrior has his Achilles`s heel :-)
More on that in my next post.
Stealth is just the ability of an object to prevent itself from being detected by a radar. A radar basically sends out radio waves into the sky ,which then bounces off the bodies of aircraft and returns , to be detected by the radar computer.
Now, the amount of radar rays "reflected" by an aircraft is called its "Radar Signature ", which is used to calculate its size,speed and the location.
To be undetected, an aircraft must fly either too high ( which makes it impossible to hit targets on ground accurately) , or too low to be detected by a radar ( no need of radars, it becomes visible to naked eye :-) ).
This leaves with only one option- to fly normally and stop reflecting radio waves.
Easier said than done isn`t it? But yes, there are ways :-
1) Using a RAM ( No, not your computer RAM) which is, the Radar Absorbent Material. This is a coating on the airplane surface which precisely does the same thing- absorb radio waves,and scatter `em in all directions undetectable by the radar. Eg. wood powder and other chemical compounds, which are kept top secret, for obvious reasons.
2)Having a sleek, smooth aerodynamic design. This reduces the "cross section area"of the plane.lesser the area, lesser the radio wave reflection. Common sense , isn't it? Have a look at the pictures below:
 |
| A Stealth Aircraft |
 |
| A traditional large Aircraft |
Due to these, the Radar Signature for stealth planes is very very less... almost like that of a bird ( for the B-2 Stealth bomber shown above) compared to the traditional plane ( the B-52 bomber) whose signature is about that of a huge trailer truck !
Now you may get an idea of how difficult it would be to deal with stealth fighters/bombers in an actual battle scenario.. no wonder countries around the world are scrambling to get hold of these beauties- The B2 Spirit,F-22 Raptor,F-35 Lightening II , and many more under development in labs around the world.No Radar could possibly see it, and the hideous birds can play havoc in enemy territory. Boom !Boom!Boom!
It would be pretty much like finding a needle in a haystack.
So..... A stealth plane could be a road to total aerial dominance right?Not quite.. Technology always evolves, and it does so in this case too.
As they say, every great warrior has his Achilles`s heel :-)
More on that in my next post.
