stealth technology
5 // A full-size concept
model of the UK’s next
generation Tempest fighter
was revealed at the
Farnborough International
Airshow in July 2018
(Photo: BAE Systems)
6
44 SEPTEMBER 2019 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
capabilities. Laroussi explains,
“Plasma can absorb radar waves across a
range of frequencies. If you have a search
radar which keeps changing its
frequency, it could still fall within the
range of frequencies plasma absorbs.”
In the future, a stealth aircraft may
require electrodes to be embedded into
its fuselage which can then be switched
on to charge the skin of the aircraft. This
will cause the gas in the surrounding
atmosphere near to the aircraft to ionize
and make plasma. This coating, with the
help of an onboard computer, could
rapidly change its density to absorb any radar frequency.
“You can make the coating thicker in density as
quickly as possible to counter the radar waves. Although,
it may not be possible to use on an aircraft right now,
there’s no restriction for its use in the future providing
you have a platform that can be modified.”
It’s clear that developing and operating with stealth
is expensive. Many of the current fourth-generation of
fighters simply ignored the capabilities that it offered. It
was a risky gamble at the time that took these aircraft
from the end of the Cold War across to the skies of Iraq,
Libya and Afghanistan where the threats were minimal.
But as new threats emerge and Russia and China
become potentially more aggressive on the world stage,
stealth aircraft are high on every nation’s wish list.
Billions are being spent on air defense research and
much of it is funneled into the detection of stealth
aircraft. The emergence of competing stealth platforms
means the constant battle to stay one step ahead of
detection will always be part of combat aviation.\\
“It’s not a pure stealth
aircraft which could
ensure a mission for
tomorrow - it’s stealth
technology integrated into a fighter which allows the
fighter to be seen only at the last moment, depending on
the type of radar searching for it.
“It’s also not just about the stealth aircraft, it may well
be flying with UAVs which could get detected first. They
can then relay the information back for the fighter to
avoid a certain area.
“Stealth is just a vital as it has always been. If you are
seen much later by the enemy, you have an advantage.
But this has to be balanced along with agility and the
capability to deploy weapons quickly.”
STEALTH SHIELDING
Many sixth-generation platforms will be coated with an
“adaptive stealth shield”, according to Professor Mounir
Laroussi from the Institute Old Dominion University in
Norfolk, Virginia. He is developing a plasma shield that
uses ionized gas to reduce an aircraft’s RCS.
Studies have shown that the application of cold
plasma to an object increases its radar absorbing
2021
Anticipated first
flight of B-21 Raider
stealth bomber
6 // Dassault Aviation’s
Chairman and CEO,
Eric Trappier, at the 2019
Paris Airshow in front of a
mock-up of France’s next
generation fighter, the SCAF,
which incorporates
significant amounts of
stealth technology
(Photo: Dassault)
7 // Developing a sixth
generation stealth aircraft is
requires international
patnerships, such as the
one announced between
Sweden and the UK at the
2019 Royal International Air
Tattoo (Photo: BAE Systems)
7
5
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM