Stealth Technology – All You Need To Know

Hello aspirants,

I am back with another interesting topic for all the defence aspirants and, i.e. Stealth Technology. We all somewhat have a rough idea about the term but mind you, friends, you are about to appear for an SSB and there its either you know the answer, or you don’t they don’t play by the middle ground. In this article, we will understand all about the technology in details.

So let's begin

1. What is “Stealth Technology”?

• The term is made up of two words where stealth means to do any action or movement without any notice or cautiously and the other word is technology which is used to attain that secrecy.
• Stealth technology is also termed as Low observable technology (LO technology) and is a part of military tactics and electronics countermeasures.
• It covers a range of techniques used to make personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, missiles, satellites and ground vehicles less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods.

2. What is the need for this technology?

• With the advancement in electronic technology like the modernisation of RADAR and other detection systems, it becomes nearly impossible to fly into enemy territory. There comes the need for stealth technology.
• It corresponds to military camouflage for these parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• It is a combination of technologies that attempt to reduce significantly the distances at which a person or vehicle can be detected; in particular radar cross section reductions, but also acoustic, thermal, and other aspects.
   

3. What are the aspects taken care of in this technology?

• SHAPE OF THE VEHICLE-

• First talking about the stealth aircrafts Emphasis is given on the form of the aircraft to make it less visible.
• Another essential factor is internal construction. Some stealth aircraft have skin that is radar transparent or absorbing, behind which are structures termed re-entrant triangles.
• Radar waves penetrating the skin get trapped in these structures, reflecting off the internal faces and losing energy.
• A stealthy shape must be devoid of involved bumps or any opening of any kind, meaning that weapons, fuel tanks, and other stores must not be carried externally. Any stealthy vehicle becomes un-stealthy when a door or hatch opens.
• Parallel alignment of edges or even surfaces is also often used in stealth designs. The technique involves using a small number of edge orientations in the shape of the structure.
• This parallel arrangement generates glitters when detected on the radar which is difficult for the radar operator to distinguish between a glittering event and a digital glitch in the processing system.
• Coating the cockpit canopy with a thin film transparent conductor helps to reduce the aircraft's radar profile because radar wave cannot enter the cockpit.
• Ships use similar technology to become stealth.

• MATERIAL USED

• Dielectric composites are used to make the jets as it is more transparent compared to the metals.
• Radar-absorbent material (RAM), often as paints, are used primarily on the edges of metal surfaces. It absorbs radiated energy from a ground or air based radar station into the coating and converts it to heat rather than reflect it.
• A commonly used material is known as "Iron Ball Paint‟ it contains microscopic iron spheres that resonate in tune with incoming radio waves and dissipate the majority of their energy as heat, leaving little to bounce back to detectors.
• Some of the world’s best stealth jets are-
• F-117 Nighthawk
• B-2 Spirit
• F-22 Raptor
• F-35 Lightning II
• J-20
• Su-57
• The HAL Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is an Indian programme to develop a fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
• Stealth ships are-
• Independence-class littoral combat ship
• La Fayette-class frigate
• Skjold-class corvette
• Tuo Chiang-class Stealth Corvette
• Type 055 destroyer
• Zumwalt-class destroyer

I hope you all enjoyed reading the post.

Share with your friends and stay connected to DDE for more content..

JAI HIND