New Radar Techniques Could Foil Advanced Stealth Designs

A recent report by the US Naval Institute (USNI) states that new techniques in low-frequency radar observation are foiling state of the art stealth technologies.

According to the USNI the Chinese and Russian militaries have been experimenting with the use of low-frequency radars as a way to locate advanced stealth jets like the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II.

Central to this new technique is how today’s stealth systems are tuned. Because high-frequency radars can give the most accurate tracking and targeting resolution most ground and marine radar stations are equipped with Ku, X, C and S band systems. To counter these systems stealth geometries and coatings have been developed to deflect or absorb the radar waves in a manner that makes them invisible.  While that technique conceals the planes from missile strikes, however, it can’t stop the planes from being detected by longer, lower frequency radar bands.

But here’s the catch. Though L, VHF and UHF bands can identify and track a 5^th generation fighter, they don’t have the resolution to target an F-22 or 35.

So what’s a wartime radar operator to do? Use both high and low frequency radars simultaneously.

In the words of one anonymous US Navy official, “The lower frequency radars can cue the higher frequency radars and now you’re going to get wacked.” Increasingly, those concerned with facing off against advanced stealth jets are looking to couple both low and high frequency radars into a signal platform. Armed with increasingly more sophisticated computers, low frequency radars are ever more capable of tracking craft that are tuned for high-frequency escape. With a low frequency bead placed on a target, high frequency radar can use that information to plot a mock position on a fast-mover and accurately engage an enemy with lethal force.

With the prospect of having one of the most expensive and advanced jets on the planet mothballed due to clever technical finagling, the US military is already looking to supplement its fighter groups with Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft. Whether a new hardware solution will solve the US military’s radar issues is still up for debate. One thing’s for sure, though, there really is no end to how clever people can be when it comes to engineering technological work-arounds.

Source: USNI