Bobby. wrote on Mar 13
th, 2021 at 4:51pm:
Brian Ross wrote on Mar 13
th, 2021 at 4:39pm:
F-35s are stealthy to radar directed at them from the head on perspective, Bobby. The radars in question were directed at them from a tail on perspective and they had their transponders switched on. Most modern ATV radars actually work via transponders, not radar energy.
Stealth works best by not reflecting back any radar
signal back to the source of the transmitter.
The F35 is very good at that however it can reflect
signals from another source at a different angle
to the observer.
That is the weakness used in this case.
The F35 has ferromagnetic paint -
basically ferrite material -
mixed with the paint to absorb radar transmissions
but it can't stop all reflections as
the
ground radar transmitters can have gigawatt pulses.
You mean they just paint them and they just disappear? Who'd have thunk it, hey, Bobby? Dulux Paint can just fix it all, right?
In reality, a great deal of effort in the "stealth" field goes into "shaping" the aircraft's design so as to not reflect the radar signal. If you look at the early efforts as stealth, you see angular, straight edges. As the theory and practice developed (and the computer power increased) more curved shapes predominate. Stealthy coatings decrease and the reliance is more on the shape. Interestingly, they still have difficulties "fixing" the fuselage shape. Seems there is usually a "gap" in the design, which follows the fuselage...
Do you know where stealth was developed, Bobby?
I expect not. Do you know who first theorized the idea? I suspect not. It was Pyotr Ufimtsev - a Russian. Who applied the first stealthy coating? The British, on a Canberra bomber in the mid-1960s. Funny that, hey? Tsk, tsk.