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Invisibility cloaks: China claims it is making its old combat jets stealthy
CHINA claims it has has given its older fighter jets “invisibility cloaks”, making them more effective on the modern battlefield, in a sly shot at Donald Trump.
Jamie Seidel
News Corp Australia NetworkAPRIL 25, 201810:44AM
INVISIBILITY cloaks?
It’s a clever piece of political propaganda aimed at US President Donald Trump who has repeatedly professed his belief that his new F-35 strike fighters are ‘invisible’.
The South China Morning Post says China is testing stealth ‘invisibility cloaks’ on its older fighter jets.
But it’s nothing like that found in the Harry Potter novels and movies.
Nor the see-through jet of the old Wonder Woman cartoons.
Instead, it’s a new membrane coating capable of capturing radar waves, and bending them away in harmless directions. It reportedly works by using metamaterials combining plastics and metals in microscopic structures along the lines of integrated circuits.
It’s hoped the coating will extend the life and combat relevance of China’s existing fleet of 1500 combat aircraft. So far, it has only built about 20 of its new J-20 stealth fighters.
It’s impact, however, is likely to be limited.
Stealth is about much more than the skin applied to an aircraft.
Components such as exposed engine fans and exhaust nacelles make for most of an aircraft’s radar reflectivity, as does the amount of exposed surface its aerodynamic design produces.
EXPLORE MORE: What we know about China’s new stealth fighter
While applying radar-absorbing coating to the wings and cowlings may reduce their observability, this is only a fraction of the considerations necessary for the success of aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
And it could come with its own problems.
Such advanced materials are likely to be delicate and difficult to mass produce at suitable quality levels. They may react to extremes of heat, cold or operational shocks.
The types of radar they are effective against is also likely to be limited.
DELVE DEEPER: The US vision of future air combat
The Post says the metamaterial coating has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Millimetre Waves in Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. It’s undergone testing on aircraft that are likely to include Chinese-built J-11 and J-15 fighter types.
A unit led by Professor Cui Tiejun claims to have developed the world’s first programmable metamaterials that change their physical properties in response to electric currents.
This can reportedly change what an opposing radar “sees” (such as a plastic object, instead of metal). It is also said to be capable of simply blanking out any radar returns.
“This is the beginning. More [applications] are on the way,” the Post reports a researcher as saying.
http://www.news.com.au/military/inv...y/news-story/4b661f44065627078b77d17e3efe50d9
CHINA claims it has has given its older fighter jets “invisibility cloaks”, making them more effective on the modern battlefield, in a sly shot at Donald Trump.
Jamie Seidel
News Corp Australia NetworkAPRIL 25, 201810:44AM
INVISIBILITY cloaks?
It’s a clever piece of political propaganda aimed at US President Donald Trump who has repeatedly professed his belief that his new F-35 strike fighters are ‘invisible’.
The South China Morning Post says China is testing stealth ‘invisibility cloaks’ on its older fighter jets.
But it’s nothing like that found in the Harry Potter novels and movies.
Nor the see-through jet of the old Wonder Woman cartoons.
Instead, it’s a new membrane coating capable of capturing radar waves, and bending them away in harmless directions. It reportedly works by using metamaterials combining plastics and metals in microscopic structures along the lines of integrated circuits.
It’s hoped the coating will extend the life and combat relevance of China’s existing fleet of 1500 combat aircraft. So far, it has only built about 20 of its new J-20 stealth fighters.
It’s impact, however, is likely to be limited.
Stealth is about much more than the skin applied to an aircraft.
Components such as exposed engine fans and exhaust nacelles make for most of an aircraft’s radar reflectivity, as does the amount of exposed surface its aerodynamic design produces.
EXPLORE MORE: What we know about China’s new stealth fighter
While applying radar-absorbing coating to the wings and cowlings may reduce their observability, this is only a fraction of the considerations necessary for the success of aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
And it could come with its own problems.
Such advanced materials are likely to be delicate and difficult to mass produce at suitable quality levels. They may react to extremes of heat, cold or operational shocks.
The types of radar they are effective against is also likely to be limited.
DELVE DEEPER: The US vision of future air combat
The Post says the metamaterial coating has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Millimetre Waves in Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. It’s undergone testing on aircraft that are likely to include Chinese-built J-11 and J-15 fighter types.
A unit led by Professor Cui Tiejun claims to have developed the world’s first programmable metamaterials that change their physical properties in response to electric currents.
This can reportedly change what an opposing radar “sees” (such as a plastic object, instead of metal). It is also said to be capable of simply blanking out any radar returns.
“This is the beginning. More [applications] are on the way,” the Post reports a researcher as saying.
http://www.news.com.au/military/inv...y/news-story/4b661f44065627078b77d17e3efe50d9
