How are Stealth Airplanes Made Stealthy?

Stealth aircraft is the research of bionics, and the latest technology and materials have been applied, and finally stealth has been achieved on huge aircraft. The purpose of stealth aircraft is to make it impossible for radar to detect the presence of the aircraft. Stealth aircraft can minimize or eliminate useful signals received by radar at this stage. Although it is one of the most secret military secrets, stealth technology has received great attention from the world. ^[1]

The stealth aircraft is to reduce the signal characteristics of the aircraft by using a variety of stealth technologies, making it difficult for enemy radars to find, identify, track, and attack to achieve the purpose of anti-radar, anti-infrared, anti-electronic, and anti-sonic detection, thereby achieving stealth effects. aircraft. The reason why stealth aircraft can be invisible is mainly the comprehensive use of stealth shape technology and stealth material technology.

The first generation of stealth aircraft was born in the United States, represented by the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter bomber. In 1983, after the F-117A entered service, it demonstrated its capabilities in the 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama and the 1991 Gulf War, and repeatedly performed military feats, which attracted widespread attention from the military forces around the world. The second-generation stealth aircraft has further improved stealth measures, and its "stealth" ability has been greatly enhanced, and its flight performance has also been greatly improved. The second-generation stealth aircraft currently serving in the United States Army include B-2, YF-23A, A-12 and other aircraft. These aircraft also played an important role in the Kosovo and Iraq wars. Now, scientists from various countries are working on the third generation of stealth aircraft-unmanned stealth aircraft.

Stealth aircraft belongs to high-tech weapons, has a long development cycle, complicated production processes, and is extremely expensive. The F-117A cost $ 45 million, and the B-2 stealth strategic bomber cost more than $ 7 billion. ^[2]

The two most important technologies for stealth aircraft are shape and material.

Stealth aircraft developed from the earliest American TR-1 aircraft in the 1960s to the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, F-22 advanced tactical fighter and A-12 Avengers The constant battle between stealth and anti-stealth of warship-based stealth attack aircraft will further optimize the structural design and performance of future aircraft.

The Su-37 in the anti-stealth aircraft is an improved version of the Su-27 and is a super-mobile fighter with a vector thruster. The Su-37 test machine (internal number T10M-11) was developed from the Su-35 prototype. With a powerful radar scanning system, it is said that stealth aircraft can be found.

Finding an airplane with radar is a bit like looking for someone with a flashlight in the dark. If this person wants to not be found, there are three methods: first, wear clothes with poor ability to reflect light waves, such as rough black cloth clothes; second, make the body transparent; third, he can hide behind Behind a large mirror at an angle to the ground, the mirror reflects the light from the flashlight to the "sky", and the person holding the flashlight cannot see it.

There are three main methods for aircraft to avoid radar detection. The first is to coat the surface of the aircraft with materials that reflect less radar waves. Second, "wave-transmitting materials" can be used, that is, materials that are "transparent" to radar waves. However, aircraft engines and electronic equipment cannot be made of wave-transmitting materials, so wave-transmitting materials can only be used in individual parts on stealth aircraft. The third method is to hide

Outside the United States, other countries are also developing their own stealth combat aircraft. Although there are many types of these aircraft, they are either slightly invisible or remain in the development stage.

Stealth aircraft europe

In Europe, the European fighter Typhoon jointly developed by Germany, Italy, and other countries, the Rafale fighter developed by France, and the J-10B developed by China are considered to be representatives of three and a half generations of aircraft, but they were not included in the fourth generation. Because it contains invisible considerations in the design, but it is limited to cost, technology and other reasons, but it does not achieve true "ultra-low detectability" performance.

Stealth aircraft Russia

In Russia, although the Su-27 and its subsequent families have continued to make new modifications, the every change is inseparable, and its basic design has not changed. The former Soviet Union also had MiG 37 stealth fighters. MiG 1.44 stealth fighters. Su-47 stealth fighters. The situation in Russia in previous years also prevented it from actually launching the development of four-generation aircraft. According to the new plan of the Russian Air Force,

China single-engine fifth-generation stealth aircraft renderings

Equipped with Su-35 fighter jets in one year (its essence is also a modification of Su-27). Russia displayed its latest fifth-generation fighter T-50 at a high profile, but its implementation progress makes people feel far in the future. Judging from the status quo of its military industry, it has been severely hit in the past decade. Although the surge in energy prices in recent years has provided Russia with ample funds, such funds have not had time to penetrate into its manufacturing base through industrial production orders. The shortage of technicians and aging equipment are still serious. It should be said that for a long time, the Russian army will not be equipped or even started to develop a fighter with full stealth performance.

Stealth aircraft japan

In Japan, the Ministry of Defense is developing its own Mind fighter. From the technical level, if the aircraft is successfully developed, it will be able to be included in the category of fourth-generation aircraft. However, Japan still has a long way to go to resolve technical bottlenecks such as engines, radars, airborne weapons and flight control software.

In addition, some small and medium-sized countries are also developing their own "stealth aircraft", but they are more used for training, reconnaissance and other auxiliary purposes.

It is worth mentioning that although the stealth of some combat aircraft is difficult to achieve, in the emerging UAV field, stealth has become a trend. Since the drone does not have to have a pilot cockpit, and there is no need to worry about casualties, it is easier to implement the concept of stealth in the design. This is also an important branch of stealth aircraft.

In general, although the trend of stealth aircraft is very conspicuous, there are still only a few of true stealth aircraft and even "quasi-stealth aircraft", and their "owner" is still dominated by the United States.

Stealth aircraft China

The quasi-fourth generation fighter J-20 developed by China has been highly concerned since the day of its first test flight. Its performance is considered close to the F22 strong T-50 and the ammunition load exceeds both. From the pictures of the J-20, a single-seat, double-engine, double-tailed, and duck-type aerodynamic layout with side strips is used. It can be seen from the picture that the aircraft belongs to a double-engine heavy fighter. The nose and fuselage are diamond-shaped, and the vertical tail is also inclined outward. The landing gear door is designed with zigzag edges, which has the characteristics of a stealth fighter.

In terms of stealth, the J-20 generally adopts a stealth design. At the same time, the existence of duck wings and ventral fins has adversely affected the stealth performance. The front RCS value (that is, the radar reflection cross-section area and the aircraft's effective reflection area on radar waves) should be greater than F22 .

At 10:32 am on October 31, 2012, the AMF four-generation fighter (J-31) developed by AVIC Shen Fei successfully made its first flight. China has become the second country in the world to test two prototypes of four generations of aircraft at the same time. Before that, only the United States had developed both F-22 and F-35. ^[5]