Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Then why are the Chinese, Russians, American's and Europeon aeronautical defense companies throwing their lot into stealth.
Radar theory really doesn't change that much.
Admittedly the F-35 has what's called a stealth radar tracking system which puts out lower background type energy that makes it undetectable, but that doesn't mean that it can effectively pick up stealth actively.
As of right now and you can look at any journal in the world that discusses air doctrine and stealth there isn't a counter that can overcome the air frame reflective irregularities and the RAM materials to get a solid return off of a properly built stealth aircraft.
The Russian's biggest fear isn't ICBM's its deep penetration bombers with stealth technology.
Intercepting ICBM's is a matter of math and computing power.
Defeating Stealth is a whole other thing.
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Asking why defense contractors are throwing their weight into one particular technology is a fairly simple answer - because it'll sell today, nevermind how useful it will be tomorrow.
I'd wager that 30-40 years from now, which fits within the lifespan of airframes coming onstream now (ie. the F-35), we won't be detecting airborne objects with classical radar - we'll identify them via some kind of application of quantum mechanics. Lockheed, among others, is already working on technology in this field.
Regardless, it's way off field of this conversation - stealth clearly has applications today against current detection systems, I completely agree with you. And you know tons more than me
