STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

CONTENTS:
1. History - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -01 2. Introduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 02 3. About radar - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03 4. Stealth principles- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 05
4.1 Vehicle shape - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 05 4.2 Propulsion sub-system - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -05 4.3 Non-metallic air frame - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -05 4.4 Radar absorbing material - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 06

5. Case study: F-117 Nighthawk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -07

5.1 F-117 Nighthawk specs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -07 5.2 Dimensions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -08 5.3 Stealth implementation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -08 5.4 Nighthawk engagement profile - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 5.5 Retirement - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11

6. Advantages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13 7. Limitations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -14

7.1 Instability of design - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14 7.2 Reduced payload - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14 7.3 Cost of operation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -14

8. Measuring stealth - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16 9. Conclusion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17 10.Reference - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 1 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

HISTORY
Almost since the invention of radar, various techniques have been tried to minimize detection. Rapid development of radar during World War II led to equally rapid development of numerous counter radar measures during the period; a notable example of this was the use of chaff. In the late 1950's the American, Central Intelligence Academy (CIA) began sending Lockheed U-2 'spy-planes' over the Soviet Union to take intelligence photographs. The U-2's were little more than jet-powered gliders built of plastic and plywood flew at 80,000ft (24,000m) to be out of range of anti-aircraft fire, but it then became clear that radar was not detecting them. It was not until May 1960, after more than four years of over-flights, that the Russians shot one down using new radar equipment belonging to SA-2, surface-to-air missiles and even then the U-2 did not receive a direct hit. The success of the U-2s led to highly classified research work in the US, known as 'Stealth', to create a military aircraft that was invisible to radar. The U-2 had gone undetected for so long because it was made of non-metallic materials which absorbed radar waves rather than reflecting them back to the radar ground station, as normally happens. The Stealth program aimed at designing high-performance military aircraft incorporating, among other features, a minimum of metal and with the exterior clad in highly absorbent tiles. The aircraft would be almost invisible to radar and could make most radar-controlled antiaircraft systems obsolete. After being developed under a blanket of secrecy, the high-tech B-2 Stealth bomber was unveiled at the Northrop Companys manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, in November 1988. An audience of invited journalists and guests was kept well away from the plane, which was designed to slip through enemy radar defenses without being detected and the drop up to 16 nuclear bombs on key targets. Modern submarines are coated in a thick layer of a top-secret resin which is highly absorbent acoustically, and reflects only a minute amount of the energy transmitted by sonar detectors. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 2 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
STEALTH, as seen in dictionaries is the act of moving, proceeding, or acting in a covert way. Stealth technology (also known as LOT, Low Observability Technology) is a subdiscipline of electronic countermeasures which covers a range of techniques used with aircraft, ships, submarines and missiles, in order to make them less visible (ideally invisible) to radar, infrared and other detection methods. A mission system employing stealth may well become detected at some point. With in a given mission, such as when the target is destroyed, but current use of stealth systems should seek to minimize the possibility of detection. Attacking with surprise gives the attacker more time to perform is mission and exit before the defending force can counter-attack. If a surface-to-air missile battery defending the target observes a bomb falling a summarizes that there must be a stealth aircraft in the vicinity, for example, it is still unable to respond if it cannot get a look on the aircraft in order to feed guidance information to its missiles. Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging. In infrared (IR) detection method, the IR signature of exhaust plume is the prime contributor. Stealth is not a single technology but is a combination of technologies that attempt to greatly reduce the distances at which a vehicle can be detected in particular reducing the Radar Cross Section (RCS).

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 3 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

3. ABOUT RADARS
Radar is an object-detection system which uses electromagnetic waves specifically radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish, or antenna, transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves which bounce off any object in their path. The object returns a tiny part of the wave's energy to a dish or antenna which is usually located at the same site as the transmitter.

3.1 Principles of radar

It mainly works on the two principles: 1. ECHO and 2. DOPPLER SHIFT Echo is used to detect time and distance of target Doppler shift is used to detect the speed of target approaching

3.2 Echo and Doppler Shift

Echo is something you experience all the time. If you shout into a well or a canyon, the echo comes back a moment later. The echo occurs because some of the sound waves in your shout reflect off of a surface (either the water at the bottom of the well or the canyon wall on the far side) and travel back to your ears. The length of time between the moment you shout and the moment that you hear the echo is determined by the distance between you and the surface that creates the echo. Doppler shift is also common. You probably experience it daily (often without realizing it). Doppler shift occurs when sound is generated by, or reflected off of, a moving object. Doppler shift in the extreme creates sonic booms (see below). Here's how to understand Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 4 MIT Mysore (you may also want to try this experiment in an empty parking lot). Let's say Doppler shift

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY there is a car coming toward you at 60 miles per hour (mph) and its horn is blaring. You will hear the horn playing one "note" as the car approaches, but when the car passes you the sound of the horn will suddenly shift to a lower note. It's the same horn making the same sound the whole time. The change you hear is caused by Doppler shift

Fig 3.1 Shows the Working Principle of Radar

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 5 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

STEALTH PRINCIPLES
4.1 Vehicle shape:
One of the important factors is the internal construction. Behind the skin of some aircraft are structures known as re-entrant triangles. Radar waves penetrating the skin of the aircraft get trapped in these structures, bouncing off the internal faces and losing energy. The most efficient way to reflect radar waves back to the transmitting radar is with orthogonal metal plates, forming a corner reflector consisting of either a dihedral (two plates) or a trihedral (three orthogonal plates). This configuration occurs in the tail of a conventional aircraft, where the vertical and horizontal components of the tail are set at right angles. Stealth aircrafts use a different arrangement, tilting the tail surfaces to reduce corner reflections formed between them. Stealth design must also bury the engines within the wing or fuselage, or in some cases where stealth is applied to an existing aircraft, install baffles in the air intakes, so that the turbine blades are not visible to radar. A stealthy shape must be devoid of complex bumps or protrusions of any kind; meaning that weapons, fuel tanks, and other stores must not be carried externally. Any stealthy vehicle becomes un-stealthy when a door or hatch is opened.

a. Propulsion subsystem shaping:

Fluidic nozzles for thrust vectoring with aircraft jet engines, and ships, will have lower RCS, due to being less complex, mechanically simpler, with no moving parts or surfaces, and less massive (up to 50% less). Fluidic nozzles divert thrust via fluid effects. Tests show that air forced into a jet engine exhaust stream can deflect thrust up to 15 degrees.

b. Non-metallic airframe:

Dielectric composites are relatively transparent to radar, whereas electrically conductive materials such as metals and carbon fibers reflect electromagnetic energy incident on the material's surface. Composites used may contain ferrites to optimize the dielectric and magnetic Dept. of Mechanical Engineering properties of the material for its application. 6 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

c. Radar absorbing material (RAM):

RAM, often as paints, is used especially on the edges of metal surfaces. One such coating, also called iron ball paint, contains tiny spheres coated with carbonyl iron ferrite. Radar waves induce alternating magnetic field in this material, which leads to conversion of their energy into heat. Previously, neoprene-like tiles with ferrite grains embedded in the polymer matrix were used, now RAM paint is applied directly. The paint must be applied by robots because of problems of solvent, toxicity and tight tolerances on layer thickness. Similarly, coating the cockpit canopy with a thin film transparent conductor helps to reduce the aircraft's radar profile because radar waves would normally enter the cockpit, bounce off something random and possibly return to the radar, but the conductive coating creates a controlled shape that deflects the incoming radar waves away from the radar. The coating is thin enough that it has no adverse effect on the pilot's vision.

Fig 3.1 Working of Radar Absorbing Material Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 7 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

CASE STUDY: F-117 NIGHTHAWK

In the Gulf War, it can be clearly seen on TV, the American air attack on Baghdad - they were getting bombed, but they didn't know by what, they were shooting all over the sky hoping for a hit, kind of pathetic last resort, it was F-117, Nighthawk. Forty F-117s were deployed to the Gulf. Only 59 production F-117s were built, yet the total cost of the program is over $6 billion!

Fig 5.1: F-117 Concept design

The Stealth can be refueled in flight but, rumors about the handling of the F-117, said it was somewhat 'erratic', especially when refueling as a result, one of the first nicknames for the plane was "Wobblin' Goblin".

5.1 F-117 Nighthawk Specs:

Type: Manufacturer: Maiden flight: Introduction: Primary user: Power plant: Max Speed: Combat Radius: Service ceiling: Single-seat low-observable strike fighter. Lockheed Martin 18 June 1981 October 1983 United States Air Force Two non-afterburning General Electric F404-GE-F1D2 engines, each delivering 10,800lb thrust. Mach 1 (estimated) 750 mi. Un-refueled, with 5000lb weapon load. Not revealed.

Up to 5,500lb, carried Internally and, principal weapons are BLUWeapons: 109 low-level or GBU10/ GBU27 medium-level laser-guided bombs, provisions for two AIM-9L Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 8 air-to-air missiles. MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

5.2 Dimensions:
Span: Length: Height: 43ft. 65ft. 12ft. 4". 11". 5".

Wing area (estimated): 913 sq. ft. Weights: Empty: 30,000lb Loaded: 52,500lb

5.3 Stealth implementation:

The skeleton of the F-117 is made mainly of aluminum. The aircrafts skin, by contrast, is mostly composite RAM. The twin butterfly (\/) tail obscures the exhaust plume from infrared sensors aboard pursuing fighters. The Nighthawk's twin General Electric engines are buried deep in the fuselage. That has shallow "platypus" exhausts, which cool and deflect the exhaust gases upward to minimize heat emissions.

Fig 5.2: Difference between conventional exhaust (above) and F-117 Nighthawk exhaust (below) The stealth fighter/bomber carries all its weapons internally, with no non-stealthy surfaces left outside to be detected by radar. The edges of the F-177's cockpit canopy, like all surfaces, have Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 9 no right angles MIT Mysore (right angles are strong radar reflectors).

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

Fig 5.3: Comparison between application regular and saw-toothed shapes in aircraft parts Fig 4.4 and Fig 4.5 clearly reveals the difference in the nose of a conventional aircraft and F117. The nose of F-117 is specially designed to deflect the radar waves away from the antenna making the fighter invisible to the radar.

Fig 5.4: Reflection of waves back to the Radar antenna by the nose of a conventional aircraft

Fig 5.5: Deflection of waves away from the Radar antenna by the nose of F-117 stealth fighter Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 10 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

Fig 5.6: Deflection of waves away from the Radar antenna

Fig 5.7: Stealth Fighter Planes Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 11 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

5.4 Nighthawk Engagement Profile:

The Stealth fighter/bomber detects its targets via the forward looking infrared turret, called FLIR, embedded in its nose. This provides a good picture of the target from several miles away, on even the darkest of nights. Bombing from medium altitude, the F-117's fire-control computer calculates the proper release point for the weapons to reach the general target vicinity. Weapons release will generally be a range of one or two miles. Closer to the target, control is switched to the downward looking infrared turret, or DLIR. This is equipped with a laser designator. As the weapon approaches the target, the laser designator is fired. Sensors in the nose of the weapon now steer it toward to radar reflection, where it detonates with devastating accuracy.

5.5 Retirement:
Despite its successes in the Kosovo and Iraq Wars and its high mission-capable rate, the F-117 was nevertheless designed with late 1970s technologies. Its stealth technology, while still more advanced than that of any other aircraft except the B-2 Spirit, F-22 and F-35, is maintenance heavy. Furthermore, the facet-based stealth design has been surpassed by newer technology. Program Budget Decision 720 (PBD 720), dated 28 December 2005, proposed retiring the entire fleet by October 2008 to allow for buying more F-22As. PBD 720 called for 10 aircraft to be retired in financial year (FY) 2007 and the remaining 42 aircraft in FY 2008 and stated there were other more capable Air Force assets that could provide low observable, precision penetrating weapons capability including the B-2, F-22 and JASSM. By late 2006, the Air Force had closed the F-117 pilot school, and announced the retirement of the F-117. The first six aircraft to be retired made the last flight on 12 March 2007 after a Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 12 ceremony at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB) to commemorate the aircraft's storied career. MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY Brigadier General David Goldfein, commander of the 49th Fighter Wing, said at the ceremony, "With the launch of these great aircraft today, the circle comes to a close - their service to our nation's defense fulfilled, their mission accomplished and a job well done. We send them today to their final resting place - a home they are intimately familiar with - their first, and only, home outside of Holloman."

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 13 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

Fig 5.8: Night Hawk Planes

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 14 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

ADVANTAGES
6.1 Increased combat efficiency:
A smaller number of stealth aircraft may replace a large fleet of conventional aircraft while maintaining or increasing combat efficiency, possibly resulting in longer term savings in the military budget.

d.

Unopposed air strikes:

A stealth aircraft strike capability may put off potential opponents from taking action and keep them in constant fear of unopposed air strikes, since they can never know if planes are already under way, or what they might strike next. This may make an opponent more willing to accept a diplomatic solution, although the moral reasoning behind this is disputed.

e.

Possibility of avoiding war:

Stealth aircraft allow raids on important point targets to occur, while maintaining a cover. Since the approach and departure routes would likely remain unknown, a stealth operator could simply refuse to comment and hope to avoid war.

f.

Weakening of opposite party:

The production and fielding of stealth combat aircraft design may force an opponent to pursue the same aim, possibly resulting in significant weakening of the economically inferior party. The 1980s American Strategic Defense Initiative program served a similar purpose against the USSR.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 15 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

LIMITATIONS
7.1 Instability of design:
Stealth aircraft are designed with a focus on minimal RCS rather than aerodynamic performance. Highly stealth aircraft are aerodynamically unstable in all three axes and require constant flight corrections from the fly-by-wire system to maintain controlled flight.

g.

Reduced payload:

Fully stealth aircraft carry all armament internally, which limits the payload. By way of comparison, the F-117 carries only two laser or GPS guided bombs, while a non-stealth attack aircraft can carry several times more.

h.

Cost of operations:

Stealth aircraft are typically more expensive to develop and manufacture. An example is the B2 Spirit that is many times more expensive to manufacture and support than conventional bomber aircraft. The B-2 program cost the U.S. Air Force almost $45,000 million.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 16 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

MEASURING STEALTH
The size of a targets image on radar is measured by the radar cross section (RCS), often represented by the symbol and expressed in sq. meters. This does not equal geometric area. A perfectly conducting sphere of projected cross sectional area 1m2 (i.e., a diameter of 1.13m) will have an RCS of 1m2. Note that for radar wavelengths much less than the diameter of the sphere RCS is independent of frequency. Conversely, a flat plate of area 1m 2 will have an RCS of about 14000m2 at 10 GHz if the radar is perpendicular to the flat surface. If you rotate it, the amount of energy reflected directly back to the transmitter is reduced as some is reflected to the side, so the RCS is reduced. Modern stealth aircraft are said to have an RCS comparable with small birds or large insects, though this varies widely depending on aircraft and radar. If the RCS was directly related to the targets cross sectional area, the only way to reduce it would be to make the physical profile smaller. Rather, by reflecting much of the radiation away or absorbing it all together, the target achieves a smaller RCS.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 17 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

9. CONCLUSION
To date, stealth aircraft have been used in several low and moderate intensity conflicts, including Operation Desert Storm, Operation Allied Force and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In each case they were employed to strike high-value targets which were either out of range of conventional aircraft in the theater or which were too heavily defended for conventional aircraft to strike without a high risk of loss. In addition, because the stealth aircraft do not have to evade surface-to-air missiles and antiaircraft artillery over the target they can aim more carefully and thus are more likely to hit the target and not cause as much collateral damage. The stealth aircrafts as well as other war machines like stealth ships, submarines are the key for dominance in the battlefield of the future.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 18 MIT Mysore

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY

10. REFERENCE:
Future Flight: The Next Generation of Aircraft Technology, William D. Siuru , Jhon D.

Busick, Published 1933 McGrew-Hill Professional, 194 pages, ISBN 0830643761 Have Blue and the F-117A: Evolution of Stealth Fighter, By David C. Aronstein,

Albert C Piccirillo, Published 1997 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 305 pages, ISBN 1563472457 Stealth technology: The Art of Back Magic, By J. Jones, Matt Thunder http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583/projects.html http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stealth_aitcraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-117_Nighthawk

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 19 MIT Mysore