A Survey on Radar Stealth Aircraft

and Mirage 2000

 T Darshini Balaji
Dr.Keshavamurthy
Department of Electronics And
Department of Electronics And
Communication
Communication
Sri Venkateshwara College of
Sri Venkateshwara College of
Engineering
Engineering
Bengaluru,India
Bengaluru,India
Email darshini097@gmail.com Email:keshavamurthy_s@yahoo.com
 Abstract—Stealth refers to the act of trying to hide or evade
detection. Stealth Technology essentially deals with designs and
materials engineered for the military purpose of avoiding
detection by radar or any other electronic system. Stealth, or
antidetection, technology is applied to vehicles (e.g., tanks),
missiles, ships, and aircraft with the goal of making the object
more difficult to detect at closer and closer ranges thus
providing an element of surprise in the attacks. Attacking with
surprise gives the attacker more time to perform its mission
and exit before the defending force can counterattack.
Keywords—Stealth, antidetection
I. INTRODUCTION
Stealth technology also known as LOT (Low
Observability Technology) is a technologies which covers a
range of techniques used with aircraft, ships and missiles, in
order to make them less visible (ideally invisible) to radar,
infrared and other detection methods. In simple terms,
stealth technology allows an aircraft to be partially invisible
to Radar or any other means of detection. This doesn't allow
the aircraft to be fully invisible on radar. It gives a clear and
safe striking distance for the aircraft, there is still a threat
from radar systems, which can detect stealth aircraft. Stealth
technology is expanded into each of those areas which seek
to detect the aircraft, ships & missiles. Thus it is essential to
develop visual, infrared acoustic and radar stealth. However
many countries have announced that they have developed
counter-stealth techniques that allow them to negate stealth.
Stealth technology (or LO for "Low Observability") is not a
single technology. It is a combination of technologies that
attempt to greatly reduce the distances at which a vehicle can
be detected; in particular radar cross section reductions, but
also acoustic, thermal, and other aspects. Stealth technology
aims at minimizing signatures and signals, and prevent/delay
detection and identification, thus increasing the efficiency of
the vehicles own countermeasures and sensors.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Upendra Raju [1].et.al has proposed a novel method of
partially coating the aircraft to obtain reduction in RCS
comparable to that obtained by a fully coated aircraft. In
order to effectively reduce the RCS with minimum amount
of RAM coating, a method to identify the hot-spots for RAM
coating has been proposed. Physical optics (PO) technique
has been used first to identify the hotspots on the aircraft and
only these hot-spots are coated with RAM instead of coating
the entire aircraft. This gives a significant saving of nearly
80% in weight and volume of RAM, and thus cost of the
RAM coating. Ravi Panwar [2].et.al has discussed about
achieving good absorption with wide bandwidth
corresponding to reflection loss (RL) ≤−10 dB for lower
thickness (≤2 mm) by developing ferrite–graphene (FG)
composites. A critical study has been carried out by varying
the composition of FG to obtain wideband absorption with
lower thickness. Increasing the graphene content in FG
composites resulted in a reduction of thickness and wide
absorption bandwidth. Furthermore, a multilayer approach is
adopted to enhance the radar wave absorption with broad
bandwidth at a lower absorber layer thickness. The multi
layering approach facilitated to attain a lower absorber layer
thickness of 1.7 mm. Fang Yuan [3].et.al an efficient
approach for broadband radar cross-section (RCS) reduction
is proposed. By coding eight types of linear-phase gradients
in a spiral pattern, the reflected wave was uniformly diffused,
and thus, the backscatter RCS reduction was achieved within
an ultra-broadband. For verification, a spiral-coded
metasurface composed of 8 × 8 subarrays is designed,
fabricated, and measured. G. G. Peixoto [4].et.al has
explained about RCS reduction of dihedrals by shaping and
by application of RAM. RCS from dihedrals were compared
before and after the application of radar absorbing coating.
Corner reflectors are the major scattering centres in the radar
signatures of vehicles. The monostatic return from such
structures can be reduced by ensuring that surfaces never
meet at right angles and by application of radar absorbing
materials (RAM).
III. METHODOLGY
A. Radar Cross Section
Radar cross section (RCS) is a measure of how detectable
an object is with a radar. A larger RCS indicates that an
object is more easily detected. When radar waves are
beamed at a target, only a certain amount are reflected back.
While important in detecting targets, strength of emitter and
distance are not factors that affect the calculation of a RCS
because the RCS is (approximately) only a property of the
target. Radar cross section is used to detect planes in a wide
variation of ranges. A stealth aircraft (which is designed to
be undetectable) will have design features that give it a low
RCS (such as absorbent paint, smooth surfaces, surfaces
specifically angled to reflect signal somewhere other than
towards the source), as opposed to a passenger airliner that
will have a high RCS (bare metal, rounded surfaces
effectively guaranteed to reflect some signal back to the
source, lots of bumps like the engines, antennae). RCS is
integral to the development of radar stealth technology,
particularly in applications involving aircraft and ballistic
missiles.
B. Radar Cross Section (RCS) Minimization
There are two broad aspects of RCS minimization
techniques. One falls under the effort to restructure the
frame, and covers the geometric design considerations that
are taken into account when aiming for a low RCS. The
other principle is referred to as “radar absorbent materials”
and is concerned with the materials that help to reduce the
reflectivity of the airframe. Another important factor 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.
This approach was first used on the F-117.
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 aircraft such as the F-117 use a different
arrangement, tilting the tail surfaces to reduce corner
reflections formed between them. A more radical approach
is to eliminate the tail completely, as in the B-2 Spirit.

Figure 1: Working principle of radar
Figure 2: Deflection of Radar waves by a stealth aircraft
Radar-absorbing materials (RAMs) are used to dissipate
the energy of the radar wave so to prevent the reception of a
reflected signal by an antenna. Usually, the dissipation
process converts the radio frequency (RF) energy to a
negligible quantity of heat. RAMs are one of the ways of
reducing the radar cross-section of an object, which is a
measure of the reflection of radar waves by an object. There
are many types of RAMs. Few are Iron ball paint, Superficial
wave absorbers and Foam absorbers. One of the most
commonly known types of RAM is iron ball paint. It
contains tiny spheres coated with carbonyl iron or ferrite.
Radar waves induce molecular oscillations from the
alternating magnetic field in this paint, which leads to
conversion of the radar energy into heat. The heat is then
transferred to the aircraft and dissipated. Superficial
absorbers are Elastomers loaded with magnetic particles are
applied to the metallic surface to absorb the maximum waves
without reflecting them back. Foam absorbers are composed
of conductive carbon loaded gradient coatings. These
coatings result in broadband of radar absorbing films which
absorb the radar signals efficiently.
Figure 3: Radar Absorbing Material (RAM)
Active Cancelation is a flexible but also more complex
approach is to actively replicate the incoming signal and
reverse its phase in order to achieve the same effect. Its net
effect is the reduction of the amplitude of the reflected
signal, and thus the reduction of the targeted objects apparent
RCS. It is complicated to cancel a reflected radar signal
because of the fact that the original incoming signal from the
radar will be reflected from many spots on the aircraft's body.
Each spot will produce an individual reflection with its own
unique amplitude and phase. The amplitude of the reflection
would depend on many factors, such as incidence angle,
particular type of material, geometrical form of a certain
location on the aircraft's body that produced the reflection
and some other factors. The phase shift will be dictated by
the wavelength of the radar signal and the location (and
geometrical form) of the particular spot that produced the
reflection.
Figure 4: Active Cancelation
The enemy radar does not, however, receive all of the
reflected variations of the original signal as separate entities.
It either selects the strongest return signal, or averages
several strongest reflections. This simplification can be used
to the advantage of the aircraft, since it will only need two
antennas to transmit a simulated return signal averaged over
the length of the aircraft. The return signal, picked up by the
radar, would look somewhat chaotic, consisting of
background noise and the main return spikes. These spikes
are, presumably, the main targets of active cancellation (here
again we see the importance of first shaping the aircraft to
minimize and actively control the formed spikes).
IV. MIRAGE
The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-
engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by
Dassault Aviation. The aircraft uses retractable tricycle type
landing gear by Messier-Dowty, with twin nose wheels and a
single wheel on each main gear. A runway tailhook or a
fairing for a brake parachute can be fitted under the tail,
which can operate in conjunction with the landing
gear's carbon brakes to shorten landing distances. A
removable refueling probe can be attached in front of
the cockpit, offset slightly to the right of center. Aircraft
flight control system is fly-by-wire.
 Figure 5: Mirage 2000
A. Cockpit
The Mirage 2000 is available as a single-seat or two-seat
multi-role fighter. The pilot flies the aircraft by means of
a center stick and left hand throttles, with both
incorporating hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controls.
The instrument panel (in the Mirage 2000 C) is dominated
by a Sextant VE-130 head-up display which presents data
relating to flight control, navigation, target engagement and
weapon firing, and a radar screen located centrally below it.
Figure 6: Cockpit of Mirage 2000
B. Engines
The SNECMA M53 is a single-shaft engine of modular
construction that is relatively light and simple. The M53
consists of three low-pressure compressor stages, five high-
pressure stages and two turbine stages. With the development
programme consisting of 20 engines.
Figure 7: SNECHMA M53
Mirage 2000 itself was powered by two versions of the M53
– the M53-5, which equipped initial operational aircraft, was
rated at 88 kN (20,000 lbf) of thrust with afterburner. The
definitive version of the engine, the M53-P2, which equipped
the majority of the type, is rated at 65 kN (15,000 lbf) in dry
thrust and 95 kN (21,000 lbf) in afterburner.
The Mirage 2000 is equipped with built-in twin DEFA
554 autocannon (now GIAT 30–550 F4) 30 mm revolver-
type cannons with 125 rounds each. The cannons have
selectable fire rates of 1,200 or 1,800 rounds per minute.
CONCLUSION
The Detection and Stealth Technology has improved
significantly more advanced in the last fifty years or so. This
trend is likely to continue as these two oppose each other.
Till 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 or which were too heavily defended for conventional
aircraft to strike without a high risk of loss. Stealth
technology in future, would be required for clearing the way
for deeper strikes , which conventional aircraft would find
very difficult.
REFERENCES
[1] A. Upendra Raju, Jyothi Balakrishnan, “A Novel Method for RCS
Reduction of a Complex Shaped Aircraft Using Partial RAM
Coating”, IJEIT,Volume 2, Issue 2, August 2016.
[2] Ravi Panwar, Smitha Puthucheri, Dharmendra Singh, and Vijaya
Agarwala, ``Design of Ferrite–Graphene-Based Thin Broadband
Radar Wave Absorber for Stealth Application,'' IEEE Transactions On
Magnetics, VOL. 51, NO. 11, November 2017.
[3] Fang Yuan, Guang-Ming Wang, He-Xiu Xu, Senior Member, IEEE,
Tong Cai,”Broadband RCS Reduction Based on Spiral-Coded
Metasurface”, IEEE Antennas And Wireless Propagation Letters,
VOL. 16, 2018