MODERN TECHNOLOGIES IN STEALTH
Cdr (Dr.) Nitin Agarwala
ABSTRACT
Survival against an adversary is by evading him.
Accordingly, the earliest efforts of evasion during war have
been towards invisibility followed by signature reduction
of various other types. Wars of the twentieth century
prompted advances in stealth technologies which have
taken a quantum leap over the years with the introduction
of artificially engineered materials tailored to have specific
properties, not found in nature. This paper is a discussion
of these technological developments that have denied the
enemy acceptable signature to detect the ship or provide a
homing signal required by the missile to get a target lock.
Keywords: Stealth, Metamaterials, Ships
1. INTRODUCTION
Man or beast, survival is possible only if one can
evade his enemy. The simplest method of evasion is to hide
from the eyes. As technology developed, radar systems
developed and accordingly the meaning of hiding expanded
to various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Today, all
military equipments take into account low observable
principles, also calle0d “stealth”, trying to be discreet in all
aspects, reducing acoustic, radio, radar and infrared
emissions, including the optical region while trying to blend
into the surrounding environment.
The entire gambit of “stealth” commenced with
airplanes where the goal was to make the aircraft
“disappear” to the extent feasible by reducing the visual,
radar, infrared, noise and electronic signatures. This
strongly enhanced the strike aircraft’s capability to survive
in a high threat area or to carry out covert missions thus
leading to the domination of stealth features over the entire
design and manufacturing process, hence a very expensive
aircraft.
As time went by, ships too adopted similar methods
of stealth. To improve our understanding on the need of
stealth for warships, consider an Exocet surface-to-surface
missile. Let us consider that this 16- foot-long, 14- inch
diameter, 1875-pound missile with a 360-pound high
explosive fragmentation warhead is launched towards our
ship. Using its inertial guidance system and radar altimeter,
the missile flies near the sea surface at about 600 miles per
hour, time of flight being approximately 150 seconds. At a
range of 12 miles, when this missile crosses the radar
horizon, the active radar seeker turns on and acquires the
ship.
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Joint Director
Directorate of Naval Design (Ship Surface Group)
New Delhi - 110 048, India.
Accordingly, the missile descends to its second cruise
altitude of less than 10 feet above the water and commences
its final approach. The missile is now less than 75 seconds
from impact. Since stealth technology and radar absorbing
materials are used by weapon manufacturers too, search and
fire control radars need to look for a missile with an Radar
Cross Section (RCS), similar to that of a large bird. Now
withstanding, with an alert and trained crew on a fully
manned combat system, the missile is detected and brought
down, with all this being done in a little more than a minute.
If in case the missile is not successfully countered, the
damage scenario could be similar to what happened to USS
Stark in the Persian Gulf or to HMS Sheffield during the
war in the Falklands. This is why stealth technology is being
introduced into warships.
Laws of physics however do not permit the
surface combatants to be made completely “invisible” even
if we are willing to radically alter ship design and spend vast
sums of money. The primary goal of stealth technology in a
surface warship is to make the ship invisible to the active
radar (not to be detected) or the guidance seeker of an anti-
ship cruise missile (not to provide a target lock). Every
minute the warship remains undetected, is a minute of safety
and time for her to be able to carry out the mission. In order
to overcome this stealth, the enemy is forced to employ
more subs, patrol boats, AEW and search assets to increase
density of search coverage thus using up assets that might
otherwise be employed offensively. Stealth thus increases
the chances of survival. The notion that stealth must
completely hide a ship in order to be worthwhile has no
meaning especially since there are missions where the
surface ship needs to be visible such as overseas visits,
Freedom of Navigation operations etc to name a few.
What follows in this paper is a discussion of the
technological developments that have denied the enemy
acceptable signature to be able to detect the ship or
availability of a homing signal required by the missile to get
a target lock.
2. HISTORY
Stealth technology is not a single technology. It
is a combination of technologies that attempt to greatly
reduce the distance at which a vehicle can be detected. It
aims at minimizing signatures and signals and prevents or
delays detection and identification, thus increasing the
survivability by increasing efficiency of own counter
measures and sensors.
The advent of stealth commenced during the WWII with the
invention of RADAR. It was the Germans who took the first
step towards stealth by developing the first radar absorbent
paint to avoid detection by the allied Radars while Britain
attempted to hide its naval ships by painting them grey to
blend into the background but had limited success. The
speed of development of this technology increased with the
Cold War era in the early1950s but was limited to airplanes.
The first recorded stealth effort for a ship was a boat named
“Sea Shadow” that Lockheed developed shortly after the F-
117A. She was built in 27 months and operated secretly in
the late 1980’s for $200 million dollars.
systematic and comprehensive approach to signature
suppression. These designs consider operating
environment, ship layout and anticipated threats to
undertake signature management studies by suppression,
trade off, detailed susceptibility analysis and cost benefit
analysis. All this being achieved by use of computer
modeling that allows incorporating effect such as solar
heating/reflection, sea surface clutter, flare decoy
deployment (IR), water salinity, shaft speed, cathodic
protection system and providing a platform with lower
signatures and improved survivability. Of these we shall
discuss some important signatures.

The Skjold class patrol boat was the first stealth

ship to enter service, though the earlier Arleigh Burke class
destroyer incorporated some signature-reduction features.
Other examples are the French La Fayette class frigate, the
German Sachsen class frigates, the Swedish Visby class
corvette, the USS San Antonio amphibious transport dock.
Today most modern warships such as the indigenous
Shivalik and Kolkata class are designed with stealth
features. While much of the actual stealth performance data
is highly classified, all the information discussed in this
paper has been obtained from numerous open sources.

Fig 3: Signatures emitted by a Warship

5. ACOUSTIC SIGNATURE

Sources of noise that contribute to a warship’s

Fig 1: The Sea Shadow [Ref 7]
acoustic signature include its own active sonar
transmissions and machinery noise. Sonar transmissions are
minimized by reducing the time and sonar power levels
used. Use of Extraordinary Acoustic Screening (EAS) and
Anti-vibration engine mountings are new technologies
being developed to absorb a significant part of emitted
sound energy.

Fig 2: The Recent Visby Class[Ref 8]

4. STEALTH

Ships emit a variety of electric, magnetic and

acoustic fields, which result into various signatures as seen
in Fig 3. These signatures can be measured using passive Fig 4: Anti-vibration engine mounting [Ref 9]
sensors and can be used to distinguish between different
ships. Trend for new ships is thus towards a more

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 Fig 5: Extraordinary Acoustic Screening.
6. VISUAL SIGNATURE
In the absence of radar, the first recorded use of
naval stealth was attempted by Britain to hide her naval
ships by painting them grey to blend them into their
background. Some passive methods that have been used
over the years include optical illusion created by the use of
horizontal and vertical lines to confuse features, using
smoke, modified smoke at sea for thermal camouflage and
usage of dazzle painting. Since contrast of a target against
its background changes with different wavebands, active
methods need to be considered to alter ship appearance in
near real time to confuse enemies. This active or adaptive
camouflage permits an object to blend into its surroundings
by using panels or coatings to alter their optical appearance,
Fig 7: Encapsulated Liquid Crystals
7. RADAR CROSS SECTION (RCS) SIGNATURE
Since most Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM)
employ active radar terminal seekers, RCS signature is
considered to be the most important. Studies indicate that a
typical frigate or destroyer might have an RCS of 25,000
square meters (44 dBsm) which can be reduced to 12,500
square meters by a 3 dBsm reduction (achievable with some
low performance radar absorbing paints) and to as little as
6,300 square meters (38 dBsm), with other Radar Absorbent
Material (RAM).With shaping and application of RAM, this
may be reduced by as much as 16 dBsm, to give an RCS
similar to a chaff bloom. Hence, the two principal ways of
reducing a warship's RCS are:
color, luminance and reflective properties. New technology  Application of RAM to the most reflective parts of the
such as encapsulated liquid crystals and color-changing ship. The goal being to absorb radar energy, trap it in a
electro-chromic panels provide an alternative possibility to medium and dissipate the energy as heat.
create larger reflectivity changes by selectively rotating the  Optimize the shape of the hull and superstructure. The
plane of visible incident light from one direction to another goal being to eliminate sharp corners and vertical
direction. surfaces and to minimize the radar energy reflections
from various three-dimensional shapes.

If the ship has already been constructed, the

incorporation of stealth technology will consist largely on
the use of RAM. It is noteworthy that the emerging stealth
technology is producing a variety of new and more effective
materials, including structural RAM and RAM with IR
suppression characteristics.

To reduce RCS at design, there are numerous

approaches used worldwide. Most of the navies use tools
that have gone through a thorough validation process. These
use computer models and read definitions of surface
materials to provide the best possible options.

Fig 6: Colour Changing Electro-chromic panels [Ref 10]

Fig 8: RCS Analysis Process

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8. ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) SIGNATURE

The most effective weapon in littoral waters are naval

mines which exploits the electromagnetic signature of a
vessel which are governed by the Active Cathodic
Protection (ACP) current (also called ICCP) and the shaft
frequency. By knowing the ACP current from the ACP
design, the Static Electric signature created by the ACP
current passing through the uncoated propeller and the
corresponding shaft can be calculated. Similarly, knowing
the shaft frequency, the Alternating Electric signature can
be found out for varying marine environments, thus
allowing reduction of EM signature.
Cheese Eductor / Eductor / DRES Ball
To counter modulation of the ACP current flowing Grater Diffuser BLISS
through the shaft by actively detecting fluctuations and
maintaining a constant current level through the shaft, a” Fig 9: Popular Engine Exhaust IRSS Devices
low resistance shunt” has been developed. In this manner,
the Active Shaft Grounding (ASG) unit removes the 10. NEW TECHNOLOGIES UNDER
periodic modulation of the current due to the shaft DEVELOPEMENT
frequency and virtually eliminates the AE signature arising
from this source. Since there is a constant race between stealth and
detection technologies, it is essential that ships on the
9. INFRARED (IR) SIGNATURE drawing board include advanced stealth features as hull
features cannot be upgraded like equipments. Certain areas
A ship’s IR signature is caused by thermal radiation that are being studied and developed the world over include
in the electromagnetic spectrum, particularly in the Middle external shaping and flatness, concealed external
IR (MIR) region (heat source temperature between 500 and equipment, Frequency Selective Surfaces, water jet
1000 Kelvin). It is made up from two main components propulsion, use of Radar Absorbing Material, machinery
which need to be considered together. with water-cooled near-surface exhausts, enclosed engines
with special designed foundations, vibration insulators for
 Internally generated source which includes rejected equipment, “Smart” wash-down system, degaussing system
heat from engines and other equipments, exhaust and non-magnetic material to name a few. This necessitates
products from engines, waste air from ventilation defining signature requirements, undertake signature
systems and heat losses from heated internal spaces. management and signature prediction, Integrate systems
 Externally generated source which result from the
surfaces of a ship absorbing and/or reflecting radiation
received from its surroundings (i.e. radiation from the
sun, sky and sea).
To address IR signature during design, software such
as SHIPIR and NTCS, developed in the early 90’s are used
by the U.S. Navy and NATO. Accordingly, some counter
measures for IR suppression include use of Surface IR
Signature Suppression (IRSS) Technology, use of special
surface treatments (paints) to reduce IR emission, which are
very expensive to produce and maintain and degrade
quickly due to unavoidable factors such as salt buildup,
engine exhaust, soot and dirt, use of heavy water mist to
blanket entire ship and cooling of solar heated surfaces with
sea water. Of these, IRSS and cooling with sea water have
been found to be successful.
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from sub-suppliers and define production requirements. We
discuss the technological developments in these fields to the
extent feasible.
10.1 Stealth Paints
Stealth paint using Carbon nanotubes (having
unusual property of wave absorption characteristics) with
inclusion of Fe, Ni, Co, etc., to increase the absorption
effectiveness in the microwave regime are being
experimented with. These have shown improvements in
both maximum absorption and bandwidth of adequate
absorption.
Fig 10: Carbon nanotubes with Ferrite inclusion
 10.2 Invisible Cloak using Meta material
Artificially structured electromagnetic (EM)
materials are being studied to reduce the Radar Cross
Section (RCS) of a conducting object and the EM
interference among microwave components. Light entering
into cloaks made of this material enters smoothly and goes
around the inner region. When the light goes out from the
cloak structure, it always comes back to its initial paths as
the cloak does not produce any scattering to the incident
waves and can be provided with a negative refractive index
over some frequency.
Fig 11: Invisibility Cloak
10.3 IR Invisibility Cloak.
IR sensors are able to see in the night because
people give off body heat. But if a person or object wears
clothing that changes the heat flow, an infrared camera
would not pick it up because there would be no temperature
difference with its surroundings. Such shields have been
tried successfully for metal cylinders two to three inches in
diameter and three to four inches high and efforts are being
made to move to higher frequencies and smaller
wavelengths to finally achieve frequencies of visible light.
Fig 12: IR invisibility cloak [Ref 13]
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10.4 Adaptive Water Curtain Technology (AWCT).
AWCT is intended to deflect and scatter enemy
radar waves thus reducing the ship’s radar cross section
(RCS). It consists of highly conductive sea water sprayed
in a fashion that effectively creates an angled radar
reflective curtain around the ship. To reduce the ship’s
remaining RCS, the water curtain can be “modulated”
such that the returns appear as “Sea Clutter”.
Fig 13: Adaptive Water Curtain Technology[Ref 12]
10.5 Composite Materials.
Composite materials used in deck house structure
not only make the structure lighter, but also control the
ship's radar profile to achieve a high level of stealth. One of
the most advanced composites used is syntactic foam,
which incorporates hollow particles that entrap air in a
polymer. The hollow particles are microscopic, sometimes
as small as 10 microns, and is made of stiff materials like
glass that provides it strength but doesn't absorb water.
Fig 14: Tiny glass bubbles used in
making syntactic foams [Ref 14]
 10.6 Integrated Mast
Integrated masts combine several sensors under
one cover and are usually made of composite material.
Continuing miniaturization of equipment has supported
development, allowing grouping more systems together in
relatively small space, but interference between systems is
a problem that is not completely solved.
Fig 15: Integrated Mast
10.7 Sonar absorbers
Underwater sound absorbers using a new family
of composite materials employing rigid syntactic foam in
combination with a variety of fillers and ingredients to
provide a controlled amount of scattering or absorption are
being researched for a truly broad-banded sonar absorber
with good hydrostatic strength.
10.8 Geometry
Angular build disallows the direct reflection of
radar beams and hence makes it 50 times harder to spot on
radar. Shaping however does not necessarily offer stealth
advantages against low-frequency radars. If a radar
wavelength is roughly twice the size of a target, a half-
wavelength resonance effect generates a significant
constructive in-phase return. However, long wavelength
radar may detect a target and roughly locate it but will not
be able to identify it, and without location information, it
will also lack sufficient weapon targeting accuracy.
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11.CONCLUSION
Stealth is not magic. It is not the ultimate
protection against every sort of enemy attack and it is very
doubtful that stealth will defeat every radar. However,
stealth treatment of surface warships does offer some
potential value. Due to the laws of physics, it is doubtful
that we can physically or economically install stealth
technology into some of the larger warships and sealift
ships. Stealth might not be effective against the next
generation Anti-Ship Cruise Missile which uses another
signature for homing or is better able to discriminate
between a chaff decoy & a warship. But today, it offers an
increased degree of protection to many surface combatants.
Stealth technology in surface warships is worth our serious
consideration. It can contribute to the successful execution
of the Maritime Strategy.
As stealth technology is advancing, the spin offs
are available for both the ships and the missiles. The current
scenario has become a clash between these two technologies
namely “Stealth Technology” and the “Anti-Stealth
Technology”. How easy or difficult would it be to keep both
these technologies ahead of each other is a question only
time shall answer?
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