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New coating could make Chinese stealth planes invisible to radar: study

Posted on by L. Dreeye
New coating could make Chinese stealth planes invisible to radar: study

Chinese military introduced a stealth material capable of blinding anti-stealth radars.

Laboratory tests have shown that it can effectively absorb low-frequency electromagnetic waves from different angles while having a thickness equivalent to just two sheets of printed paper—a feat previously thought impossible.

Anti-stealth radars emit electromagnetic waves with wavelengths reaching centimeters or even meters. Currently, due to their thinness, the materials used to cover stealth aircraft are unable to effectively absorb these long-wave signals.

China has deployed large numbers of anti-stealth radars along its coastline and on naval ships, and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claims the radars can detect stealth fighters like the US. F-22 and F-35 from significant distances.
But now a new material developed scientists from the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) can convert electromagnetic waves between 70 cm (2.3 ft) and 20 cm in length into heat.

This covers the operating bandwidth of most modern anti-stealth radars, namely P-band and L-band.

This material is lightweight, flexible and easy to produce in large quantities, making it suitable for coating airplane or other weapons platforms requiring stealth.