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The South China Morning Post reported on April 18 that Chinese scientists have developed a stealth fighter detection technology that can amplify the extremely weak stealth fighter signal by 60,000 times, not only that the US military's F-22 and F-35 fighters have no place to hide, but even the B-21 that has not yet entered service is no different from running naked!
Netizens who pay attention to China's most cutting-edge field of stealth fighter detection should remember that last year, Chinese scientists also developed a technology for detecting and locating stealth fighters in the infrared band, which can locate targets of F-22 size close to 300 kilometers away.
What exactly is the technology: can amplify the signal of a stealth fighter by 60,000 times?
F-22 is currently one of the world's top fifth-generation stealth fighters, according to the information released by the U.S. military, its frontal RCS (radar scattering area) is only 1 square centimeter, that is, the reflection of a metal surface equivalent to the size of a fingernail, according to the RCS area reduced by 10 times, the detection range is reduced by more than half (2/5) Calculation, the typical reflection area of the fourth-generation aircraft is 3~5 square meters, and the radar detection distance is about 160 kilometers!
According to this ratio, then a target of 0.5 square meters is only 80 kilometers, 0.05 square meters is only 40 kilometers, 0.005 square meters is only 20 kilometers, a target of 0.0005 square meters (5 square centimeters) is only 10 kilometers, and a target of 0.0001 square meters is found at a distance of less than 10 kilometers!
This is a rather terrible data, because less than 10 kilometers is almost into the visual distance, and it has already entered the locking distance of the infrared combat missile that can be hit under the silent condition of the radar, simply put, in theory, in a duel with the F-22, even if the F-22 does not turn on the radar, it can be locked by the opponent without noticing, and is shot down by the infrared combat missile launched by the F-22, is it quite terrifying?
However, the South China Morning Post reported that Chinese scientists published a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics saying that researchers have found a detection method that can enhance the radar reflection signal of the F-22 by 60,000 times, that is, the equivalent RCS area is more than 6 square meters, and the F-22 fighter can be found at a distance of more than 200 kilometers when converted into a discovery distance!
South China Morning Post According to the report, this technology has a great impact on the F-22, the reason is very simple, the original F-22's stealth ability can launch missiles or drop gliding bombs when approaching the war zone, even if the battlefield is supported by early warning aircraft, F-22 can carry gliding bombs with a gliding distance of more than 130 kilometers, and can be dropped at a safe distance, but after the F-22 fighter is found at a distance of 200 kilometers, it is also very dangerous at this distance, because in the modern battlefield, from discovery to locking, and then to being shot down is basically a complete set of processes in one go, when the F-22 is found on the battlefield from the moment it is discovered, I don't know how many radars and missiles will be aimed at the F-22!
And the paper also said that this new detection method can cover a vast area of about 63,000 square kilometers, no matter how the F-22 maneuvers, it cannot escape the radar lock, and the positioning accuracy of this technology can reach an error of 20 meters in such a wide area, and this level of accuracy can be used as fire control data for medium-range air-to-air missiles.
China has already released the PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile maximum combat distance of about 200 ~ 300 kilometers, F-22 was found at a distance of 200 kilometers, coupled with the real-time update of the data link, that is a proper "inescapable zone", according to the "South China Morning Post" report, it only takes 0.008 seconds to complete the accurate target coordinates and movement speed calculation, even if the F-22 fleet invades, can also obtain detailed data of each F-22 in 0.2 seconds.
The data link will send these data to the fighter to intercept the F-22 and inject the air-to-air missile as inertial navigation data, and then the missile launches to climb high and turn to the cruise state, if the F-22 fleet data changes significantly during the flight, it will immediately pass to the missile through the data link, and the missile computer will adjust the missile's flight trajectory according to the latest inertial navigation data to intercept the F-22 at the preset position.
When the F-22 enters the "burn-through distance" of the missile's active radar, the missile-borne radar is turned on and locks on the F-22, in the face of ultra-high maneuverability missiles, the F-22 no matter how powerful the vector engine is, in this case, the F-22 has no other options except to be hit, this kind of battlefield perception technology like a God's perspective will bring great pressure to the stealth fighters of the US military, of course, it is even more stressful than the F-22 F-35 with poor stealth and maneuverability.
What kind of technology is it, and why can the F-22 be perceived from a "God's perspective"?
According to the South China Morning Post, this technology is the ultimate use of existing equipment, and its principle does not seem to be complicated:
A number of radar manufacturers in China have developed anti-stealth radars, which use various technologies such as emitting low-frequency electromagnetic waves or increasing transmission power to detect stealth targets, but these radars are usually designed to operate independently, although this can also find targets such as stealth fighters such as F-22 and F-35, but there will be attitude changes during fighter flight, such as maneuvering flight, sideways flight or even descending to a certain altitude, etc., which will affect the quality of the echo, resulting in the instability of the echo obtained by the anti-stealth radar, and in many cases will lose the target or cannot be tracked continuously！
However, the paper published in the Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics said that scientists have found a way to form an array of multiple radars within the theater of operations, scan the battlefield from different angles, and "superimpose" the echo signal through a complex signal processing system and display it on the battlefield dynamics, because it is a multi-angle observation of the battlefield, so that the F-22 or F-35 will not lose the target under most maneuvering conditions, and can track stably for a long time
The paper said that this is not a new technology, and experts have long tried to integrate multiple radars in the theater to form a "true array" to observe the battlefield, but because the problem of signal processing cannot be perfectly superimposed, there will be multiple batches of target warnings, that is, the number of targets x the number of radars The embarrassing scene, but the latest signal processing technology and theater radar coordination technology developed by the research team have perfectly solved this problem:
The team has developed a breakthrough "intelligent resource scheduling" method, which allows the centralized networked radar system to adjust the beam parameters and the power of each radar according to the characteristics and real-time position changes of stealth aircraft in the theater, so that the signal processing and radar power coordination perfectly solves this problem.
What's even better is that this technology does not require the radar to tilt all resources to detect stealth targets such as F-22, but only needs a part of the time and power to point to the area where F-22 may appear, in addition to this, this function does not affect the radar's detection in other directions, simply put, in the case of multiple radars, participating in the radar only needs to be "part-time" The paper said that only a minimum of 3 radars are needed to achieve comprehensive and stable tracking of the F-22 fighter formation, and of course, the increase in the number of participating radars can improve the resolution and positioning accuracy and more stable tracking.
In addition, this technology does not have high requirements for radar, it can come from land-based radar or radar on islands, or even from the radar of ships and air early warning aircraft, this technology is equivalent to integrating the radar of a certain area into a larger range of early warning systems, which also includes information from early warning aircraft, and can really observe the battlefield from the perspective of God, this technology is really good!
Infrared detection: Passive detection technology, which is locked without being detected at all
On August 23, 2022, the South China Morning Post reported that a team of Chinese scientists has developed a new infrared detection technology that can detect the infrared signal of high-speed aircraft beyond the detection range of phased array radar!
"From the infrared spectral image, the contours of the target, the number of rotors, tail and engines can be clearly identified"
It is difficult for most infrared sensing detection systems to travel beyond 20 kilometers because the mid-infrared waves are easily absorbed by the atmosphere, but the research team found that there are some strong infrared signals in the mid-infrared band that can penetrate the air and travel great distances. However, it is difficult to achieve this detection because the number of photons that penetrate the atmosphere to reach the detector is very small, and it is very difficult to monitor.
However, the report said that the research team has used a cutting-edge optical sensor that can effectively detect a very small number of photons, which has been applied to the Micius satellite to detect single photons, and now this technology has shifted from civilian to military use, becoming the most cutting-edge technology in the field of infrared detection.
What's even more amazing is that if the image is not clear enough, it can even shoot a laser beam, thereby enhancing the number of photons reflected by the target, making the image clearer, as can be seen from the accompanying pictures of the paper, a passenger plane flying 285 kilometers away, through this observation technology, can reach the level of counting portholes, you can imagine, how terrifying this is! Because locking a fighter jet does not need such a high resolution at all, a coordinate in three-dimensional space plus the target signal characteristics can be added!
And the research team also said that this system structure is relatively small, can be installed on vehicles, fighter jets and even satellites, very convenient can be integrated into fighter jets, and according to a report on the Flightglobal.com, China's J-20 can already receive infrared signals from American B-2 stealth bombers and F-22 fighters at a distance of 150 kilometers and 110 kilometers, this data was released in 2015.
You can imagine that if this infrared observation technology is combined with radar array technology, the Western Pacific region will be almost transparent to China, I don't know how brave the US F-22 and F-35 are to come to China's doorstep, it seems that the arrival of these fighters will only increase our interest in technological innovation!
Extended reading: Is the B-21 still useful?
On April 16, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff David Bush W. Alvin said at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the U.S. Air Force will not purchase more than 100 B-21 bombers, after the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command and various think tanks said that at least 225 ~ 250 B-21s are needed, but the U.S. Air Force insists on purchasing no more than 100 aircraft. In 2015, the demand for B-21 was 80~100 aircraft, which later increased to 100 aircraft.
This is the latest news on the US military's new stealth bomber, and the US military announced that this stealth fighter had entered mass production a month after the first flight, which shows how satisfied the US military is with this kind of bomber! The B-21 is a bomber that the US military has high hopes for, and it made its debut at Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, California, on December 2 last year, and its size is slightly smaller than that of the B-2, but its range is not low, and the US media speculate that the B-21 can fly 4,000 kilometers without refueling, and the B-21 can also be controlled." Loyal wingman", the speed was previously said to be high subsonic, and the speed was not faster than the B-2, but the stealth performance would also be better than the B-2.
Judging from the positioning of the B-21, the US military hopes that it will carry out a penetrating combat mission, which is simply understood that this kind of bomber will arrive at China's coastal areas and even enter the inland hinterland to carry out a strike mission that penetrates the air defense system, which is the mode of the B-2 bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan in those years, and now the US military actually intends to move this model to China, it is simply impossible!
Even if China does not have such advanced detection means, but in the southeast coast where air defense radar and anti-stealth radar are so dense to break through the prevention and control network, B-21 is basically impossible, now with the technology of observation from the perspective of God in the theater of operations, as well as the technology of passively discovering stealth fighters 300 kilometers away, this battlefield is basically one-way transparent for China, how can this battle be fought? The masked sneaked into the opponent's house and wanted to play a big one, but it was broadcast live by the camera installed in someone's house, although the face was covered, but everyone still knew that this was a tyrant in the village, and everyone didn't want to mess with him before he turned his face, but if he turned his face, he was taught to be a new person in minutes
Reference:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3259428/chinese-scientists-increase-f-22-fighter-jets-radar-signature-60000-times-new-detection-method-study?module=top_story&pgtype=homepage