The Chinese military claims it has developed a new radar-defeating coating that can hide targets from anti-stealth radar. The coating can absorb low-frequency electromagnetic waves (EM) and is only paper-thin.
According to the Chinese military, the new coating can absorb EM waves from various angles, revolutionizing stealth technology. Existing radar-absorbing materials for stealth aircraft are effective for some, but not all, EM waves used by radar equipment.
In fact, this is exactly how an F-117A “Nighthawk” was detected and shot down in the late 1990s in Yugoslavia.
Radar installations use a mixture of centimeter- to meter-long wavelength EM waves to detect targets like incoming aircraft. Current stealth technology can divert or even absorb some of these waves, reducing an aircraft’s radar signature.
Interestingly, this is just the latest in a flurry of new “anti-stealth” innovations made by the Chinese in recent years. Back in February of this year, for example, it was reported that China had developed a new “plasma” stealth device that can effectively cloak an aircraft from radar.
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