62 // September 2019 #378 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comColumn Commander’s Update Briefi ng
he idea of stealth aircraft is now
firmly set in the public imagination.
Yet, we are still some way off from
the Harry Potter-like ‘cloak of invisibility’.
Firstly, stealth capability today is about
reducing radar signature in relatively narrow
bands of the spectrum; rather than making
aircraft totally undetectable. But, invariably
they are able to reduce detection ranges to
such a degree that a stealthy aircraft caneither fly through the now larger gaps created
in radar coverage, or get close enough to
target the very thing trying to detect them.
But even stealth aircraft have Achilles’
heels. Noise, heat, visual signature and even
certain angles or aircraft configuration allow
some chance of detection. Moreover, modern
surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and even
airborne radars are looking at new slices of
the electronic spectrum to use frequenciesT
The art of
avoiding detection
Self-defencein aerialcombat
hasbeentransformedby stealth
aircraft– butis it thepanacea
thatit wasonce considered?Air
PowerAssociationPresident,
AirMarshal(ret’d)Greg
BagwellCB CBEgets
intothedetail.162-64 BagwellSelfProtection AFM Sep2019.indd 62 8/2/2019 2:20:34 PM