Chinese scientists increase F-22 fighter jet’s radar signature 60,000 times with new detection method: study
- Researcher Xie Junwei and team say innovation enables China’s radar system to pinpoint F-22 real-time position with remarkable accuracy
- Impact of study on US military’s F-22 fighter jet could be great given range of its air-to-air missiles and required radius for ground bomb attacks: team
The US military has touted the F-22 as the world’s most formidable fighter jet, with a radar cross-section (RCS) believed to be as small as 1 sq cm (0.16 sq in) – about the size of a fingernail.
The Chinese team led by Xie Junwei, from the air and missile defence college of the Air Force Engineering University in Xian, Shaanxi province, said the researchers’ method could make a stealth fighter with the same configuration as the F-22 appear on the radar screen with a signal strength comparable to that of an ordinary fighter with an RCS of over 6 square metres – an increase of 60,000 times.
Their detection method covered a vast battlefield of around 63,000 sq km (24,300 square miles), ensuring that regardless of the F-22’s manoeuvres it would remain firmly within the sight of China’s radar network, said Xie and his colleagues in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics on February 26.
These results suggest the potential impact of their research on the F-22’s combat effectiveness could be considerable, given that its air-to-air missiles had a range of about 100km (62 miles) and, for smart bomb attacks on ground targets, it must be within a 20km radius. The F-22 must evade detection or locking by enemy defence systems before it could reach its effective strike range.
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Xie’s team said this new detection technology enabled China’s radar system to pinpoint the F-22’s real-time position with remarkable accuracy, achieving a minimal error of nearly 20 metres (65 feet). This information could then be swiftly relayed to interceptor fighters or air-defence missiles.