stealth, any military technology intended to make vehicles or missiles nearly invisible to enemy radar or other electronic detection.
Research in antidetection technology began soon after radar was invented. During World War II, the Germans coated their U-boat snorkels with radar-absorbent material. In the postwar era, researchers sought to discover the nature of “radar echoes,” trying to determine what factors contribute to the echoes, or beams of electromagnetic radiation (notably at radio wavelengths), that are bounced off objects of various shapes, sizes, surfaces, and composition. Saving aircraft from detection became a special concern, and by the 1980s the United States had developed models of stealth technology, including a prototype stealth bomber.
Although specific details concerning stealth technology are classified, some general information is known. For example, surface materials and coatings can absorb radar transmissions, reducing reflections to an enemy’s radar receiver. Reflections are also reduced by the use of smooth, rounded shapes instead of sharp edges and points. If missiles and other weapons can be recessed into the aircraft structure—carried conformally rather than as protrusions—the aircraft will be less detectable, and its drag will be reduced as well. The engine exhaust is the main contributor to an aircraft’s infrared signature, and shielding it may make detection more difficult.
Although a conformal weapon-carriage benefits aerodynamics as well as stealth, use of the stealth technology generally imposes penalties. Rounded surfaces often are not the best design. Absorbent materials make an aircraft heavier and reduce its range or payload. Minimizing doors and other openings in the fuselage makes surfaces smoother, especially after the wear and tear of normal operations over a period of years, but it causes maintenance of the aircraft to be more difficult. Virtually all of these measures, including weapon modifications for conformal carriage, increase costs.