Well, I suppose that now that the cat is out of the bag, there's no real need to keep guarding the secrets on detecting stealth aircraft. :) I forgot the details of how I learned about this (I think I read a hint on some forum and then figured out the "last mile" myself), but basically - radiowaves reflect off (AKA interact with) electrically conductive lines that are approximately the size of their waves. So modern radars which operate on GHz interact with metal surfaces approximately 0.1 to 0.01 meters in size. This is why stealth airplanes have a broken-up shape: it prevents them from having a flat surface of several centimeters in length, which would give a good reflection. But a VHF/UHF radar emits waves whose lenghts are 1 meter or more in length. At those lengths, it doesn't matter how broken up the airplane surface is, it's all flat for the wave. The downside is that it also sees all kinds of gunk above and beyond airplanes, such as clouds. It also has lower spacial resolution, needs bigger antennas etc etc.
Funny story: some years/a decade ago, Australia built an early warning radar. At the time, they said the radar picks up stealth airplanes as well as any other and they explained this by saying the waves reflect off the ionosphere and "come down on" the airplanes vertically and reflect off the cockpit, and that this is the reason. In reality, the radar operates on HF, with wavelengths 10-100 meters. Thus the entire airplane sits comfortably in a single wave. History doesn't record if Aussies were aware of the wavelength connundrum I explained above. :)
One other comment: considering how non-automated and BLOODY SLOW the entire operation was, it's a wonder they shot down anything at all. It's also amazing how those radars weren't moveable, to evade the HARM. It also shows how sloppy and disorganized NATO was. If NATO were serious, they would have had one or two Nighthawks trailing the attack craft, specifically to deter air defence. I think they started doing that after they lost their first airplane. But the word on the street is they used ordinary non-stealthy airplanes in that role.
All in all, shit equipment, I'm amazed our guys shot down anything at all. The stuff they have now is a little better but it's still shit. What we need is some 5-10 S-400, for a start. Maybe some nukes on ballistic missiles as well (to kill Aviano). Anything less is just asking for trouble.
Thank you for this riveting account of the tense and rapid action inside the cramped Serbian Air Defense unit, fighting time, second by second, to kill or be killed, Mike.
So here's the question on everyone's mind -- given this experience from back in the days, how will modern Russian AD do against a mass raid by F-22s and F-35s?
Great article! It did bring back a lot of memories, including the exhilaration when I received a bag full of burnt carbonfibre/cevlar pieces, detached from a honeycomb, some of them with thin copper foil on the other side... (my neighbor's late mother-in-law had a plot of land in Budjanovci)
Well, I suppose that now that the cat is out of the bag, there's no real need to keep guarding the secrets on detecting stealth aircraft. :) I forgot the details of how I learned about this (I think I read a hint on some forum and then figured out the "last mile" myself), but basically - radiowaves reflect off (AKA interact with) electrically conductive lines that are approximately the size of their waves. So modern radars which operate on GHz interact with metal surfaces approximately 0.1 to 0.01 meters in size. This is why stealth airplanes have a broken-up shape: it prevents them from having a flat surface of several centimeters in length, which would give a good reflection. But a VHF/UHF radar emits waves whose lenghts are 1 meter or more in length. At those lengths, it doesn't matter how broken up the airplane surface is, it's all flat for the wave. The downside is that it also sees all kinds of gunk above and beyond airplanes, such as clouds. It also has lower spacial resolution, needs bigger antennas etc etc.
Funny story: some years/a decade ago, Australia built an early warning radar. At the time, they said the radar picks up stealth airplanes as well as any other and they explained this by saying the waves reflect off the ionosphere and "come down on" the airplanes vertically and reflect off the cockpit, and that this is the reason. In reality, the radar operates on HF, with wavelengths 10-100 meters. Thus the entire airplane sits comfortably in a single wave. History doesn't record if Aussies were aware of the wavelength connundrum I explained above. :)
One other comment: considering how non-automated and BLOODY SLOW the entire operation was, it's a wonder they shot down anything at all. It's also amazing how those radars weren't moveable, to evade the HARM. It also shows how sloppy and disorganized NATO was. If NATO were serious, they would have had one or two Nighthawks trailing the attack craft, specifically to deter air defence. I think they started doing that after they lost their first airplane. But the word on the street is they used ordinary non-stealthy airplanes in that role.
All in all, shit equipment, I'm amazed our guys shot down anything at all. The stuff they have now is a little better but it's still shit. What we need is some 5-10 S-400, for a start. Maybe some nukes on ballistic missiles as well (to kill Aviano). Anything less is just asking for trouble.
Thank you for this riveting account of the tense and rapid action inside the cramped Serbian Air Defense unit, fighting time, second by second, to kill or be killed, Mike.
Surprisingly interesting even for someone who doesn't know much about it... Thank you!
Great reading! I've shared the link on my Substack.
A Skeptic War Reports
https://askeptic.substack.com/
I'm only part way through the article and will to finish it later but it is already super interesting. Thank you.
Fascinating account of the complex art of combat radar. Thank you!
So here's the question on everyone's mind -- given this experience from back in the days, how will modern Russian AD do against a mass raid by F-22s and F-35s?
Great read!
WEGA IS DOWN>
Mike nice textmy friend.
Great story. Thanks for sharing
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240327/how-yugoslavia-shot-us-f-117-stealth-bomber-program-down-into-early-retirement-1117588928.html
Thank you Mike! Sputnik globe, post this just now!
Great article! It did bring back a lot of memories, including the exhilaration when I received a bag full of burnt carbonfibre/cevlar pieces, detached from a honeycomb, some of them with thin copper foil on the other side... (my neighbor's late mother-in-law had a plot of land in Budjanovci)
Thank you.