UK airships against minefields.

I think that Zeus can only disable objects above ground such as IED's and other surface bombs. I guess if someone could clear the dirt/soil on top of the mines then the Zeus could disable them.

Originally posted by longbow

Originally posted by paperplane_uk
...yes ground penetrating radar has been around for a while, but till now had to be in contact with the ground to work ...

Are you sure? I heard B-2 Spirit has radar with underground maping capability too (against soviet nuclear silos and other critical underground targets).



[edit on 12-4-2005 by longbow]

Sorry? The B2 now has advanced underground nuclear missile silo mapping radar?

Well I can't argue with you if that's what you've heard, but perhaps someone could explain to me why you would spend billions producing a plane that is ridiculously difficult to spot on radar, only to stick a sodding great ground penetrating radar in it and light it up like a xmas tree for every man and his dog to have a shot at? I've no idea if it's true or not, but it sounds a little strange to me.

[edit on 13-4-2005 by Badger]

Originally posted by Badger
... perhaps someone could explain to me why you would spend billions producing a plane that is ridiculously difficult to spot on radar, only to stick a sodding great ground penetrating radar in it and light it up like a xmas tree for every man and his dog to have a shot at? I've know idea if it's true or not, but it sounds a little strange to me.

Are you saying that stealth planes cannot have radar? I don't know how they solved it but todays stealth planes all have radars (B-2, X-45, F-22, JSF, Darkstar - optional) , the F-117 days just with pasive sensors are long gone.
possibilities:
1. They made the radars difficult to intercept (like F-22 changing the frequencies) - don't know how usefull it is.
2. They decided it is worth the risk and the radar is "on" only for short periods of time.

Of course I don't know for sure that B-2 has underground penentrating radar, but todays SAR radars are able to do it (don't know how deep B-2 radars can go)


Recent studies have shown that SAR may provide a limited capability for imaging selected underground targets, such as utility lines, arms caches, bunkers, mines, etc. Depth of penetration varies with soil conditions (moisture content, conductivity, etc.) and target size, but individual measurements have shown the capability for detecting 55-gallon drums and power lines at depths of several meters. In dry sand, penetration depths of 10's of meters are possible.


Of course those "recent studies" are public studies, so it's possible that there was ground peentrating radar in the 90ties. Air Force people are always emphasing that B-2 was specifically designed for atacking underground structures so it is only logical that it will have such equipment.
BTW guess who is now producing most of the SAR radars for Air Force? Yes it's Northop.




[edit on 13-4-2005 by longbow]

Hey longbow, I wasn't having a pop at you, sorry if it came across that way.

Of course stealth planes can have radars, I'm just curious as to why someone in a B2 would want to switch the dam thing on. To boil it down to the absolute basics, whenever you start transmitting data you are at the very least advertising your presence, if not necessarily your precise position. Either way, it seems to me that it isn't the brightest of ideas to do that when your entire mission is to penetrate hostile airspace with the least possibility of detection.

Sure SAR has a low probability of intercept, and as you say frequency switching and only using it in short bursts, will help as well. It just seems to me to be a risk that is not worth taking, and probably uneccesary, when you're talking of such an expensive aircraft as the B2. The less you emit, the less chance you have of being found, but it's a hell of a gamble with a billion dollar aircraft in my opinion.

The missile would have to be really advanced if it is going the detect the B-2 when it was switching frequencies, I think the chances of being detected theoretically go up but in reality its not that much of a difference.