RCS

After reading wespoint23's 3rd post which included this quote from Janes

Many features of the Bird of Prey support the hypothesis that it was designed for unprecedented RCS levels: possibly an RCS of -70dBsm, or rather smaller than a mosquito.

www.janes.com...

i was wondering, how small does the rcs of a plane have to be before the latest ground and air based radars cant pick it up at all?

justin

that is rather unknown and top secret.

It all depends on the type, power and programming. Many radars will squelch really small returns to eliminate birds.

The bird of prey was one weird looking aircraft indeed, and if its stealth was really that good, then why not build a fleet of 30 / 40 lager versions ie a bigger payload and fuel load, but keep the same shape ??


Seems if it was stealthier than the raptor and the F-35, it would make a great recon plane with a pallet system to be able to do strikes as well... a natural successor to the F-117 that has been mothballed before it could attain greatness?

The Bird of Prey was a technology demonstrator, not a prototype. It looked really cool, but had only marginal handling qualities. Data from the program could be applied to future designs for stealth UAVs, attack aircraft and reconnaissance platforms.

aaaahhhh i see!

Cheers shadow hawk for that one I've been wondering for years where the fully developed craft is that sprung from th prototype - Now as its a tech demonstartion craft, i'll be qiuet


But, if the F-117 can go from tech demonstator to a fully usable combat system under a no bids grant.... oh man i wish the bird of prey had - looks the blooming sweetness

Originally posted by justin_barton3

i was wondering, how small does the rcs of a plane have to be before the latest ground and air based radars cant pick it up at all?

justin

Justin,

We have a thread that is all about how stealth technology works. I believe there are a couple post in there on how RCS works and how radar finds things.How Stealth Works

Basicly it boils down to fooling the computer. Radar can be set to pick up tiny drops of water vapor or even smaller things, which is why it is used for weather fortcasting. At a cirten point, the computer is programmed to filter out anything smaller than a certine size.

Tim