A bolt on kit - Highly unlikely.
If they have had stealth for such a long time the world would know.
"A Russian scientific research organisation is to offer for export a 'bolt-on' stealth device that it claims renders non-stealthy aircraft practically invisible to radar. The system, which envelops the aircraft in a cloak of ionised gas known as a plasma, is said to be fully developed, with work on a "third-generation visibility-reduction system" under way.
In the opinion of designers at Mikoyan and Sukhoi, the expense of all-embracing low-observable technology as applied in the US Air Force's F-117 and B-2 outweighs its effectiveness. Russians prefer to stress the 'balance' achieved in their latest-generation of fighter designs between aerodynamic efficiency and stealth.
Keldysh NITs said that "first- and second-" generation plasma-generators had been tested on the ground and in flight. The centre is working on a third-generation system "based on new physical principles", a possible reference to the use of electrostatic energy around an airframe to reduce RCS.
Jane's Defence Wekly, March 17, 1999
PS: note the date - 1999 (!)
Originally posted by American Mad Man
Also they didn't look at both plasma stealth and conventional RAM/shaping stealth and say "hmmmm, we think the plasma works better" because the fact is they didn't have the money to work on "western" stealth. So the plasma version was not a choice because they could not have gone the other path if they had wanted.
Originally posted by waynos
Only thing is that the picture of the Tu-180 was published on April Fools Day 1996! I wouldn't pin your arguments on a doctored photo of the Tu-160 Blackjack![]()
Static and flight experiments proved the effectiveness of this technology. The first generation devices, producing plasma field surrounding an aircraft and decreasing reflected signal were created in the Center. Later, a possibily of creating second generation advanced systems (capable of not only decreasing reflected signal and changing its wavelength, but also producing some false signals) was discovered.
Such systems significantly complicate determination of actual aircraft's speed, its location and leads to development of completely new approaches to LO provision, unachievable to conventional Stealth technology.
Furthermore, the weight of the systems developed in Russia do not exeed 100 kg, and power consumption ranges from kilowatts to tens of kilowatts.
Advances in development of the third generation LO systems allowed to clear the systems of first and second generation for export, commented academic Anatoliy Korteev.
26/01/99
(c) ITAR-TASS,
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