Originally posted by Trent
The cost would be too great if the technology is countered by advanced radar. In fact according to this article i have linked at least one company has
made a great deal of progress doing this.
Vera-E is not really a new system. For some reason, journalists love to make claims about systems
they don't understand. Then everyone starts panicking about the "new anti-stealth radars" Lol. Forbes magazine is not exactly what one would
consider knowledgable in these technologies.
The US is no stranger to ELINT, look up the Navy's "White Cloud" system sometime. We do from space what Vera-E does from land. The US blocked the
Vera-E sale to China and purchased a system from the Czech government as a standard policy move, both to allow us to analyze the system, and to keep
the tech away from China.
The Russians have a similar system called "Kolchuga". Its an array of passive sensors which can be combined with S-300/400 SAM installations. The
system is produced by Topaz in the Ukraine.
It's not a radar system at all. It operates by scanning for electromagnetic emissions from things like transponders, com links, etc. By dispersing
the sensors geographically, the system can triangulate on an emitting target.
To assume that the US is not aware of these systems, and hasn't developed countermeasures, is a bit naive. Raptors in hostile airspace use tight beam
communications between other AC and satellites, it doesn't broadcast an omnidirectional signal like a radio or a transponder does. It really doesn't
need to be emitting anything, as it can rely on satellites for data relayed from AEW&C platforms operating beyond the hostile airspace. It's very
unlikely that Vera-E or a comparable passive system will pick up a com link from a Raptor.
The US and Australia are co-developing an even more advanved system which uses ionosphere jumping in the same way to detect distortions in the radio
emissions in flooded airspaces. This doesn't rely on emissions from the target like Vera-E and Kolchuga does, it can detect disturbances in emissions
from sources like television and radio broadcast antennas, cell transmitters, etc. This works well in dense areas where there are a lot of these types
of emissions, but in desert or sparsely populated areas it is less effective. Of course it can still pick up emissions from an aircraft that is
transmitting em from radar, radios, etc.
Naturally no AC will be untouchable forever. Eventually the systems like the one that the US and OZ are developing will become commonplace, and the
stealth characteristics of the Raptor will be rendered less effective.
But todays ELINT systems are not effective against the Raptor or the B-2, because those platforms manage their emissions. It's part of the overall
stealth picture. Being stealthy is much more than just having a low RCS.
