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Tan Zhang, a scientist involved in the project, said in a peer-reviewed paper published in the China Radio Science Journal in December that the project has many advantages, including “simple structure, wide power adjustment range, and high plasma density.” He said there is.
Chinese scientists claim they can track ships using foreign military radar
Chinese scientists claim they can track ships using foreign military radar
The plasma could change the frequency of the reflected signal, causing enemy radar to detect false data about the aircraft’s position and speed and obtain a false signal. It also acts as an invisible “shield” against high-powered microwave weapons.
Tan’s team said two types of plasma stealth devices have already been tested. One device coats the aircraft’s radar-prone areas with radioactive isotopes and emits high-energy beams that ionize the surrounding air. This forms a plasma layer thick and dense enough to cover the surface and scatter radar signals. Another of his devices uses high-frequency, high-voltage electricity to activate and ionize the gaseous medium outside the aircraft, creating a plasma field.
“Both of these methods of achieving stealth with cold plasma have been flight tested and proven to be successful,” Tan’s team wrote in their paper.
However, existing plasma stealth technology has some drawbacks. When exposed to an open environment, plasma is difficult to shape accurately and maintaining a consistently high density is also a challenge. Gaps in the plasma can reflect electromagnetic waves, revealing the aircraft’s location.
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China airs footage of Fujian aircraft carrier equipped with advanced catapult launch system
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Tan’s team said many Chinese researchers, including those in the Air Force, are currently working on developing sealed plasma stealth technology, building on existing achievements. This confines the plasma within a sealed cavity, facilitating the generation of a dense plasma and making it possible to modify its characteristic parameters to absorb multiband electromagnetic waves. This could further protect critical areas that are targeted by enemy radars, “such as radar domes and pilot cockpits,” the scientists said.
Tan’s team has developed one such device that uses electron beam discharge to generate a large, confined area of plasma, and this method is being shown to the public for the first time. Compared to other reported technologies, such as sealed high-frequency plasma discharge devices, this approach separates the plasma from the generator and increases the flexibility of the cavity design to fit different aircraft structures.
The research team said the plasma generated by the electron beam offers greater tunability of physical properties, higher energy efficiency, reduced power demand from aircraft and lighter weight, making it ideal for practical applications. .
Testing of the prototype on the ground demonstrated the feasibility of the design. However, not everyone will be able to build this machine, since behind the seemingly simple structure there are many technical challenges. For example, researchers in China say accurately measuring plasma inside the cavity is a major hurdle with existing methods.
The development of this project included a number of innovations, some of which were shared by Tan’s team in the paper, including techniques to control inert gas density within the cavity.
They emphasized that applying this technology to specific engineering applications requires careful consideration of the structural characteristics of the aircraft.
“We expect this technology to be implemented in China in the near future,” Tan and his colleagues added.
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