TABLE OF CONTENTS The word radar was originally coined from the phrase radio detection and ranging. Since its invention during World War II, radar has played a crucial role in both military and civilian systems. In the civilian sector, radar is used for various aspects of navigation such as terrain avoidance, air traffic control, weather avoidance, and altimeters. In addition to these functions, radars on military platforms, such as planes, ships, and satellites, must perform reconnaissance, surveillance, and attack roles. Military missions that encounter an adversary s radar are most effectively performed when detection is avoided. Consequently, the reduction of radar cross section (RCS) has received high priority in the design of all new platforms.
Since the revelation of the stealth technology to the public in the early 1970s, the term stealth has been associated with invisible to radar. In fact, radar is only one of several sensors that is considered in the design of a low-observable (LO) platform. Others include infrared (IR), optical (visible), and acoustic (sound) sensors. It is also important that a low-observable target have low emissions. For example, a stealthy platform may be undetectable to an enemy radar but, if a standard high-power search radar is operating on the platform, the search radar is likely to be detected by the enemy s electronic support measures (ESM).
Stealthy targets are not completely invisible to radar, as is often implied by the popular media. To be undetectable, it is only necessary that a target s...
