Nanopaint...any aircraft invisible to radars
Israeli nanotechnology company Nanoflight is developing a new paint that makes war crafts incredibly difficult to detect on radar—providing a cheap alternative to specially designed stealth crafts.
In modern warfare, the stealth aircraft has become ubiquitous. Used in conflicts like Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, stealth craft are able to fly with very little detection from radar sensors. In fact, only one has ever been shot down. Despite their usefulness, stealth craft have a meticulous design that makes them expensive to produce and difficult to maintain. Now, using nanotechnology, an Israeli company has recently created a paint that can turn any war craft into a stealth fighting machine.
In typical radar detection, a transmitter emits electromagnetic waves, some of which scatter and others of which bounce back when they reach an object, betraying its presence to the enemy. The new technology, a substance which can be painted on an entire aircraft, uses nano-particles that absorb radio waves and then release them as heat waves. Since the radio waves never return to the transmitter, detection becomes much more difficult.
By design, the technology only prevents detection in most cases—some modern, high-tech detectors might still be able to identify the object. But since the material, which could be painted onto an entire fleet of fighter planes, is cheaper than creating an entirely new stealth craft, its advantages are evident.
The development of the material is nearing completion, and it may soon be used on war craft. "We have already completed the main development stage,” Eli Shaldag, a former senior Israel Air Force official who worked on the project, told Ynetnews. “We conducted a number of tests and discovered that the particles in their nanotechnology composition do significantly neutralize the ability to detect objects that have been painted with the material. We are entering the second stage, after which we will already be able to produce the material in larger quantities."
The researchers envision much broader applications of the nanotechnology. They imagine that it could be used in civilian buildings to prevent radiation from nearby power lines or painted onto sidewalks to combat air pollution.
In modern warfare, the stealth aircraft has become ubiquitous. Used in conflicts like Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, stealth craft are able to fly with very little detection from radar sensors. In fact, only one has ever been shot down. Despite their usefulness, stealth craft have a meticulous design that makes them expensive to produce and difficult to maintain. Now, using nanotechnology, an Israeli company has recently created a paint that can turn any war craft into a stealth fighting machine.
In typical radar detection, a transmitter emits electromagnetic waves, some of which scatter and others of which bounce back when they reach an object, betraying its presence to the enemy. The new technology, a substance which can be painted on an entire aircraft, uses nano-particles that absorb radio waves and then release them as heat waves. Since the radio waves never return to the transmitter, detection becomes much more difficult.
By design, the technology only prevents detection in most cases—some modern, high-tech detectors might still be able to identify the object. But since the material, which could be painted onto an entire fleet of fighter planes, is cheaper than creating an entirely new stealth craft, its advantages are evident.
The development of the material is nearing completion, and it may soon be used on war craft. "We have already completed the main development stage,” Eli Shaldag, a former senior Israel Air Force official who worked on the project, told Ynetnews. “We conducted a number of tests and discovered that the particles in their nanotechnology composition do significantly neutralize the ability to detect objects that have been painted with the material. We are entering the second stage, after which we will already be able to produce the material in larger quantities."
The researchers envision much broader applications of the nanotechnology. They imagine that it could be used in civilian buildings to prevent radiation from nearby power lines or painted onto sidewalks to combat air pollution.
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