Tim Kirkpatrick
For years, stealth technology has been silently dominating the world’s skies on various missions.
In 1912, German engineers wrapped their planes in transparent canvas to make them harder to spot during flight. But their plan failed as the coating ended up reflecting sunlight rather than hiding the plane.
Nowadays, stealth is all about beating the electronic eye rather than the human one.
Related: 5 countries that tried to shoot down the SR-71 Blackbird (and failed)
Most anti-aircraft ground radar sends out pulses of electromagnetic energy in forms of radio waves. The surface antenna then switches to receiver mode and waits for the pulses to return from the flying objects it’s tracking.
Once the pulse returns to the antenna, the computer systems will show a blip on the screen called a “Radar Cross Section.” Depending on the size of the incoming pulse, the image will reflect the size of the flying object on the screen.
The bigger the flying object to larger the blip
https://scout.com/military/warrior/Article/How-the-B-2s-Stealth-Technology-Beats-Ground-Radar-108709588
