THE TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD MAKE HYPERSONIC STEALTH FIGHTERS A REALITY
Alex Hollings | September 20, 2022
Stealth fighters are widely seen as the pinnacle of modern tactical aviation technology. But in terms of both sheer performance and operating cost, they often fall short of older, more dated platforms like the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and Su-35 Flanker-E. While fighter design is an incredibly complex process, a fair portion of the blame for both underwhelming performance figures and seemingly untenable operating costs can be attributed to a single technology: Radar Absorbing Materials, or RAM.
While often thought of as little more than “stealth paint,” radar absorbing materials are essential to the operation of stealth aircraft, but also account for a large portion of the operating costs associated with 5th generation fighters. Worse still, the physical limitations of these materials often become the physical limitations of the aircraft they treat, stifling the performance of the world’s most advanced fighters in the air, while simultaneously limiting both fleet size and readiness rates on the ground.
But that may not be the case for long. A new type of ceramic radar absorbing material could not only drastically reduce the limitations current materials place on low observable aircraft, but also could launch stealth into a new era of aviation — paving the way for stealth to enter the hypersonic realm.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/the-technology-that-could-make-hypersonic-stealth-fighters-a-reality/
