Diamonds, D&D, and Disco Balls... Demystifying Stealth
Sorcery? Black arts? Not quite. One can not discuss fighter aircraft these days without mentioning its "stealthiness". Stealth has become such an overwhelming issue that it has come to define the "Fifth Generation" of fighter jets. Many even claim that a stealthy aircraft need not worry about other more traditional performance parameters like speed and maneuverability. "You can't shoot what you can't see!" they say. It is implied that stealth aircraft fly around completely unseen, like some sort of ninja in the sky. So how does stealth work? I am not going to pretend that this is a definitive thesis on the subject. Modern stealth design is complicated stuff. It is far from wizardry however. Radar Radar is, in simplest terms, a form of electromagnet energy. It is emitted from one source, radiates outward, then bounces off various objects in the atmosphere. It is invisible to the naked eye, ther...