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Originally Posted by HistoricalDavid
You're correct, stealth usually refers to RCS but in fact must be applied to the whole gamut of detection capabilities. Put simply, if you have an airframe travelling at Mach 3, then making it IR-invisible is simply impossible. Your idea was already tried in the SR-71 and it still was a very, very hot object.
Is it low RCS or truly stealthy like the -129?
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Storm Shadow is pretty stealthy. `129 levels? That isn`t public consumption and never will be. It looks to have RAM coatings, possibly, the shaping is certainly an effort at a low RCS design. It still won`t be flown at medium alts`. We won`t know if the AGM-129 was successful at higher Alts`or not. I still suspect it would have performed better at lower mission altitudes.
Remember that defensive radar only got better. It is a game of diminishing returns. An F-22 will still be detected at 10 miles at certain aspects. Certainly less so with a low RCS missile but why take the chance? Stay down low!
A heavily defended target will be ringed with gap filling radars that will detect medium level intruders no matter how stealthy they are at current tech` levels. That is to say nothing of electro-optical/IR detection.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HistoricalDavid
Good info, but it still confirms my suspicion that the concept is sound. The execution, in the case of that missile, was not.
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The concept would have been sound 20 years ago, to fly a low observable missile at medium alts as long as it flew a meandering flight path around defensive radars, much like even the B-2 still does today. The clue may be in the cancellation of the `129. The USAF doesn`t like to do away with very capable systems.
Although I concede there may have been other considerations David, such as the effectiveness of the missile or monetary issues. Maybe we will find out in 30 years!
A missile with super stealth that can only be detected at very short ranges would prove a sound concept but I don`t think they exist. Any missile, with IR diffusing or not will have a detectable IR or UV signature, especially when you consider that IR detection systems can discern a temperature change of less than one degree.....