I have often questioned whether Stealth and aircraft with the First Strike ability are really political and national defence holy grail that many give it credit for. I think that there are relatively effective counter measures to Stealth aircraft that are relatively cheap aswell therefore open to many nations to utilise.
For example;
A satelite orbiting over the enemy country could be fitted with sensors that can detect the launch of say a B2, F117 or even a F22 by detecting the heat exaust of the plane and to ensure that it has detected a military plane and not civilian it could also have sensors comparing the shape/silhouete of the aircraft to a internal database of aircraft (like the remote sensors of the Future Combat Systems program utilise to identify and distinguishenemy ground vehicles from civilian).
I beleive this is credible because there already exists satelites used by the USA and Russia(USSR at the time) that detect the launch of an ICBM over enemy territory by detecting the heat exaust from the missile. Is it not too far of a stretch to think that with better and more sensitive sensors the satelites could be tweaked to detect the launch of a B2, B1 or F22?
This is because the current inventory of First Strike Stealth Aircraft all produce rather large heat exaust compared to WW2 era bombers. Also Scram Jets and hypersonic aircraft produce massive amounts of heat therefore this satelite could be a strong counter measure to these yet to be fielded long range aircraft. The B2 diverts its exaust upwards to lower its succeptability to SAMs, therefore a Satelite is in a perfect position to detect a B2 given it has the required technology. A B1 is a Supersonic aircraft and produces an enourmous amount of heat from its engines aswell thus same case as with the B2. A B52 would be very hard to detect by by heat exaust but its relatively easy to detect by radar given there are no electronic counter measures on board. The F22 would seem to be the hardest aircraft to detect due to it using smaller engines thus smaller heat signature which may be too small to detect from a low orbit satelite, but none the less this aircraft would still find it difficult to make deep strikes in a country without being vulnerable before or after ordinance release aswell as fuel/range constaints, thus limiting it to Coastal First strike capability.
I see this as a strong counter measure to the political effect of First Strike Capability and Stealth. Also in the case of the US, military commanders would be less likely to send a B2 out to attack said country due because the plane is too valuable to loose now more than ever with this new counter measures thus reducing the roles of the B2.
Do you agree such a Satelite would be an effective First Strike and Stealth Counter measure and whether the technology exists to detect these smaller heat signatures?
For example;
A satelite orbiting over the enemy country could be fitted with sensors that can detect the launch of say a B2, F117 or even a F22 by detecting the heat exaust of the plane and to ensure that it has detected a military plane and not civilian it could also have sensors comparing the shape/silhouete of the aircraft to a internal database of aircraft (like the remote sensors of the Future Combat Systems program utilise to identify and distinguishenemy ground vehicles from civilian).
I beleive this is credible because there already exists satelites used by the USA and Russia(USSR at the time) that detect the launch of an ICBM over enemy territory by detecting the heat exaust from the missile. Is it not too far of a stretch to think that with better and more sensitive sensors the satelites could be tweaked to detect the launch of a B2, B1 or F22?
This is because the current inventory of First Strike Stealth Aircraft all produce rather large heat exaust compared to WW2 era bombers. Also Scram Jets and hypersonic aircraft produce massive amounts of heat therefore this satelite could be a strong counter measure to these yet to be fielded long range aircraft. The B2 diverts its exaust upwards to lower its succeptability to SAMs, therefore a Satelite is in a perfect position to detect a B2 given it has the required technology. A B1 is a Supersonic aircraft and produces an enourmous amount of heat from its engines aswell thus same case as with the B2. A B52 would be very hard to detect by by heat exaust but its relatively easy to detect by radar given there are no electronic counter measures on board. The F22 would seem to be the hardest aircraft to detect due to it using smaller engines thus smaller heat signature which may be too small to detect from a low orbit satelite, but none the less this aircraft would still find it difficult to make deep strikes in a country without being vulnerable before or after ordinance release aswell as fuel/range constaints, thus limiting it to Coastal First strike capability.
I see this as a strong counter measure to the political effect of First Strike Capability and Stealth. Also in the case of the US, military commanders would be less likely to send a B2 out to attack said country due because the plane is too valuable to loose now more than ever with this new counter measures thus reducing the roles of the B2.
Do you agree such a Satelite would be an effective First Strike and Stealth Counter measure and whether the technology exists to detect these smaller heat signatures?
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