Chinese media use words like “unprecedented,” “groundbreaking,” and “never done before” to describe a current one Research project. Become there Starlink satellites used to create an alternative radar system – without the US company SpaceX is directly involved.
With this method it is possible to use US fighter aircraft Stealth properties to track down. “It has the potential to change the future of warfare,” .
Experiment with drone successful
Unlike similar Chinese studies exploring how to defeat U.S. stealth technology, this one involved a real-world experiment. A drone of this type was spotted on the coast of Guangdong DJI Phantom 4 Pro flown over the South China Sea.
It appeared on the researchers’ screen – although no radar radiation was sent in the direction of the drone. They only used one receiving antenna the size of a frying pan. This was made possible by a method that previously only existed in theory.
This is how radar works
Radar traditionally works like this: radar beams are sent out from… bounce off objects. The radar catches the reflected rays. The larger the object, the more rays are reflected.
Aircraft with stealth technology use specific fuselage shapes and coatings to block incoming radar beams disperse. This means that fewer of them bounce back to the radar. One then speaks of a small one Radarquerschnitt. The smaller it is, the harder it is for the radar to detect an object.
So stealth technology makes an airplane kleiner for the radar than it actually is. Because of the small radar cross-section, standard ground radar systems cannot detect small drones, such as a DJI Phantom 4 Pro.
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The Starlink trick
In order to detect the drone, the researchers did not use radar beams, but rather Radio signals a Starlink satellite. If an object flies through the radio signals that such a satellite constantly emits, some of the radio waves are scattered and the radio signal is thereby scattered disturbed.
The researchers have these small ones with their antenna Signal turbulence received and were able to determine the position of the drone. To make this work, they have their own algorithm developed. The system should be precise enough to be able to capture even small details of the drone, such as Movement of the propellers.
Upgrading existing radar systems
The method should also make it possible for American stealth fighters like that F-22 and F-35to track down.
These should have a radar cross section of just 0.0005 to 0.005 m² – which makes them only as large as a radar marble or one Golf ball appear. The DJI Phantom drone is significantly larger.
However, the researchers only used a very small receiving antenna for their experiment. Would their algorithm in existing military radar systems If they were taken over, they could probably also use the method to detect stealth bombers and fighters.
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Another advantage of the system for military applications is that no radar beams are emitted, so it passive works. Modern fighter jets have warning systems that detect when they are detected by air defense radar. Without active radar beams, the warning system does not start and the pilots have less time to react if the air defense becomes active.
In addition, such a system is not vulnerable to The anti-radar missile. These are air-to-surface missiles that automatically target the source of the outgoing radar beams. This allows fighter jets to switch off the air defense radar systems, which are then virtually blind.
Russia had the idea back in 2015
Russian scientists had the basic idea for this system last year 2015. However, there were significantly fewer satellites in space back then, which is why the idea remained a theory until now. SpaceX launched its first pilot series of 60 Starlink satellites in 2019.
There are now over 6,000 Starlink satellites in space and there are more and more of them. Since they cover the entire earth, they are ideal for the system.
The fact that SpaceX is involuntarily helping to track down US stealth fighters could be difficult to stop. Internet satellite service does not officially exist in China: the signal is encrypted so that it cannot be used there. But it will still be broadcast.
Would SpaceX do that? Transmission operation of Starlink whenever the satellites fly over China and the China Sea, this would also disrupt operations in other countries in the region, such as Japan and the Philippines. A Changing orbitsSo that the satellites no longer fly over the Chinese coast would be even more complicated and would cause even more disruption to operations.
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War with the USA in the Pacific
At the moment, however, the Chinese military does not seem to be interested in this system – otherwise they would have kept the researchers’ work secret. But that can still change. China is massively arming its armed forces, both in terms of… Crowd as well as Technology concerns. The government is preparing for a military conflict with the US in the Pacific should they attempt to do so Taiwan to assist in a Chinese invasion.
Due to the situation, this conflict will probably be fought largely with ships and aircraft. The USA still seems to have an advantage here in terms of numbers with its stealth bombers and stealth fighters. If China does not produce its own stealth bombers and fighters quickly enough, it would have to rely on the Air defense systems leave to secure the airspace. And resources that can be used to reliably detect stealth aircraft are very valuable.
