US AIR FORCE MASTERS DISGUISE
Wednesday may 8th, 1996 / posted May 12, 1996
Source: The Times Interface supplement newspaper
By Anjana Ahuja
When it comes to warfare, disguise and stealth can mean the difference
between life and death. That is why the United States Air Force is
looking into new ways of fooling anti-aircraft missiles. It has
developed a shimmering aircraft coating to confuse scanning sensors.
The coating is electrically charged and its pattern of shimmering is
controlled by a rapidly varying electric field. To a missile scanner
using visible light, the image of the aircraft would become visibly
distorted, hamporing the missiles ability to lock onto its target. The
shimmering does not, however, confuse the human eye or cameras to the
same degree.
Another project in the pipeline, according to a report in Aviation
Week and Space Technology, concentrates on tricking infra-red sensors.
An aircraft coating similar to the one described would allow infra-red
hotspots to be shifted around the plane. Shifting them to the tips of
the wings, say, could throw a missile off-course.
More futuristic attempts to deceive the enemy include developing more
sophisticated decoys which can be towed by planes, or devising lasers
powerful enough to destroy the scanner.
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