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> THz radar I've got your THz right here (shines laser pointer at sensor) You'll see puff pieces from radar manufacturers saying "we spotted your best stealth
by jjoonathan 4y ago
> THz radar
I've got your THz right here (shines laser pointer at sensor)
You'll see puff pieces from radar manufacturers saying "we spotted your best stealth plane, game's up," but they tend to leave out critical details like how more sensitive radars tend to be more vulnerable to jamming. Detecting a stealth aircraft in peacetime is a very different prospect from detecting a stealth aircraft in a hostile EW environment, which is itself different from an outright hostile environment where every radar pulse is a targeting opportunity for an anti-radiation missile.
Also, it's not black and white: range of detection matters. Shrink it enough and either your opponent has to put up more radars or you get the opportunity to slip through. Retro-reflective stealth is defeated by networked radar, but then the opposing forces have to maintain a network and you can try to disrupt that network. Even if you can't disrupt the network, it doesn't fit on a missile, so now the missile either can't target you or needs network communication to target you, and now you can try to go after the missile's network, which is wireless and even easier to mess with.
Stealth isn't necessarily an overriding factor these days, but it definitely gives you options and puts pressure on the opposition.