Recently, Chinese researchers and engineers have developed an airship drone that is lighter than air itself: a reconnaissance aircraft equipped with an infrared sensor optimized to detect the heat plume emitted by all jet bombers and fighters.
Although the use of infrared sensors for detecting stealth aircraft is not new, the Chinese claim that their new infrared sensor can detect stealth aircraft up to 1,240 miles away. If this claim holds true, the detection range would surpass current aircraft-mounted infrared search and tracking systems by over 10 times.
It is important to note that the maximum detection range as claimed is only achieved when an infrared sensor on the drone detects the stealth aircraft from its rear or side. Due to the reduced front-facing heat signature of stealth aircraft, especially at high altitudes, the frontal detection range, particularly for high-altitude stealth aircraft, would decrease to around 217.5 miles.
This optimized sensor was developed by researchers at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Jilin Province. These sensors will be mounted on a large, airship-like drone approximately 150 meters long, capable of slow movement or long-duration hovering at around 65,000 feet.
Deploying these drones at such altitudes maximizes the drone’s range. However, challenges remain as cloud cover and other atmospheric conditions can significantly reduce the detection range of these systems. Yet, under ideal conditions, this improved detection range represents a notable addition to China’s multi-layered approach to detecting stealth aircraft, alongside various radar systems including over-the-horizon radars that can detect stealth aircraft from even greater distances with minimal weather interference.
Furthermore, the telescopes used on these drones suggest that their ability to detect infrared signals may be concentrated within relatively small areas. This may necessitate deploying numerous such drones to cover larger areas effectively.
The new anti-stealth airship drone is not groundbreaking. While the technology behind infrared sensors has been enhanced through the use of telescopes and frequency tuning primarily for detecting the wake of stealth aircraft, the core enabling technology has been widely employed in mercury-cadmium-telluride-based infrared detectors. Therefore, what we are discussing is not a scientific breakthrough but rather a clever engineering solution that the U.S. and other technologically advanced countries could quickly replicate.
The U.S. has invested billions in tethered aerostats as an economically effective method to significantly increase radar coverage range. This method is much more cost-effective than operating airborne early warning and control aircraft, which incur high acquisition and maintenance costs.
This new airborne system is designed to detect and track aircraft including F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, the new B-21 bomber, and the B-2 bomber. Yet, China’s long-range radar network could potentially detect these aircraft, surpassing the range of the new aircraft-mounted infrared detection system.
While both the new aircraft-mounted infrared sensor and long-range radar systems may not provide precise tracking data required for weapons-grade targeting, they can offer sufficient information useful in many aspects of countering stealth aircraft.
For instance, they can guide intercepting fighters to directly engage stealth aircraft. By narrowing the search space, they can prompt air defense missile radars to concentrate radar energy into smaller areas, thereby detecting stealth aircraft and providing weapons-grade tracking for air defense missiles to lock onto stealth aircraft. They may guide missiles with post-launch lock-on capability to come within close enough proximity for the missile’s sensors, radar, infrared, or a combination thereof to target approaching stealth aircraft.
In conclusion, China, along with Russia and other countries, have developed a variety of anti-stealth systems, including satellites, lasers, infrared sensors, and a range of different radar systems, all poised for enhancement through artificial intelligence. Overall, the growth in capability of anti-stealth systems and solutions in detecting stealth aircraft outpaces the advancement in making aircraft stealthier.
Does this mean the era of stealth aircraft is over? The answer is no. However, if our strategy for air superiority revolves around the notion that incorporating stealth technology into aircraft will inevitably lead to overwhelming kill ratios or the ability to strike deep into enemy territory with impunity, then placing too many eggs in the stealth technology basket could be a grave mistake.
Therefore, perhaps the U.S. needs to reconsider to what extent their military strength relies on stealth aircraft technology relative to options less susceptible to breakthroughs or the incremental stacking of minor breakthroughs. After all, these breakthroughs or incremental breakthroughs have actually weakened the advantage of stealth aircraft, considering the substantial costs already incurred for purchasing, maintaining, and supporting stealth aircraft.