The U.S. military would envy this. China's counter-stealth radars are flourishing everywhere, uniquely created globally, and the strongest and most numerous in the world. These three "most" cannot fully summarize the development of China's counter-stealth radars.
Just a few days ago, at the World Radar Expo, China directly showcased three types of counter-stealth radars: VHF counter-stealth radar, energy counter-stealth radar, and passive no-source detection radar. First, the newly unveiled JY-27V high-mobility VHF radar. Stealth aircraft are not optically stealthy; they just don't reflect radar waves.
The history of radar actually originated from VHF radar. In 1922, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory detected a wooden ship using an experimental device with a wavelength of 5 meters. During World War II, most of the Allies' radars operated within the VHF band (1.5 to 10 meters). Their main drawbacks were large size and weight, poor resolution, low detection accuracy, plus crowded frequency bands and poor interference resistance. Therefore, after World War II, countries around the world competed to develop new radars in higher frequency bands. It was precisely because all countries had successively abandoned VHF radar.
So when researching stealth materials, the U.S. never considered absorbing meter-level electromagnetic waves. Moreover, traditional VHF radars also lacked anti-stealth capabilities because they merely selected the radar working wavelength in the VHF band, which produced no anti-stealth effect. Wu Jianqi, an expert in China's radar field, discovered that in the resonance region, the target RCS fluctuates quite dramatically with frequency, while resonance radar, due to its optimal frequency selection, has stable and excellent anti-stealth effects. After years of effort, Wu Jianqi solved all the defects of VHF radar, thus creating the world's first VHF anti-stealth radar. Over a decade ago, it achieved continuous tracking of F-22s taking off from South Korea from over 400 kilometers away.
The reason our AWACS aircraft have anti-stealth capabilities is because they use VHF technology. One extraordinary aspect of the JY-27V high-mobility VHF anti-stealth radar is its guidance capability, allowing it to guide our weapons systems for strikes. Generally, people believe that traditional VHF radars may only have precision up to tens of kilometers. Even if the PLA's anti-stealth radars are impressive, achieving precision within hundreds of meters would be solving a global problem. However, the 27V detection precision reaches the 10-meter level of microwave radars, enabling it to lock onto and guide weapon systems to strike stealth aircraft from 500 kilometers away.
The JY-27V high-mobility VHF anti-stealth radar also adopts a modular design. The only exposed part in space is the radar antenna, while the true command system and receiver core equipment can be hidden in underground shelters 5 kilometers away, so it is not easily discovered. Destroying it would only destroy the radar lines.
Of course, VHF radar is just the basic operation of the PLA. Energy anti-stealth radar is a revolutionary technology never encountered by the West. The principle of stealth aircraft is to minimize reflected radar echoes. If the emitted radar energy is significantly increased, the radar echoes of stealth aircraft will also increase accordingly.
This is energy anti-stealth. Traditional anti-stealth radar technology focuses on frequency bands. Then opponents might develop specialized stealth materials to counteract them. But energy anti-stealth radar is different. As long as you do not adopt full-band stealth technology, they can all be tracked and locked onto.
Some netizens might argue that what good is strong radar technology if it can just be destroyed by a missile once discovered? To address this issue, China has uniquely developed passive no-source detection radar.
Since passive radar itself does not emit electromagnetic signals but detects, tracks, and locates targets through receiving radiation signals from airborne targets, it deprives anti-radiation missiles of their guidance medium, preventing them from capturing, tracking, and attacking passive radar via electromagnetic signals or being discovered by enemy electronic reconnaissance systems. Therefore, it is highly survivable, and passive radar is often called the "bane" of anti-radiation missiles.
How can it perform anti-stealth without emitting electromagnetic waves? It relies on existing electromagnetic signals in the environment, such as FM radio broadcast signals, digital TV signals (DTMB), mobile phone base station signals, and even Starlink satellite communication signals. Passive radar reuses these signals, treating them as "searchlights" for detecting targets. When a stealth aircraft flies by, it reflects these signals like a mirror, forming echoes, thus possessing powerful anti-stealth capabilities.
You see, the U.S. military still lacks anti-stealth radar technology. However, look at China; at one exhibition, it displayed three major types of anti-stealth radars. This indicates a problem: China has built a multi-dimensional anti-stealth system covering sea, land, air, and space. Even if the U.S. develops sixth-generation aircraft, it would struggle to cope with China's anti-stealth technology.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7509149728416809472/
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