IDSA Monograph Series No. 33 March 2014 STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON AERIAL WARFARE VIVEK KAPUR STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON AERIAL WARFARE | 1 IDSA MONOGRAPH SERIES NO. 33 March 2014 STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON AERIAL WARFARE VIVEK KAPUR 2 | VIVEK KAPUR Cover Illustration Courtesy: http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/ neuron/images/2-neuron.jpg Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, sorted in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). ISBN: 978-93-82169-34-5 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this Monograph are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute or the Government of India. First Published: March 2014 Price: Rs. 250/- Published by: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses No.1, Development Enclave, Rao Tula Ram Marg, Delhi Cantt., New Delhi - 110 010 Tel. (91-11) 2671-7983 Fax.(91-11) 2615 4191 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.idsa.in Layout & Cover by: Vaijayanti Patankar Printed at: M/S A. M. Offsetters A-57, Sector-10, Noida-201 301 (U.P.) Mob: 09810888667 E-mail: [email protected] STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON AERIAL WARFARE | 3 CONTENTS CHAPTERS PAGE NO PREFACE ..................................................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ 7 LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................ 9 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ............................................................... 11 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 13 2. THE ROAD TO SURPRISE THROUGH DENIAL OF DETECTION IN AVIATION ................................................................ 18 3. STEALTH TECHNOLOGY FOR APPLICATION TO MILITARY AIRCRAFT .......................................................................... 30 y STEALTH AND RADAR ................................................................... 30 y STEALTH AND INFRA RED ........................................................... 48 y ACOUSTIC, VISUAL SIGNATURE AND STEALTH ........................ 55 4. EFFECT OF STEALTH ON AERIAL WARFARE ................................ 64 y A SIMPLIFIED WORKING CLASSIFICATION OF AIR MISSIONS ........................................................................... 64 y STEALTH AND OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS .................................. 65 y THREAT SPECTRUM IN OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS.................... 66 y Effect of Stealth on Offensive Operations ........................ 73 y ANALYSIS OF EFFECT OF STEALTH TECHNOLOGY ON OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS ............................................................ 75 y ANALYSIS OF STEALTH AND BAS .............................................. 77 y STEALTH AND SPECIAL ROLE MISSIONS ................................... 78 y ANALYSIS OF EFFECT OF STEALTH ON ELECTRONIC WARFARE ............................................................... 80 y ANALYSIS OF APPLICATION OF STEALTH TO TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT ................................................................. 82 y STEALTH AND AIR DEFENCE ..................................................... 83 y ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF STEALTH ON THE OFFENCE DEFENCE BALANCE ................................................... 85 4 | VIVEK KAPUR y THE IMPERATIVE TO INDUCT STEALTH AIRCRAFT ................ 88 5. COUNTERS TO STEALTH ................................................................... 91 y BI-STATIC RADARS .......................................................................... 91 y LONG WAVELENGTH AND ULTRA WIDEBAND RADARS ........... 92 y PASSIVE DETECTION SYSTEMS ..................................................... 93 y HIGH POWER RADARS .................................................................. 94 y DETECTION THROUGH SECONDARY EFFECTS ......................... 94 y ADVANCED IR DETECTORS ........................................................ 94 6. OTHER ASPECTS OF STEALTH ........................................................ 96 y STEALTH COST VS. NUMBERS .................................................... 96 y STEALTH IN LIC ............................................................................ 97 y GLOBAL STEALTH AIRCRAFT PROGRAMS ................................ 99 7. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................102 STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON AERIAL WARFARE | 5 PREFACE Since its induction into war fighting in the early years of the twentieth century, air power has become a major determinant of success or failure of military forces. This reality led the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to state that "anyone who has to fight, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete control of the air, fights like a savage against a modern European Army." Field Marshal Rommel later said with regards to the then situation in Sicily and Italy that "Strength on the ground was not unfavourable to us, it is simply that their superiority in the air and ammunition is overwhelming, the same as it was in Africa." If these statements by one of the greatest general rank officers of Europe are not adequate for the reader, consider the report by Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt, the German commander in France during the Allied invasion, "The Allied Air Force paralysed all movement by day, and made it very difficult even at night." The effectiveness of air forces and their equipment is driven more by technology than of other military forces used in conduct of conventional warfare. An air force with a major technological advantage over its opposing air force has usually prevailed over its technologically inferior opponent in conventional warfare (The later part of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Bekaa Valley Operations by Israeli Air Force (IAF) in 1982, and the First Gulf War of 1991 bring out this fact adequately.). Given the importance of air power to the defence of a nation and the fact that air power itself is highly dependent upon technological advances, it is pertinent for all those people who are students of modern warfare and for scholars working on aspects related to national security; to understand current technological advances and the manner in which these affect the conduct of warfare. Only through this understanding would these personnel be able to come to correct conclusions on matters that could affect the security of the nation. 6 | VIVEK KAPUR In the past few decades advent of stealth technology has been one of the most important developments in military aviation technology. This technology has played a key role in the currently sole global superpower, America's, ability to shape the world order to its desires. In the past decade stealth technology has started to percolate to other nations quite rapidly. Apart from the US, Russia, China and India have active stealth aircraft programs underway. Stealth technology in piece meal applications can also be found to have been incorporated on other non-truly stealth aircraft in other regions of the world. In this context it is even more important, given the potential for conflict with countries that have active stealth aircraft programmes such as China, for Indian scholars to be aware of the basic technologies that are involved in stealth and the effect of stealth technology on the conduct of aerial warfare. This monograph aims to provide a concise document that touches upon most of the key aspects of stealth technology, and the issues involved in the operation of stealth aircraft in warfare. It is aimed at providing a concise, yet adequately detailed examination of what stealth technology in the aerospace domain entails and the manner in which this technology affects the conduct of warfare for students and practitioners of military operations, scholars working on military, especially aerospace, matters and the interested lay public at large. New Delhi Vivek Kapur December 2013 STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON AERIAL WARFARE | 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly I owe my thanks to the Indian air Force for permitting me to take the time out from my regular military duties to pursue a two year research project at IDSA. This Monograph owes a lot to the indulgence of Director General IDSA, Dr Arvind Gupta and Deputy Director General IDSA, Brig Rumel Dahiya (retd) who supported the shift to this topic even after just over a year had been spent on another tropic. During the process of researching and writing the monograph, the assistance and advice of members of the IDSA faculty proved invaluable. Amongst the IDSA faculty Brig. Rumel Dahiya (retd), Wg Cdr Ajey Lele, Gp. Capt Naval Jagota, Cdr. SS Parmar, Col Vivek Chadha (retd), Wg Cdr Hemlata Lohani (retd), Mr Amit Kumar, and last but not by any means least Ms. Neha Kohli were especially helpful. Mr Gopal Awasti of the Estate Management vertical within IDSA consistently exceeded all my highest expectations in ensuring that as far as the office equipment and working environment were concerned there would not only be no adverse impact on my work but that these would encourage carefree focus on the task at hand. They took time out of their other activities to guide me in my research and writing throughout the process of my working