Stealth technology facts for kids

The F-117 stealth attack plane was one of the first aircraft to use stealth technology.

Stealth technology helps make military vehicles very hard to spot. It is also known as LOT, which stands for Low Observability Technology. This technology uses many different tricks to make things like airplanes, ships, and missiles less visible. They become harder to see with tools like radar, sonar, or even the human eye.

For example, stealth technology was first created to make aircraft difficult to find using radar.

What is Stealth Technology?

Stealth technology is a part of electronic countermeasures. These are ways to stop enemies from finding or tracking military equipment. Stealth helps vehicles hide from detection systems. These systems include radar, which uses radio waves, and sonar, which uses sound waves. It also helps hide from heat sensors and even people looking with their eyes.

How Does Stealth Work?

Stealth technology uses several methods to make vehicles hard to find:

• Special Shapes: Aircraft and ships are designed with unusual angles and flat surfaces. These shapes bounce radar waves away from the radar receiver. This means the radar waves do not return to the enemy, making the vehicle seem to disappear.
• Special Materials: Vehicles are covered with materials that absorb radar waves. These materials are called Radar-Absorbent Material (RAM). Instead of bouncing the waves back, the RAM turns them into heat. This heat then goes away safely.
• Reducing Heat: Jet engines create a lot of heat. This heat can be seen by infrared sensors. Stealth vehicles have special ways to cool their exhaust gases. They might mix the hot gases with cooler air or spread them out. This makes the vehicle's heat signature much smaller.
• Quiet Engines: Stealth vehicles are also designed to be very quiet. This makes them harder to hear, especially for submarines and ships.
• Less Visible Smoke: Some stealth aircraft use special fuels or engine designs to reduce the amount of smoke they produce. This makes them harder to see in the sky.

Stealth in Different Vehicles

Stealth technology is used in many types of military vehicles:

• Stealth Aircraft: These are perhaps the most famous examples. Planes like the F-117 Nighthawk and the B-2 Spirit bomber are designed to be almost invisible to radar. They have unique shapes and use radar-absorbing materials.
• Stealth Ships: Modern warships are also built with stealth features. Their hulls (bodies) are shaped to reduce radar reflections. They also have systems to lower their heat and sound signatures. This makes them harder for enemy ships and submarines to detect.
• Stealth Missiles: Some advanced missiles are also designed with stealth features. This helps them get past enemy defenses without being detected.
• Stealth Ground Vehicles: Even some tanks and other ground vehicles are starting to use stealth ideas. This helps them hide from enemy sensors on the battlefield.

Stealth technology is always improving. Scientists and engineers are always finding new ways to make vehicles even harder to find.

Images for kids

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  PL-01 stealth tank

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  Surcouf French stealth frigate

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  The F-35 Lightning II offers better stealthy features (such as this landing gear door) than prior American multi-role fighters, such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon

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  YF-23 S-duct engine air intake conceals engine from probing radar waves

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  K32 HMS Helsingborg, a stealth ship

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  Skin of a B-2 bomber.

See also

In Spanish: Tecnología de baja detectabilidad para niños