Could 'Stealth' Aircraft be obsolete?

Partners:

• Vets for Victory
• Military Appreciation Day
• Army Paratrooper
• Patriot Guard Riders

 

[DefiantSix]

January 30, 2008

Radar's Replacement? Magnetic Fields Track Aircraft  Email this article |Print this article

By Mary Grady, News Writer, Editor



 


 New technology now being studied in Europe can track aircraft by detecting tiny changes in the Earth's magnetic field, according to a recent report in ICTWeb. Structures that cause "shadows" for today's radar systems -- a problem for ground surveillance at large, sprawling airports -- do not impair the magnetic field detectors. Recent tests of the system in Greece and Germany showed that it could detect 100 percent of the passing aircraft, and pinpointed their location to within 7.5 meters [25 feet], a level of accuracy comparable to most existing air traffic management systems, says researcher Haibin Gao. The system uses an array of small, cheap sensor units, which could be as small as a coin in the future. They can be installed at the entry and exit points of each runway, and would be affordable even for small airports.



The researchers now are looking for investors to certify the technology and bring it to the market.

Radar's Replacement?

Wonder what happens with all those expensive (radar) stealth aircraft when the rest of the world ceases to use radar to detect them?

[DragonSoldier]

By that time, they'll all be sitting in rows out in Arizona... With a few sprinkled around various AFB gates on pedastals... Maybe one will be on the flight deck of the Intrepid as well...

[LTGunner]

Ever set a pocket knife or set of keys next to a compass?   The ferrous metal interferes with the electromagnetic fields surrounding the compass.  This concept appears to detect the interference and triangulate the contact’s position through the use of multiple detectors. 

Saturate the area with interference and fly right through it?

[ET1-Once]

If they are cheap enough maybe I could get one for the squirrels to live in.  Get them out of the garage attic.

[bill12353]

"New technology now being studied in Europe can track aircraft by detecting tiny changes in the Earth's magnetic field, according to a recent report in ICTWeb. Structures that cause "shadows" for today's radar systems -- a problem for ground surveillance at large, sprawling airports -- do not impair the magnetic field detectors. Recent tests of the system in Greece and Germany showed that it could detect 100 percent of the passing aircraft, and pinpointed their location to within 7.5 meters [25 feet], a level of accuracy comparable to most existing air traffic management systems, says researcher Haibin Gao. The system uses an array of small, cheap sensor units, which could be as small as a coin in the future. They can be installed at the entry and exit points of each runway, and would be affordable even for small airports."

Sounds to me like that the system now being experimented with has a very limited range since it takes multiple sensor units at ground level down a runway to detect them and keep track. 
Doesn't sound like a very easy detection system to deploy to be used as a early warning system or targeting system.

I'm wondering just how possible would it be to detect an aircraft at 20,000 feet and up with such a device.

Using the magnetic field of the earth while using this device seems to depend on the aircraft's close proximity to the sensors.

Notice also that there are only talking about detection at airports. Without much more information about the system it sounds like it is a useful tool at airports etc.   

[KogyBear]

Although, measuring magnetic fields to detect equipment has been done before:

During the Vietnam War the original AC-130A Spectre gunships employed the "Pave Mace"/"Black Crow" magnetic anomaly detection system to detect truck ignition coils in vehicles hidden under heavy jungle canopies. When the electric current flowing through such a coil changes it produces a magnetic flux, which is, in simplest terms, a change in the magnetic field over a given area. In particular, when the trucks were turned on the current flowing through the coils went from zero to some maximum, producing a large and easily detectable flux.

And on a large scale: