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Printer FriendlyReprinted with permission from Popular
Science, September 1999.
© Copyright, Times Mirror Magazines, Inc.
Stealth Tester
EVEN MINOR repairs on a stealth fighter can affect its radar reflectivity. The best way to detect subtle changes that can make a plane visible to enemy radar is to put the aircraft up on a rotating stand in a ballpark-size radar range. But often that's impractical.
Now reseachers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a handheld camera that can spot defects in the field. Using the new camera, technicians can look at sections of an aircraft and tell whether they are stealthy or not, says PNNL staff engineer Wayne Lechelt. Called the Holographic Three-Dimensional Radar Camera, the device uses an array of antennas to reflect energy off an aircraft's surface. The camera records the reflected energy, and a computer transforms that data into a holographic image that is projected onto a headset worn by the camera's operator. Any "hot spots" show in red.
The camera is currently being tested on the F-117A stealth fighter at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico.-D.S.
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