D.

Howe
Professor of Aircraft Design and
Head of College of Aeronautics,
Cranfield Institute of Technology,
Bedford, United Kingdom

Introduction to the Basic

Technology of Stealth Aircraft:
Part 1Basic Considerations and
Aircraft Self-Emitted Signals
(Passive Considerations)
This paper reviews information that may be used by a potential enemy to detect and
track an aircraft. In particular it is concerned with a passive approach by the enemy,
namely the interception of acoustic, infrared, visual, and miscellaneous selfemissions. The origins of these emissions are described and means of eliminating
them or reducing their intensity are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the impact of
these so-called stealth techniques on the design of the aircraft as a whole.

Introduction
From time immemorial it has been an accepted military tactic for an attacker to do his utmost to conceal his presence
from his enemy. The native hunter who approaches his victim
from the noiseless and odorless upwind shadow zone is but
one example of this. The application of so-called "stealth"
technology to modern aerospace design is simply an up-todate application of the age old principle. The aim of stealth is
essentially to reduce the probability of the aircraft being
detected by the enemy, and thereby have a greater potential
for the successful completion of its mission without loss. Of
course the- stealth concept is but one facet of the total approach to ensure the success and survivability of an aircraft.
Other aspects include such matters as passive warning devices
and design for reduced vulnerability.
Although some aspects of stealth technology have always
been employed on military aircraft, they have been traditionally regarded as being secondary issues to be adopted providing there was no undue impact upon the basic design. In
comparison with this the interest in stealth techniques of the
past two or so decades has been directed toward the tailoring
of the whole aircraft to minimize the probability of its detection. Since many stealth considerations are clearly associated
with the external shape of the aircraft, this more recent approach has a profound effect upon the overall configuration
as well as internal layout.
While not specifically part of stealth design, the survivability of an aircraft can be increased by equipping it with devices
that give the crew warning of detection by the various means
used by the enemy, such as radar, thermal, laser, or visual
illumination.
A selected bibliography is included at the end of the text.
Contributed by the International Gas Turbine Institute and presented at the
35th International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition,
Brussels, Belgium, June 11-14, 1990. Manuscript received by the International
Gas Turbine Institute February 1, 1990. Paper No. 90-GT-116.

FREQUENCY

WAVELENGTH
1000KM 300m/s <

- 1KHz
ACOUSTIC

100 - 10
10 " LF

- 100

1 _
KF

- 1MHz

HF

- 10

VHF

- 100

RADIO

100m 10 "

UHF
L

- 1GHz

100mm- 10

10-

"ti

RADAR

- 100

1 300 m/s<
X106

12
- 10 Hz

lOOim10"

- 10 1 4
1-

INFRA-RED
VISIBLE

100nm- 1016

ULTRA-VI0ALET

- -io'8

X RAYS

10
1100pm10-

1020Hz

GAMMA RAYS

1-

Fig. 1 Electromagnetic spectrum

The Radiation Spectrum - Aircraft Signals

The nature of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum is
shown in Fig. 1. For completeness the audible range is included, although acoustic emissions are not electromagnetic. In
terms of frequency it starts with the low-frequency audible
signals, through the radio wave spectrum, and on through the
very high frequency band around visual wavelengths to the

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

JANUARY 1991, Vol. 113/75

Copyright 1991 by ASME

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ultrahigh frequency X and Gamma rays. All but the very

highest frequency signals may be used by a potential enemy to
detect and track an attacking aircraft. The means by which
this may be achieved can be broadly placed into two
categories:
1 The use of passive signals, that is the interception of
signals emitted by the aircraft itself. In practice the frequency
of such signals may be of any value in the large range between
acoustic and visible wavelengths.
2 Active systems where the defender illuminates the target
in some way and uses the characteristic of the reflected signal
to provide the required information. In this case the freqencies
used are normally above one GHz, that is in the radar, infrared, and optical bands. Lower frequencies do not, in
general, provide sufficiently accurate reflected data.
From the point of view of stealth technology it is clearly
desirable to eliminate, or failing this, suppress the emissions
that enable the enemy to use passive methods of interception.
Because of the wide frequency band the effects of this are
varied. In the case of active interception the use of stealth concepts is largely concerned with the reduction to a minimum of
the reflected signal for which the major consideration is the effective external shape of the attacking aircraft.
3 Passive Signals
As an inevitable consequence of its existence and mission,
the aircraft will radiate signals over most of the frequency
range, at least up to visual wavelengths. The method of handling them to reduce their potential as an aid to detection by
the enemy demands particular consideration.
3.1 Acoustic Emissions. Audible signals from the aircraft
are of lowest frequency. Although it is likely that the emissions will have directional characteristics, the reduction of intensity with distance from the source follows an inverse square
law. When allowance is made for atmospheric effects, the
typical attenuation is 6.3 dB for each doubling of the distance
from the source. Thus the distance over which the aircraft can
be heard is very limited but is still important, especially in tactical situations. Another consideration is the low velocity of
propagation of sound waves, which is of the same order as the
velocity of the aircraft. Indeed a supersonic aircraft will arrive
before its acoustic signature. This may be a tactical advantage
but it does not, in general, remove the need to minimize the effect. Slower flying aircraft, especially rotorcraft, will give advanced notice of their arrival and it is very important to reduce
the effect as much as possible.
3.1.1. Sources of Acoustic Emissions (see Fig. 2)
(a) Powerplant. The powerplant is always a significant
source of audible signals. Because of the noise nuisance of
powerplants, experience with civil transport aircraft has led to
a good understanding of the causes of gas turbine engine
noise. Essentially there are three components, namely, that
due to the fan/compressor assembly, the combustion/turbine,
and the exhaust. The relative importance of each of these is
dependent upon the engine cycle, especially bypass ratio. With
piston engines the major noise sources are the exhaust and
reciprocating machinery, especially valves.
(b) Unducted fans/propellers and rotors. Propeller and
rotor systems are also a major noise source, especially when
the disk loading is high. The noise generating mechanism is
quite complex due to the interaction of the differing flow and
vortex shedding among the multiple blades.
In the case of rotorcraft there may also be a large contribution from the interaction of the main and tail rotors.
(c) Airframe. There can be a noise contribution from the
airframe as a whole, especially for a large aircraft, which has a
7 6 / V o l . 113, JANUARY 1991

MAIN ROTOR BROADBAND ANO 0R0ERE0

AIRFRAME

Fig. 2

PROTUBERANCES

Sources of aircraft noise

high wing loading. In detail the main causes are local flow interactions rather than overall boundary layer noise, and these
are most severe in high lift configurations with landing gear
extended. This noise source is unlikely to be of real
significance. An exception to this general rule is shock wave
propagation.
3.1.2. Reduction of Audible Emissions. There are three
ways of approaching the problem of reducing acoustic
emissions:
(/) By reduction of the intensity of noise sources
(ii) By adapting the shape of the noise spectrum to make it
less noticable, e.g., by suppressing discrete tones.
{Hi) By the use of local attenuation and absorption media
and shielding techniques.
The actual application is dependent upon the noise source.
(a) Powerplant noise. The biggest single reduction in
noise results from increase of bypass ratio, at least up to
values of the order of 5 or so. The main effect of this is the
reduction of exhaust velocity and the more efficient mixing
with the ambient air. Unfortunately the use of such high
bypass ratio is limited to subsonic flight, although in any application some bypass effect is beneficial in reducing the intensity of the exhaust noise source. Increase of bypass ratio tends
to cause an increase in engine front end noise but the impact of
this can be reduced by such means as the elimination of inlet
guide vanes. In addition to those techniques that reduce the
noise intensity, further improvement may be made by the addition of acoustic insulation lining in the ducts of the
powerplant, and by introducing some degree of front-end
noise shielding in the form of a long, curved inlet duct.
The noise emitted by piston engines may be reduced by appropriate provision of an exhaust muffler system. This is likely to result in some loss of performance as the price to pay for
quietening. Liquid-cooled powerplants are generally less noisy
than air-cooled ones because of the insulating/blanketing effect of the coolant system.
(b) Propellers and rotors. The most effective way of
lessening the noise of rotors is to reduce the tip speed and the
blade loading. Thus stealth considerations suggest the use of
large-diameter, multiple blade units, which are operated at
low rotational speed. Appropriate detail aerodynamic design
of the blade tips may also provide further gains, especially in
reducing the impact of discrete tones in the total noise spectrum. On the whole the use of sound-absorbing material is not
applicable and shielding leads to the concept of ducted rotors.
3.2 Thermal Signals. Thermal signals from the aircraft
may result from either self-emissions or incident reflections.
The wavelengths are typically in the infrared range of about 1
to 100 /tm. This short wavelength means that the infrared
signature is much more suited to target detection, identificaTransactions of the ASME

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tion, and tracking than are long audible waves. The actual
wavelength is related to the absolute temperature of an emitter. The wavelength associated with the spectral radiant emission of a black body is given by Wien's displacement law as
X = 2893/ Turn
where T is the absolute temperature (K). Thus the wavelength
of the peak emissions from an aircraft flying at Mach 2 in the
stratosphere will be around 7 /xm, while that from the exhaust
plume will be about 4 ^m.
A further important property is the emissivity of the
radiating surface. This is effectively a measure of the efficiency with which a surface radiates energy at a given temperature.
The emissivity is unity for a "black body" but less than this
for all other surface conditions. The energy radiated is also
directly proportional to the fourth power of absolute
temperature.
The attenuation of infrared radiation in the atmosphere is
highly frequency and temperature dependent. Although the
amount of radiation scattering is usually small, both the absorption and transmission effects are relatively large and these
depend upon two critical parameters. In the practical range of
infrared radiation frequencies there exist a number of socalled "windows" where the transmittance is high. Between
these windows are absorption bands, mainly due to the
presence of water vapor and/or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thus at low altitude, especially in cloud or fog conditions, the transmission is low. Water vapor content
decreases significantly with increase of altitude and so, to a
lesser extent, does the carbon dioxide content. Hence infrared
radiation is transmitted over much greater distances at higher
altitudes.
3.2.1 Sources of Infrared Emissions (see Fig. 3)
(a) Powerplant. The heat generated in the powerplant
will radiate outward from the cowlings and nacelle, the exhaust nozzle, and also possibly from the air intake system. For
many aircraft this source is a significant one and since there
will inevitably be a wide range of associated surface
temperatures there will be a correspondingly wide range of
wavelengths in the signal. Almost certainly some of these will
correspond with the transmission windows. A further difficulty is that improved powerplant performance is achieved by
increasing the cycle temperatures, with a consequent large effect upon transmitted energy.
(b) Exhaust. The exhaust plume from a jet engine is also
an intense source of thermal energy. However, since the exhaust gases contain large quantities of water vapor and carbon
dioxide, the wavelength is such that substantial atmospheric
absorption is likely to occur and the transmitted energy will be
much reduced. This is less true of the heat energy emitted from
the hot rear end of the engine through the exhaust plume.

Fig. 3 Sources of thermal emissions

number of generally applicable ways of reducing the intensity

of thermal emissions:
(/) Reduction of temperature which has the effect of increasing the wavelength of the emission and more importantly
the radiated energy, since this latter is directly porportional to
the fourth power of temperature.
(/;') Reduction of the radiating surface area, either absolutely or by masking.
(in) Reduction of surface emissivity by appropriate treatment of the surface.
(iv) Reduction of surface reflectivity.
The ways of applying these techniques are dependent upon
the infrared source.
(a) Powerplant. Cooling of the outside shell of the
nacelle, or the use of local heat insulation may be used to
reduce temperature. Radiation from the surface can be
reduced by using an infrared absorbent coating. Increase of
bypass ratio will naturally work in the beneficial sense. Heat
energy emitted from the front of the engine may be masked to
some degree by having a curved intake layout.
(b) Exhaust. The exhaust plume presents something of a
problem, but again high bypass ratio is of significant help. An
alternative is to induce rapid mixing with cold air using special
ejector pumps. Curved exhaust pipes may be used to mask the
radiation from hot internal engine parts, such as turbine
blades, as well as to reduce the signal from the plume itself.
The use of two-dimensional rather than circular exhaust
nozzles also helps by increasing the perimeter over which gas
flow mixing occurs.
(c) Airframe. For the external emission from the airframe as a whole, there are two considerations. First there is
the need to reduce the reflected signals, especially those due to
sun glint on transparencies, etc. Appropriate surface treatment can help, but a better solution is to mask these areas as
much as possible and to use flat surfaces to minimize the
angles over which radiation may be detected. The second requirement is to reduce the effect of kinetic heating as much as
possible. The potential here is limited but some improvement
can be made by avoiding sharp edges, corners, etc., likely to
result in stagnation temperatures. Alternatively a slower flight
speed may have to be accepted.

(c) Airframe. There are two aspects of airframe emission, namely the reflected energy from sunlight, etc., and the
self-generated energy due to the general temperature of the
airframe itself. In overall terms the latter is primarily a function of speed and altitude. At subsonic speeds the basic airframe temperature is relatively low, say around 300 K at sea
level and 220 K at high altitude. These correspond to relatively
(d) Local heat sources. These are best dealt with either
long wavelengths of the order of 10 jum or more. The highest by using cooling and insulation, or by locating them so that
temperatures occur in regions where the airflow is stagnated the associated thermal emissions are radiated away from
and this is usually very local.
critical directions.
(d) Local heat sources. There are many internal items in
an aircraft that generate local sources of heat. These include
avionics equipment, environmental control, and crew. Particular problems may occur at cooling air outlets.
3.2.2. Reduction of Thermal Emissions. There are a
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

3.2.3 "Active" Stealth Techniques for Avoiding Thermal

Detection. An alternative approach to the one that tackles
the problem of infrared stealth by adapting the design of the
aircraft, is the use of a jammer, deceiver, or decoy. The
former functions by emitting a large thermal energy in the
JANUARY 1991, Vol. 113/77

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ENGINE F A N * COMPESSOR

therefore be removed as far as possible in stealth conditions.

However there still remains the matter of internal lighting,
which is necessary to enable the crew to perform their
function.

6LA0ES

OPTICAL
TRANSPARENCIES
INCLUDING CANOPY
AIRCRAFT MANOEUVRE

AIRFRAME OVERALL
RELATIVE TO BACKGROUND
ENGINE EXHAUST

AIRCRAFT LIGHTING

Fig. 4

Sources of visual signals

bandwidth of the enemy sensor with the purpose of saturating

or even damaging it. The second device is based on the use of a
modulated infrared signal from a special emitter, which will
have the effect of causing the enemy seeker to predict an incorrect target location. In some cases the seeker can be confused
by producing a source of thermal radiation, such as a flare,
which ignites at a distance from the aircraft or a towed decoy.
3.3 Visual Considerations. The visual signature from an
aircraft is determined by the contrast with the background and
any reflected light. The range over which an aircraft may be
observed by the naked eye is not great, but augmentation by
the use of automatic, sophisticated, optical tracking systems
can greatly increase this. The observed signal may be that of
the aircraft itself, or an effect that reveals its presence, such as
vapor trails or smoke emitted from engine exhausts.
The physical characteristics of the signature that affect the
probability of the aircraft being detected are:
(/) The overall intensity, or luminescence
(/;') The wavelengths in the visual rangecolors
(Hi) The nature of the background, especially whether it is
uniform or cluttered
(iv) The speed and maneuverability of the aircraft
3.3.1 Main Sources of Visual Signals (see Fig. 4)
(a) Airframe. The airframe as a whole will have a
visibility that is primarily dependent upon its contrast to the
background and the overall reflectivity of the surface. There
are specific areas that justify special consideration and the
most significant of these are the canopy and other optical
transparencies. Because of the need for these to be transparent
treatment of the surface is limited. Incident light is likely to be
reflected from such surfaces and as the aircraft moves can
result in a flashing or glint effect.
Contrails due to wing tip vortices can arise when the atmospheric humidity is high. This is most likely at low
altitudes.
(b) Rotor and propeller blades. The rotation of any visible blade system may also result in a glint effect, which draws
attention to the aircraft. The problem is most severe at lower
blade passing frequencies, especially as far as observation by
the naked eye is concerned. In this case the glint problem is
greatly reduced when the blade frequency is more than 16 Hz
to 20 Hz, so the effect is not as significant on propellers as it is
with helicopter rotors.
(c) Engine exhaust. As previously mentioned an opaque
exhaust plume can betray the presence of an aircraft. There is
also the possibility of detection from an aft aspect because of
the glow from the hot parts of the engine.
(d) Aircraft lighting. External aircraft lighting is intended to indicate the presence of the aircraft and should

3.3.2 Methods of Reducing the Visual Signature

(a) Airframe. Apart from making the aircraft as small as
possible the main aims are to minimize contrast effects on the
airframe itself and relative to its background and to bring
transparency glint effects to a similar visual level.
Minimization of contrast may be achieved by appropriate
surface treatment. By using paints of different reflectivity it is
possible to reduce the contrast across the whole surface of the
airframe or against the background. The treatment varies according to aircraft role, for example whether the aircraft normally operates at high altitude against a more or less uniform
background, or at very low altitude against a terrain or foliage
background. Classical camouflage techniques have been
primarily, but not exclusively directed toward the latter including the rendering of the aircraft less observable while it is
on the ground.
Another technique that is particularly applicable to aircraft
operating against a uniform background is to use local lighting
on the airframe to disguise dark areas such as air intakes and
other cavities or shadowed regions. Such optical camouflage
techniques require automatic adaptation of lighting intensity
to balance the contrast.
The glint problem may be considerably helped by the use of
flat rather than curved transparencies. Since flat reflectors
cause a signal over only a small incident angle the glint effect
as perceived by an observer is brief and likely to be inadequate
for tracking.
(b) Rotor blades. Apart from the use of multiple blades
to give a higher blade frequency for a given rotational speed,
the use of surface treatment is appropriate. This should allow
for reflective effects. The elimination of markings intended
for safety or other purposes needs to be given consideration.
(c) Engine exhaust. Correct design of the engine combustion system should result in a smoke-free exhaust plume. The
rear end glow from the engine itself may be masked by using a
curved exhaust system as mentioned in the section on thermal
radiation.
Contrails due to the water vapor in the exhaust plume may
be suppressed by the use of additives in the fuel or direct injection into the exhaust. These techniques have associated practical difficulties.
(d) Aircraft lighting. Where it is essential to retain exterior lights for operational reasons, it is essential that these
are masked in those directions where observance by the enemy
may occur. This masking must also consider the possibility of
the lamp reflecting rays from sun or moonlight. Internal
lighting must also be kept at an absolulte minimum. In some
cases it is possible to use illumination of instruments by using
lighting outside the visible spectrum, for example ultraviolet.
3.4 Other Emissions From the Aircraft. As an integral
part of its mission, the aircraft may need to radiate signals
over a wide range of wavelengths for such purposes as navigation, target location, weapon aiming, etc. The stealth aspects
of this topic present a considerable challenge to the system
designer since it is essential that these functions be covered in
the achievement of a successful mission. One approach is to
accept the use of less efficient, more expensive, or more complex systems as a consequence of stealth requirements. For
example:
(/) The use of laser radars, rather than conventional ones.
The shorter wavelengths may result in significant atmospheric
attenuation and relatively short range.

7 8 / V o l . 113, JANUARY 1991

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Transactions of the ASME

(//') Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) for low-level navigation and weapon aiming. Again this system is susceptible to atmospheric effects.
(Hi) Radar systems using low energy and intermittent emissions to give a low probability of detection, and tracking.
(iv) Navigation relying upon inertial systems, updated
possibly by intermittent terrain matching, satellite data, or
even celestial navigation.
4

Conclusions
The minimization of the probability of detection by the
enemy using passive techniques presents many severe problems to the designer. In the case of visual detection the consequences are likely to have an impact upon the overall layout.
The same may be true for other means of detection although
more detailed considerations are then likely to be dominant.

Selected Bibliography
Ball, R. E., 1985, The Fundamentals of Aircraft Combat Survivability
Analysis and Design, AIAA, New York.
Barton, D. K., and Ward, H. F., 1969, Handbook of Radar Measurement,
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Engeihardt, M., 1988, Infrared Radiation Analysis, Advanced Technology
International.
Fuhs, A. E., 1984, "Radar Cross Section Lectures," AIAA, New York.
Hudson, R. D., 1969, Infrared System Engineering, Wiley-Interscience, New
York.
Jones, J., 1989, Stealth TechnologyArt or Black Magic?, Tabb Books, Blue
Ridge Summit.
Knott, E. F., Shaeffer, J. E., and Tuley, M. T., 1985, Radar Cross Section
(Its Prediction and Measurement), Artech House Inc.
Richardson, D., 1989, Stealth Warplanes, Salamander Books.
Ridenour, L. N., 1947, Radar System Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Skolnik, M. I., 1980, Introduction to Radar Systems, McGraw-Hill, New
York.
Sweetman, R., 1986, Stealth Aircraft, Airlife Publications.
Sweetman, R., 1989, Stealth Bomber, Motorbooks International.

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