Checking out the Zhuk-M1E radar
at Aero-India - the new unit
developed by Phazotron for the
MiG-29M, MiG-29K and upgrades -
one detail was obvious: the
backside of the radome and the
front of the bulkhead were covered
with what looked like something
you'd clean the barbecue with.
Photo by Bill Sweetman
It's radar-absorbent material
(RAM) and pretty effective RAM at
that. Nothing very exotic, but it
does not need to be, since it is
sealed up inside the radome and
protected from aerodynamic
forces, heat and moisture. In fact,
US RAM specialists Emerson &
Cuming sell a very similar product
on the open market, an open-cell
plastic foam doped with carbon
absorber.
Russians are not stupid and do not
do things if there is no point, and
there would not be a lot of point
in dealing with the radar-cross
section (RCS) hotspot from the
radar antenna if they had not also
dealt with the other sore-thumb
hotspots, namely the inlets/
compressor faces and the cockpit.
The technology to do this was
described in detail in technical
papers delivered in London some
years ago by representatives from
the ITAE research institute, who
had applied it to the Su-27 family.
ITAE had even worked out how to
apply RAM directly to the first-
stage fan blades, which is quite a
neat trick, and had devised spray-
on RAM for missiles. One may
assume these or similar measures
are available to MiG.
Russian Stealth You Can Touch