Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Even the B-2 bomber had a retractable radar reflector to defeat it's stealth. When flying in civilian airspace the reflector would extend so ATC could track the plane. Standard stuff to prevent collisions.


Why would they have a retractable reflector rather than simply using a standard radar transponder? Sounds like BS.


To start with, a reflector is passive, so it can't fail like a transponder. Failing is a problem when flying an intentionally very hard to see/detect airframe in dense civilian airways. Transponders only provide a secondary radar hit, while many (older) systems are looking for a primary hit to locate aircraft, which a reflector would do.

Before calling BS you could just Google it too. ;) For example, here is a nice explanation of the F117's reflector. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawk


Any system that relies on a primary hit is going to have trouble. Something as simple as a composite glider is not going to show up well[1]. I'm not aware of any ATC system that relies on primary returns.

As for Googling it, that's an interesting picture. It's not retractable, but I suppose the point is made. Perhaps the B-2's is retractable. I did Google it this time and found nothing but some random airliners.net forum posts, not exactly reliable.

[1] http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/radar-reflector-e.html




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: