Russia’s 5th-generation fighter jet gets advanced stealth coating
By Trend
A new composite material with enhanced radar wave absorbing properties was used to make the cockpit canopy of the most advanced Sukhoi Su-57 multirole fighter jet and the Tupolev Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bomber, Russia’s state hi-tech corporation Rostec told TASS on Friday, Trend reports referring to TASS.
The innovative glass coating has been developed by specialists of the Obninsk-based Technologiya R&D Enterprise (part of RT Chemcomposite Group within Rostec).
"It doubles radar wave absorption and reduces the aircraft cockpit’s radar signature by 30% Currently, the coating is applied to the canopy of T-50 (Su-57 aircraft since August 2017), Su-30, Su-34, Su-35, MiG-29K and Tu-160 planes," Rostec said.
The coating is made of metal oxide layers 70-90 nm thick. In addition to reducing visibility to enemy radars, it protects the pilot during the flight from the impact of ultraviolet, thermal and other negative factors, Rostec stressed.
"The coating weakens the thermal component of solar radiation by more than three times while the integral transmittance index in the visible range makes up no less than 65% and the impact of the ultraviolet component drops by more than 4-6 times," the hi-tech corporation said.
As Rostec Industrial Director for the Cluster of Conventional Armament, Ammunition and Special Chemistry Sergei Abramov said earlier, this innovation actually has no weak points: its application helps halve the weight of the cockpit’s glass canopy and increase impact resistance and radar wave absorption from 40% to 80%