Message posted by Eagle Scout on May 22, 2011 at 18:46:17 PST:
I don't know anything abt these specific helicopters, but from an RCS perspective, the problem with windows is not that they reflect radar, but that they don't. If you're trying to be stealthy, reflections from an aircraft surface back to a receiver are the problem to be managed. Reflections from the cockpit or aircraft interior, with all its crazy metal parts, angles, nice corner reflectors, etc, are a nightmare. So, on vehicles where RCS is an issue, caonpies & windows are given a 'metal-izing' treatment to make them electrically conductive and pretty much the same as metal, as far as radar waves are concerned.
When this was first introduced, pilots hated the idea because the treatment gives the canopy a copper-ish tint. And it does seem counterintuitive to lower the RCS of an aircraft by making parts of it more reflective, but a reflective canopy is waaaay better than all the reflective stuff behind it.
In Reply to: Re: Another Stealth Chopper in the Osama Raid? posted by OldThudMan~!!~ on May 22, 2011 at 13:03:38 PST:
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