Hybrid Deflection of Spoiler Influencing Radar Cross-Section of Tailless Fighter

Sensors (Basel). 2021 Dec 18;21(24):8459. doi: 10.3390/s21248459.

Abstract

With the continuous development of advanced fighters towards tailless and flying wing layouts, diverse control surfaces have become the mainstream design. To study the influence of spoiler control surface on the radar cross-section (RCS) of a tailless fighter, a calculation method is presented. The deflection angle of the spoiler is controlled by the fixed mode, linear mode, and smooth mode. The results show that the opening action of the spoiler will break the original stealth characteristics of the aircraft at the key azimuth angles of the head and tail. As the elevation angle increases, this adverse effect will spread to the side. The influence of the different dynamic deflection modes of the spoiler on the aircraft RCS is analyzed. Compared with the linear dynamic deflection mode, the smooth dynamic deflection mode is conducive to the reduction in the average RCS at the given head azimuth. The presented method is effective to study the influence of the spoiler deflection on the electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the tailless aircraft.

Keywords: electromagnetic scattering; radar stealth; spoiler control surface; tailless aircraft.

MeSH terms

  • Aircraft*
  • Animals
  • Radar*