This is the first in two-part series from exotic weapons guru David Hambling.
Theres a simple technology that could transform civil aviation, slashing fuel consumption, reducing greenhouse emissions and cutting noise. The problem is, nobody knows about it yet. It’s a military secret.
The way technology migrates from classified weapons programs to everyday life is the theme of my book, Weapons Grade. (Did I mention it was out in paperback this week?) We wouldnt have jet aircraft, computers or satellite communications without such programs. But when they stay secret, the public benefit is lost. What would have happened to the electronics industry if the transistor had not been declassified in 1949?
Plasma aerodynamics offers tantalizing promises of improving aircraft performance. By producing a thin layer of charged particles around an aircraft you can change the behavior of the boundary layer, significantly reducing friction. The charged layer also absorbs radar, improving stealth.
When my colleague Justin Mullins wrote about the subject for New Scientist magazine back in 2000, it seemed to be an obscure Russian technology dating from the late 70s which the US was just beginning to examine. But it offered real benefits, with a potential drag reduction of up to 30%.
A cut in drag of 1 per cent means you can increase an airliner’s payload by about 10 per cent, or it could simply fly farther or faster, Mullins pointed out, Just imagine the effect this could have on cash-strapped airlines.
The Russians seemed to be years ahead, even marketing a plasma stealth add-on device said to reduce radar returns by a factor of a hundred.
He concludes by wondering if the technology can actually work in practice.
Either the new labs are a huge waste of time and money, or the American military knows something we don’t.
As it turns out, they certainly do.
A lot of information on stealth disappeared from the public domain decades ago when the whole subject turned black. Which was why I was surprised to find the original patent for plasma stealth still intact.
Patent 3,127,608 is called “Object Camouflage Method And Apparatus,” and “relates to a method of making aircraft or other objects invisible to radar.” The inventor, one Arnold L. Eldredge, describes the theoretical basis of plasma stealth accurately.
The most surprising thing is the date. The patent was filed on August 6th, 1956. The technology has been around for fifty years.
But the big problem is with his apparatus Eldredge uses an electron gun, which would be way too big to carry on an aircraft. In fact, thats a problem with this whole plasma idea. Apparatus to generate the millions of volts needed is big, bulky and impractical; even these days the Russians are talking 100 Kg and tens of kilowatts.
But there is a way — check out Patent 4,030,098 (1962) Method and means for reducing reflections of electromagnetic waves assigned to the Secretary of the Army and the rather similar Patent 3,713,157 (1964) belonging to North American Aviation, later absorbed by Boeing Energy Absorption by a Radioisotope Produced Plasma
Both of these use the same basic concept: a coating of radioactive material producing a flux of either Alpha of Beta particles ionize the air, producing the desired layer of plasma. Its a clever solution. Radioactive paint weighs virtually nothing, does not require any power input and can be dirt cheap. One of the suggested emitters is Strontium-90, which is produced in abundance as a waste product by nuclear reactors.
Its also quite safe. With a thin protective coating to prevent it from flaking off, the soft radiation (unlike dangerous Gamma radiation) is not a hazard to pilot or maintenance personnel. This type of material is only dangerous if inhaled or ingested.
I checked out the idea with some people who know about these things — Martin Streetly, Editor of Jane’s Radar & Electronic Warfare Systems and Professor Igor Alexeff, former President of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and an authority on plasma technology.
Both confirmed that the idea, though exotic, was sound enough in theory. Interestingly, neither had come across the idea before. And both observed one obvious disadvantage from the point of view of stealth. The radiation levels involved 10 Curies per square centimeter would give the plane a visible glow at night, making it a beacon to enemy air defenses.
Did this problem mean that the whole idea was shelved — or were radioactive stealth coatings taken further?
Well be looking at some surprising answers in part two…
– David Hambling
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
The military did some boundary layer research in the 60s iirc that consisted of drilling numerous small holes in the skin of an aircraft and essentially sucking the boundary layer into the aircraft. It did have the effect of reducing drag but was a maintenance nightmare.
A new metal glass was recently created, used in conjunction with transparent thermoplastics and composites you could create daytime stealth.
If such a technology as plasma shield generators existed, I would have to say that it would be a bad idea to operate an ionic cloud in the middle of a thunderstorm. The lightning strikes would be damaging, I would think.
Radioactive paint? Er…I dunno about that. I don’t see how the very weak radiation given off by this layer of paint would create ANY kind of difference in the boundary layer. Usually the kinds of power seen in a high powered laser are needed to ionize air and produce any kind of effect. It may be some other mechanism, but I seriously doubt it’s paint. Now if there were a paint that became highly radioactive with applied electricity, that might be enough, but…bleh.
The radiation levels they are talking about are indeed high enough to produce ionisation – read the patents – 10 Curies per cm2 is a LOT of radiation. This is why you get a glow around such highly active sources.
The patent describes coating a test piece and measuring the reduction in radar return. The effect is real, and more pronounced at lower pressure (=higher altitude)
Holy crap, I can’t believe they’re talking about this. This tech is NDA hell, SCIF-only material…I had to swear away my testicles and children.
David: yeah, I’m just some nondescript voice in the ether here, but dude, please go ask someone responsible at DOD whether this is a Real Good Idea to discuss.
I got my ass removed for just quipping to some black triangle paranoid on a conspiracy forum last year that the more exciting ones glowed in the dark. Please, consider letting this one drop.
Here’s one for you – think back several years – remember when there is an attempted secret court case about the EPA – or State of Nev – going after Area 51 – which we all know doesn’t exist ;)
Over the disposal of toxic waste. You have to wonder whether or not the test for this – are in that waste pit.
I remember reading that the B-2 requires a special (expensive) hanger to preserve the “stealthy” coating on its exterior. My assumption at the time was that we were talking about some kind of funky, radar-absorbant paint. Maybe there was more to the paint than I’d thought.
I have heard about this long ago, and remember several disadvantages mentioned. I don’t think this will be in service with those disadvantages. It’s just another vaporware.
original solicitation for newly defunct DARPA Walrus airship called for electrokinetic propulsion and related goal of reducing skin drag via same. Airship can carry extremely heaving loads, so, we should assume they had considered lead shielded small nuclear plants for power, enough to generate plasma.
that original language descriptive of such technology aims was quickly removed from later writings.
moot point now, as Walrus will not recieve funding for 2007….
but it does make one wonder…..just what have they done already, re: “black” airships?
The stealth part happened in the 1960s. Project Kempster was an attempt by Westinghouse to reduce the radar return from the A-12 Blackbird’s inlets by ionizing the air in front of the inlets. Equipment in the Q bay generated a stream of particles that emerged from the chines just ahead of the inlets.
The proof-of-concept equipment was successfully flight tested on the second A-12 (#122), which now sits rotting on the deck of the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier Museum. Jeannette Remak told me that they found the small holes for the particle beams during restoration, but they were covered over.
Had the A-12s not been retired in favor of the SR-71s, a less bulky and power-hungry version would have been part of an upgrade package for the entire fleet.
I don’t know whether LaCroix, et al. at Westinghouse were aware of Eldredge’s 1956 patent, cited below.
As far as coating an aircraft with radioactive material, that sounds a lot worse than a particle beam that you can turn on and off. The bit about it being dangerous only if inhaled — well, that’s true of plutonium. And an aircraft is guaranteed to crash at some point if any number of them are flown.
do you have a link to a hirez version of that photo with the B2 and the nighthawks?
This to me sounds suspiciously like some of the (harebrained?) ideas Nick Cook of Jane’s wrote about in his book Hunt for Zero Point. My copy is in my bedroom just now (along with my sleeping wife) so I can’t give specifics, just what I can recall, but I remember there was a chapter devoted to the conspiracy theories about some sort of exotic, classified propulsion system allegedly built into the B-2. As with most conspiracy theories I seem to recall that it was short on details and long on speculation (and that Cook himself kept a respectful distance from this particular idea, at least), but the general idea was that charged particles generated by equipment onboard the B-2 assist with both propulsion and low-observability characteristics. I dismissed it then as extremely unlikely, but I suppose it’s possible that Cook was in fact onto something, and had just enough data to get the wrong impression; he assumed the charged particles mentioned in the theory were connected with ZPE or some other high-energy phenomena, not low-grade radiation. I will have to consult the text and find out if my synapses are misfiring or if there really are some connections between this story and what Cook reported….
Jober – yes, in my view you are quite correct about Nick Cook and Zero Point. It ssmes to me that the entire ‘electrogravity’/antigravity story is a cover for plasma aerodynamics, and which has so far discredited it quite effectively.
I am not totally sure if this idea would work. I would think you would need a lot more energy to produce the affect, that what is given off by a raidoactive substance. But Science can be weird. If it’s possible I’m sure the goverment is researching it. They get a ton of money for black book projects that we know nothing about. Anyhoe you never know, it may have a very small effect. But is it worth it to put this stuff on an airplane. One will crash, and the stuff will make it’s way into the enviornment in some way. If they make one, I hope it don’t crash in my back yard.
as far as making a aircraft stealth thats a bad way of doing it since we can now make aircraft invisible to the human eyes by using a light wave freqeuntcy that human eyes cant pick up.no one will know about this tech for another 50 to 60 years.
I am a research lab tech and I would love to work on advanced development projects. Will someone please contact me(scitechmj@hotmail.com) to discuss work opportunities?
My work experience includes research on polymers , metal catalysts,phosphors,zeolites, and metal plating.
I live in Maryland and will relocate.
Thank you.
Keep dreaming, Any good electrical engineer will tell you that. It would create havoc for the electrical in the planes and oh the engines would not run. An airship with a smoke screen would work better lol
Inner layer alpha/beta emitter, outer transparant to particles and opaque to visible light (Nah, too simple).
One must wonder if with all this tech stuff, why we can’t have that can stop losing our forest. Will new tech stuff become more important than our people. Lets stop and think for a minute, what good will all this tech stuff do to improve on our daily lives. Not much I think, so what the heck, hey you tech people go for broke. And please invent something like instant cash without having to pay it back at high interest, maybe never to have to pay it back
What about a crash and fire? An awful lot of strontium whould become airborne!
Seems to me like another way for auto speeders to avoid getting speeding tickets…..
Marshall Eagle your an idiot.
Re: Jim Freeman’s environmental comments:
Check US Patent 6,846,967 as a possible solution to all levels of radioactive wastes (certainly for long half-life low-level waste that has to be stored somewhere). Keep the high level at Yucca Mt, so in can be re-processed as fuel, if desired, but place the other stuff where it won’t bother folks ever again.
I beg your pardon, but 10 Curies per cm2 of hot strontium is absolutely unsafe at any speed for the operators or maintenance crew.
Enough of this to paint a jet to glow in the dark is highly dangerous. But the safety of American troops is the last thing people like Rumsfeld think about…
Yeah, i bet we have one of those, and i bet it’s parked at AREA-51. Seriously! The DoD/AF black budget has no doubt allowed for some incredible wonders to be created and tested out there in the past decades.
Think of it this way – currently, the fastest jet aircraft in the world is STILL listed as the SR-71 BLACkBIRD, an aircraft that first flew in 1964! If you still think that is the fastest jet aircraft ever made, i also have some oceanfront property in Afhanistan for sale cheap for ya!
I am quite sure the US has exploited the technology that this article speaks of already. There is simply no reason to publicize or declassify it as of yet. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation stealth birds we know of flying now are still, by a wide margin, the stealthiest operational aircraft in the world, and until an enemy can trump that or detect those aircraft, the military would prefer to keep (much) more advanced technology as tight-lipped as possible. Military secrecy has long played this game, stifling the free spread of scientific advancement to the masses…that’s just the way it is.
julis vernun in master of the world ,usrd the sam craft except instead of it used prop like a heliocopter that provided extra lift with foward motion.
Her rank is higher than 7 levels compared to me and can buy Archlord gold, but she cannot kill me unexpectedly.
In order to make a little bit of hundreds of thousands of eve isk, I commanded all of the staff hung up the number on the computer, and help me mine the mining.
good website