Optical Victory Behind US Bombing Iran’s Nuclear Facilities
A piece of news about the safe return of all the staff after the American warplanes bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, behind which lies the revolutionary application of optical technology in modern warfare. The use of these technologies makes the fighter like a “shield of light”, which shows an amazing survivability when breaking through the air defense network.
Active defense light: infrared stealth coating
The high temperature generated by the engine nozzle of a fighter is always the maximum exposure point to infrared guided missiles. The fifth generation of US military aircraft uses a new generation of thermal infrared stealth coating, whose core lies in the design of nanostructures and doped semiconductor materials. These coatings can selectively radiate infrared light in specific bands, while effectively suppressing the thermal characteristics of key response bands of infrared guided munitions such as 3-5 μ m and 8-14 μ m, reducing the infrared signal intensity by up to 90%, making the fighter invisible in the enemy’s infrared search and tracking system.
Global Sensing Light: Distributed Optical Aperture System
The EODAS system equipped by the US F-35 consists of six sets of infrared photoelectric sensors surrounding the fuselage. The system integrates multi band infrared imaging and algorithm processing capabilities, and can automatically identify and track the tail flame characteristics of surface to air missiles 200 kilometers away; Through multi-sensor signal fusion, 360 ° spherical battlefield situation map is projected on the helmet mounted display of the fighter cockpit. The pilot gains the perception ability beyond vision, which can not only “see through” the fuselage to see the trajectory of the incoming missile, but also plan the optimal avoidance maneuver path in time.
Light of decisive strike: directional infrared countermeasure technology
The aircraft that broke through the target area has entered the enemy’s strongest anti-aircraft firepower circle, and the laser countermeasure system becomes the final shield. AN/AAQ-54, an advanced directional infrared countermeasure system, integrates dual band infrared missile approach warning function and high-energy laser beam. The system can accurately detect the missile threat within tens of kilometers within one second, and then focus the infrared seeker of the missile with kilowatt level laser energy. The powerful laser energy can not only blind the infrared detector, but also directly burn the optical components of the seeker to achieve hard killing of the missile.
Behind this successful penetration mission, infrared stealth technology effectively reduced the probability of being found and locked. The airborne electro-optical system gave the fighter “all-weather perspective”, and the laser countermeasure system was like tying “optical shackles” to the missile. The perfect integration of these three optical technologies has established an all-around optoelectronic warfare system for fighters from passive stealth to active defense.
The rapid development of optical technology is inexorably reshaping the rules of the battlefield. From stealth coating to optical perception, and then to laser confrontation, the US military’s action shows the highest level of understanding of the ancient combat medium “light” – from passive response to active control. In this wave of optical transformation, the contest between “visible” and “invisible” will continue to transcend the traditional boundaries of human vision.