| To begin with things very clear, fighter radars are | | | | created. An active fighter radar is the one that |
| not only what the main people think they are. | | | | actively sends waves in order to detect anything |
| Supposedly, just a way to detect enemy aircrafts. | | | | placed within its effective range. A passive fighter |
| That's not a bad understanding, but it needs to be | | | | radar is a listening one. It simply waits to receive |
| complemented saying that if you detect an enemy | | | | waves from all the airplanes around that are using |
| aircraft with your fighter radar, the enemy aircraft | | | | their active radars. This combined with a strong |
| will automatically detect you. | | | | stealth condition can guide an aircraft to his enemy |
| A fighter radar is just some waves sent in the air. | | | | without even being detected. |
| This waves get reflected on an object like a plane, | | | | Unfortunately, not in all combat situation this is a |
| and come back to your plane where they are | | | | possibility. Normally the strategy involves to use the |
| detected by sensors and analyzed to determine | | | | passive radar to approach targets, but when it is |
| position, speed, direction of flight, and even kind of | | | | time to engage and fire, the active fighter radar |
| aircraft located. As an aircraft needs to have sensors | | | | sometimes must be switched on in order to allow the |
| to detect its own reflected waves, it also will detect | | | | missile to get the information and follow it. Some |
| any ways that are sent to it. This is the reason why | | | | missiles need the guidance of the airplane's radar until |
| when sending waves to detect an aircraft will | | | | they hit the target, which compromises heavily the |
| automatically reveal our position. | | | | aircraft's position. Recently, many missiles have been |
| This has even another problem. A fighter radar has a | | | | developed in which you simply can fire and forget. |
| certain range of detection. This is the distance in | | | | Switch for a few seconds to active radar, pass the |
| which the waves can travel in one way, get | | | | information to the missile, fire and switch off the |
| reflected, and come back with the strength enough | | | | active radar. |
| as to provide a signal in the pilot's screen. In this way, | | | | Combining this methodology with a change of |
| we can say that the aircraft that a radar can | | | | direction, speed and altitude just after the launch of |
| effectively detect can be placed up to 100 miles, to | | | | the missile gives always the less compromise to the |
| set an example. But the problem is that all other | | | | position of the plane. In any case, compromising the |
| aircraft placed between 100 miles and 200 miles will | | | | position of the plane for a few seconds is always |
| be alerted of our presence, but we will never know | | | | necessary when firing, as it involves a extreme heat |
| about their presence. | | | | that infrared detectors can locate, and with stealth |
| All this reasoning brings to a conclusion. There is a | | | | fighters like the F22 Stealth Fighter, it involves the |
| need to take advantage of this situation, and this is | | | | opening of doors that get the Radar Cross Section |
| how the active and passive fighter radars were | | | | extremely enlarged. |