Eli5: What makes a stealth fighter harder to detect than a regular plane?
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When they were first building scale prototypes to test the combined theories of materials, coatings and shape/design, they built a mockup – like eight feet across – and mounted it on a post way the hell over there on an air base, where they could get a good look at it with radar. The radar operator looked at his screen and said “I don’t see it – the damn thing must have fallen off the post.” Another guy picked up a pair of binoculars to look, and there it was, on top of the post, in all its matte black multifaceted glory. Before he could say anything, he saw a bird land on the model – a normal average bird-sized bird – and the radar guy said “oh wait, never mind, I see it now”. That’s when they knew they were really on to something.
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