The “Golden Veil”: China’s ploy to disguise missiles as if they were commercial aircraft
A gold-plated camouflage veil capable of making a cruise missile appear like a passenger jet on a radar screen could "change the face of warfare", according to the team of Chinese scientists behind the project. The low-cost technology can confuse expensive air defense systems and significantly reduce the time military commanders have to respond – if they ever do.
Developed by a research team from northwestern China, the project is part of an ongoing effort by China to create a wide range of ways to penetrate the air defense systems of the First Island Chain, Guam or even the American homeland.
While China's overall military posture remains defensive, some Chinese military experts say such capabilities would serve as an effective deterrent against foreign intervention in regional issues such as Taiwan or the South China Sea.
According to Zong Yali and his colleagues, in a paper published last month in the Chinese Journal of Radio Science, the veil is made of thin gold-plated metal wires. The gold threads then form a network with complex geometry to reflect the radar signals. It is therefore a weapon that can potentially change air warfare, because it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between missiles and civilian aircraft, and this makes a surprise preventive attack easier.
According to laboratory tests , the device can increase the radar cross-section of a flying target from less than one decibel to more than 30 decibels per square meter, said Zong, who is an associate professor of radar science at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, Shaanxi province.
This is a signal similar to that generated by a large aircraft, such as a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320, when viewed from certain angles.
An interesting fact is that this system can be turned on and off, so the missile, or even the plane, can choose to be visible as a commercial vehicle or not, depending on the airspace it passes through. Furthermore, the weight is very low, of the order of one kg.
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The article The “Golden Veil”: China's ploy to disguise missiles as if they were commercial planes comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-velo-dorato-lo-stratagemma-cinese-per-mascherare-i-missili-come-se-fossero-aerei-commerciali/ on Sat, 23 Dec 2023 08:00:06 +0000.