| Does anyone really know how dangerous these radars are? Basically, if you have 3 or more radars that are working passively and one actively transmitting radar you can locate targets accurately enough (basic trigonometry) to direct your fire if you have needed hard- and software. Only 1 radar is exposed to HARMs and other similar countermeasures and you can switch the transmitting radar if you wish, and if the used technology allows that. Basic concept of these radars has been discussed since 80´s. I have heard that Aussies have tested similar concept, at least Ukraina and Russia have fielded such radars and Serbs have improvised them from existing old radars with some success. Basically this means the death of stealth aircraft which gain their stealthiness from their shape- only Radar Absorbing Materials can give you cover, but recent radars and software can even locate birds, so this measure isnt so good when used alone (at least Russians have tested RAM coated ordinary aircraft)- at least with the recent technology.
It seems likely that in the near future air defences will take over stealth aircraft- not to mean that all aircraft will be shot down, but that they´ll lose their supremacy and become `just ordinary birds`. Stealthiness will become similar thing like chaff & flare which are taken for granted. Because anti-stealth countermeasures are easier and lot cheaper to develope than those ultra-expensive birds, we will soon get rid off this stealth hype.
UAVs may be the answer and I am quite sure in this. One can lose several UAVs for the price of one aircraft and you don´t have to put your life in risk. They are also easier to make stealthier because they don´t have to have space for pilot, they can be shaped to be stealthy, agile and completely RAM-coated (as far as I know there´s no RAM coating that can be seen thru- LOL). Air defences are surely going to adapt, but how?
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