Trust me on this, the defense is as much a part of design as the attack. If the rest of the world is after a means to defeat LO  then its prime user probably is as aware of what it takes to defeat as anyone else is. That user has the advantage of knowing the EXACT  techspecs.

Therefore, that user probably is working the active EW  measures to smear LW radiation signal return.

Herald

One trick pony gimmicks never overcome the sound application of operational experience and technology-in other words, the Russians may discover a trick they may think works; but they have to proprogate it to test it in the real world. The way this planet is wired  today, there is very little that radiates  that isn't detected and analyzed.

To be sure that they have something, the Russians have to test against their best guess of the LO technology.and test it a LOT, since i expect that even effective LO detectors will be like real radar, subject to all kinds of weird local effects such as moving background clutter, heat, garbage in the air, simple ionization sheer, sunspots, and what not.  Since the prime user also tests continuously now and listens for anything bizarre that is allied or hostile that is of EW origin, the net result is that tech surprise is less than operational surprise. I would suggest that even operational surprise against LO tech is not very likely since the physics almost demands a certain beehive hardware IADS box approach to establish a DATE cycle to acquire fixes sufficient for chase weapons to work. The prime user is going to notice those systems going into service and he will build his own.

Who are the veteran masters of signal  processing?  I'd say it would be the British, Dutch, and  Germans when it comes to detector systems with the Australians, and the Americans right in there neck and neck. Then you have the second tier, which includes Italy, Japan, Sweden, Israel, France, and also Russia, then you have everybody else a distant third.  

So you look at what the British do and the Dutch/Germans: if they sniff at something EW wise; the prime LO user jumps on it and tests it against his tech tree to see what the measure. After that the prime user has to countermeasure. I don't see the prime user not using some kind of EW countermeasures before he commits his LO  aircraft anyway. It just makesd good military  sense to Pearl Harbor an enemy IADS radar coverage before you commit an air force to battle.

Peel the onion before you eat it.

Herald

Intercept engagement is still not very likely given the signal threshholds and those parts of the EM spectrum which are the likely detector bands.that you will use against current LO tech.

Herald

Reefdiver and that very smart Serb colonel that killed that Night Hawk are both correct that if you throw enough garbage into the air along a predicted vector you will bring down your duck: hence shotguns.

The point is that if the duck shoots back, then he will develop anti-duckblind tactics and so the EW battle between the two sides begins.

It becomes economically moot whether the cost per unit in the IADS is low if you need 1000x of them to get one 'Duck:"

Herald