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Taiwanese military
reportedly develops ‘stealth’ coating
By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter
The Republic of China navy has made a major breakthrough in the development of
an absorbent paint that can provide stealth capabilities to its weapons
platforms, local media reported yesterday.
The radar-absorbing material, which reports said has been in development for a
number of years, was recently tested on a 57-tonne Hai Ou (“Seagull”)-class fast
attack boat, which has no stealth features, the Chinese-language United Daily
News reported.
Two Seagulls, the No. 53 and No. 59, were deployed during the test. The No. 53,
whose hull, machine guns, missiles and cabin were coated with the absorbent
material, remained invisible to radar, while the No. 59, which was used as a
control and did not receive the coating, was easily detected.
Only after the No. 53 came within sight did the radar finally detect it, reports
said.
The stealth coating has resulted in a halving of the distance at which a vessel
remains invisible to radar, reports said.
The test with the two Seagulls reportedly involved both land-based radar and
radar on board a ship at sea that was approached by the two attack boats. When
the two Seagulls closed in on the ship, the control vessel was picked up by
radar from a distance of 10km, while the No. 53, with the coating, was only
detected after it had come within viewing distance.
When the two boats sailed away from the ship and could barely be observed by the
naked eye, the No. 53 was no longer picked up by radar, while the control was
still clearly visible, even at a distance exceeding 10km.
Unconfirmed reports within the navy also claim that during a test at night, an
observer vessel was unable to pick up the No. 53 by radar at a distance of 730m.
Although Navy Command confirmed it had tested the coating on the Seagulls, it
would not comment further on the tests.
It is not known whether the stealth coating would be used in the navy’s fleet of
locally manufactured 170-tonne Kuang Hua VI (“Glorious China”)-class missile
boats, whose design and shape already give it stealth capabilities.
Ten Kuang Hua-class vessels entered service in May last year. Another 20 are to
be delivered by China Shipbuilding Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) to the navy by next
February, bringing the fleet to 30.
The Kuang Hua VI, which come armed with four Hsiung Feng II (“Brave Wind”)
ship-to-ship missiles developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and
Technology (CSIST, 中山科學研究院), is intended to replace about 30 of the
Israeli-designed Seagulls after the almost 20-year-old vessels are retired at
the end of this year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
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