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Could ghost imaging spy satellite be a game changer for Chinese military?
China is developing a new type of spy satellite using ghost imaging technology that could change the game of military cat and mouse within a decade, according to scientists involved in the project.
Existing camouflage techniques – from simple smoke bombs used to hide tanks or soldiers on battlefields to the hi-tech radar absorption materials on a stealth aircraft or warship – would be of no use against ghost imaging, physics experts said.
Quantum ghost imaging can achieve unprecedented sensitivity by detecting not just the extremely small amount of light straying off a dim target, but also its interactions with other light in the surrounding environment to obtain more information than traditional methods.
A satellite equipped with the new quantum sensor would be able to identify and track targets that are currently invisible from space, such as stealth bombers taking off at night, according to researchers.
The U.S. Air Force and NASA have also researched this technology.
(Score: 5, Touché) by mhajicek on Tuesday November 28 2017, @10:50PM (7 children)
Boy am I glad we sunk all that money into stealth tech! Now we'll have planes that can't fight, can't run, and can't even stealth.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday November 28 2017, @10:56PM
And can't [theaviationist.com] breathe [theregister.co.uk].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Informative) by Freeman on Tuesday November 28 2017, @10:57PM
within a decade
https://xkcd.com/678/ [xkcd.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @12:55AM (3 children)
What you can do varies with your platform:
* a large array of cryogenic sensors
* an affordable sensor in the seeker of a small-diameter air-to-air missile
* a supercomputer and with antennas spread from horizon to horizon
* a guided artillery shell
Your success could be:
* a brief detection
* continuous accurate tracking
* anything inbetween
Your effort to detect stealth vehicles may be:
* very obvious, revealing yourself fully
* covert
Stealth will thus always be important. Even if the enemy somehow equips well enough to detect you perfectly in every way, probably violating the laws of physics, at least you made them spend the money on that instead of on more ammo.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Wednesday November 29 2017, @04:11AM
> Even if the enemy somehow equips well enough to detect you perfectly in every way, probably violating the laws of physics, at least you made them spend the money on that instead of on more ammo.
Of course you've also inflicted a similarly resource-wasting cost upon yourself in order to develop and deploy the stealth technology. Whether it's money at all well spent depends on the relative opportunity costs you've inflicted on yourself and your opponent.
Regardless though, it's generally going to be a lose-lose proposition unless you're engaged in an active conflict where the lag between measure and counter-measure can yield a substantial strategic advantage.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday November 29 2017, @07:18AM (1 child)
It was made out of wood, with the leading edges of the wings made out of graphite.
I never heard about it until after the US stealth fighter was public knowledge. I figure the US kept that wooden fighter jet a secret so as to maintain their tastes great less filling government tit.
Look man wood worked just fine for Howard Hughes why not the US Air Force?
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @07:56AM
Only three were made and the only recovered version was incomplete.
The US actually had a flying wing design developed before it, and in fact it was the predecessor of the B-2 bomber and was proven in the past 5-10 years to have had a radar cross section that would have been essentially invisible against 40s era radar technology, even given its props.
Sadly neither got used and analysis of either design was never seriously put forth.
There are apparently a number of people creating models or clone aircraft of the Ho 229 today.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday November 29 2017, @10:46AM
It's OK, we have anti-quantum voodoo vampire technology that deals with the Chinese quantum ghost imaging. However, it's the Russian neo-quantum zombie ghoul sensors that I'm worried about. That and the fact that the Chinese may put silver garlic-coated crosses on their gear.