As US stealth aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor face issues with their radar-absorbent coatings peeling off—a problem compared to “molting cicada wings”—China asserts it has discovered an age-old remedy for this challenge affecting its fifth-generation planes.
New disclosures from defense sector experts indicate that advanced stealth technology technology aboard China's smooth-skinned stealth fighters Its durability might be attributed to a 3,000-year-old textile advancement: the craft of silk jacquard weaving.
Modern stealth airplanes, including the F-22 and F-35 Relies on multiple coating layers to divert radar waves. However, these materials deteriorate quickly when subjected to strain.
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U.S. maintenance records indicate that even small scratches caused by high-speed flights or dust storms in desert environments can significantly reduce the effectiveness of stealth technology. This often necessitates that crew members recoat these areas. radar-absorbent materials (RAM) approximately every three weeks, with costs surpassing $60,000 per flight hour, as reported by certain US media outlets.
Moreover, in areas such as Florida, humidity intensifies adhesive problems, whereas corrosion around seaside installations additional undermines effectiveness.
Chinese aerospace engineers have frequently criticized these temporary fixes. Rather, they aimed for a fundamental solution—one integrated into the very fabric of the materials themselves.
As reported in a study released last month in the Chinese academic journal Knitting Industries, the solution can be found in a two-tier combined material design that draws inspiration from Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) Jacquard looms – a weaving technique for silk production originating around 200 BC.
By incorporating conductive threads into a "double-sided jacquard" fabric using a warp knitting technique, scientists from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) and Tiangong University developed a material capable of absorbing up to 90.6 percent of radar waves within the 8-26 GHz range. This performance surpasses traditional coating methods.
According to Professor Jiang Qian’s research team, this material represents a “fusion of traditional patterns with contemporary electromagnetism.”
Similar to how traditional Jacquard weavers utilized “flower books” with patterns akin to punch cards for complex design encoding, Jiang and her team integrated stealth-enhancing geometric structures right into the fabric’s structure. The quartz fibers serve as an insulating foundation layer, whereas stainless-steel threads construct resonating circuits designed to convert electromagnetic waves into thermal energy.
Each conductive thread is carefully positioned to direct and capture signals, much like how ancient weavers would arrange silk threads to portray dragons or clouds, as stated by the researchers .
The laboratory tests highlighted significant mechanical benefits. It was discovered that the composite can endure up to 93.5 megapascals of longitudinal tensile stress—over tenfold compared to conventional coatings. This enhanced resilience is attributed to the knit’s anisotropic design, wherein the load-carrying threads are oriented parallel to each other. aircraft's stress vectors, reflecting the axial strength found in Han Dynasty brocades.
The Smith Chart, used for electromagnetic analysis, also demonstrated nearly perfect impedance matching in the longitudinal direction, enabling radar waves to delve into rather than mirror, as per the study.
Archaeologists have traced Jacquard’s roots back to the looms of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), where craftsmen used manual multi-heddle systems to create intricate geometric designs. These mechanisms advanced significantly during the Han period, incorporating as many as 120 heddle rods, evolving into highly refined devices—a technological precursor found in the earliest known Jacquard weaving apparatus discovered within Chengdu's Laoguanshan Tombs.
A scholar from Beijing specializing in the history of science remarked, 'The Han dynasty looms were not solely used for producing luxurious items,'” asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the technology.
They functioned akin to early binary computers, encoding weave patterns as data storage. Modern military engineers appear to have rediscovered this approach.
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The article initially appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), which is the premier source for news coverage of China and Asia.
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