China Says New Tech Can Detect Stealth Jets Including F-22, F-35

The new system can spot and target radar-skirting stealth planes.

Peekaboo

Chinese scientists claim to have developed a new radar system capable of spotting and targeting stealth aircraft, potentially spelling doom for the U.S. Air Force's F-22 and F-35 fighter jets.

Stealth planes are designed to pass undetected through conventional radar systems. But radar with longer wavelengths can still spot them, according to National Interest — and China claims to have developed a network of long-wave radar systems so dense that it can accurately track stealth planes and target them with anti-aircraft weapons.

Join The Club

Chinese media claims that this new radar network puts China ahead of other world militaries.

"As for now, I do not see a meter wave air defense radar from abroad that can match the criteria of the advanced meter wave radar [like the one China has]," Wu Jianqi, the scientist behind the new radar system, told Global Times.

But Russia has also announced anti-stealth technology, per National Interest, as has the United States.

All In The Execution

Ultimately, neither stealth aircraft nor tech to detect them have been deployed in major skirmishes, so it will be hard to tell how effective either is until then, in National Interest's analysis.

China's new radar network could render stealth aircraft useless, but it's also possible the network itself ends up being less effective than scientists claim.

READ MORE: RIP F-35 and F-22: China Claims It Has Radar That Can Detect Stealth Aircraft [National Interest]

More on stealth aircraft: The Military Wants to Use F-35s to Shoot Down Nuclear Missiles