In article %AMfg.1638$I61.24@clgrps13,
says...
wrote:
Ken Chaddock wrote:


Block 1B CIWS has an infrared and optical tracker that would do nicely
against any UAV within it's range...the question is finding the UAV in
the first place. An Infrared search system with the ability to designate
to a B1B Phalanx would work quite well I think...


But a prop-driven UAV with a small engine and some attention to exhaust
masking would not be an easy IR target.

If all you want to do is locate and identify a ship, and beam an
illuminating laser at it to guide the incoming ordnance, then the UAV
can be very small and very hard to detect.

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk

Have you ever seen the radar return from a prop ? Looks like a bloody
747...a prop-job wouldn't be a particular problem and contrary to
popular misconception, most modern IR trackers don't rely on a hugh heat
gradient but rather on the difference in emissivity between the target
and the background, IOW it's tracking the delta, not the absolute IR
output of the target...

So what IS the radar return from a wooden or fiberglass propellor like?

The UAVs that I've seen and the powered paragliders don't have metal
propellors. I suspect the reason is economics, rather than stealth,
though.



Mark Borgerson