As U.S. stealth aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor face issues with peeling radar-absorbing materials—a problem compared to "shedding cicada wings"—China asserts it has discovered a traditional remedy for its fifth-generation planes.
Recently, defense industry experts have disclosed information indicating that advanced stealth technologies may technology aboard China's smooth-skinned stealth fighters The secret to its durability might lie in a 3,000-year-old textile technique: the craft of silk jacquard weaving.
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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 stress.
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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 stealth effectiveness, necessitating repeated applications of protective measures. radar-absorbent materials (RAM) approximately every three weeks, with each flight hour costing over US$60,000, 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 scholarly magazine Knitting Industries, the solution can be found in a two-tier combined material design influenced by Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) Jacquard looms - a weaving method for silk that dates back to around 200 BC.
By incorporating conductive threads into a warp-knit “double-layered jacquard” design, scientists from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) along with Tianjin University developed a fabric that absorbs up to 90.6 percent of radar waves within the 8-26 GHz range, surpassing traditional coating methods.
According to Professor Jiang Qian’s research team, this material represents a blend of traditional patterns and contemporary electromagnetism.
Similar to how traditional jacquard weavers utilized “flower books” resembling punched cards to store complex patterns, Jiang and her team integrated radar-evading structures right into the fabric’s structure. The quartz fibers serve as an insulating foundation, whereas stainless-steel threads generate resonating circuits that convert electromagnetic waves into thermal energy.
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Each conductive thread is precisely positioned to direct and capture signals, much like how ancient weavers organized silk strands to illustrate dragons or clouds, as stated in the source. 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 exceptional resilience is due to the knitted material’s anisotropic design, wherein the load-carrying threads are oriented parallel to the direction of force. aircraft's stress vectors, reflecting the axial strength found in Han Dynasty brocades.
The Smith Chart, which is used for electromagnetic analysis, further demonstrated nearly perfect impedance matching in the longitudinal direction, enabling radar waves to delve into rather than mirror, as per the study.
Archaeologists link 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. During the Han period, these devices advanced significantly, featuring as many as 120 heddle rods. This technological progression was encapsulated in what became known as the world's initial Jacquard weaving mechanism, discovered within the Chengdu Laoguanshan Tombs.
A scholar from Beijing specializing in history mentioned that those Han looms were not solely used for producing luxurious items," but chose to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the technology involved.
Just as early binary computers stored weaving codes in physical memory, today’s military engineers appear to have rediscovered this approach.