Below is from Taipei Times, November 10th 2003.
Air force hesitates over imported stealth technology
PRESSURE: The military believes that new material makes aircraft
unsafe, despite a complaint by the man who brought the technology
to Taiwan
By Brian Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Nov 10, 2003, Page 1
The air force has delayed plans to use new stealth technology
introduced by an overseas Taiwanese man because the technology
might not suit local needs, defense sources said yesterday.
The imported technology, based on dielectric radar absorbing
materials, has been undergoing secret tests for the past two years
in a project code-named "Black Leopard." The material is supposed
to make any object it covers invisible to enemy radar.
But test results showed that while the stealth material worked, it
added too much weight to planes. It was feared that the extra
weight might affect safety and overall performance.
The hesitation sparked a strong reaction from the overseas
Taiwan-ese who brought the stealth technology to Taiwan, a defense
official said.
"This man is obviously very influential," the officials said.
"Through special channels, he has made a complaint to President
Chen Shui-bian (Â
G). We do not know President Chen's response
to it. We fear that the man will not easily give up," the official
said.
The National Security Council plays a leading role in the Black
Leopard project, while the air force and the state-run Aerospace
Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) are joint executors of
the plan. The spending for the project is not known and it was not
included in the annual budget of the Ministry of National
Defense.
The AIDC provided an AT-3 jet trainer
plane for the testing of the radar-absorbing material.
The AT-3 has made 43 test flights over the past two years, sources
said. The stealth material was even applied to an air-to-air
missile carried by the AT-3.
In test flights against an Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), the
AT-3 was not detectable to the IDF at a distance of 35km, which
means the IDF would not have had time to respond to a missile
attack by the stealth plane.
Despite the favorable test results, however, the AT-3 was thought
to be carrying too much weight.
"The test results were only for reference since they might not be
realistic enough. But a realistic test might put the test pilot in
danger, because it is not known whether the extra weight on the
AT-3 would pose a risk," a defense source said.
"It is also questionable whether the stealth-capable AT-3 would be
able to safely fire a missile as simulated in the tests," he
said.
Cheers,
Sunho
