[News in War History] Stealth Fighter Jets Even the US Military Can't Detect... Why They Were Abandoned by the Soviet Union

US Military Lost F-35B, Tracked Down and Found It
Technology Discarded by Soviet Union for Low Utility
US Quickly Built Fighter Jet After Original Technology Was Disclosed

The latest stealth fighter jet, the F-35B, operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, recently went missing over U.S. airspace, drawing worldwide attention. The incident occurred when the pilot ejected due to a mechanical failure, and the missing fighter jet, flying on autopilot, crashed during flight, making it impossible to locate by radar. After searching with the help of local residents, the U.S. military finally found the wreckage a day after the disappearance, dealing a blow to their pride.

Meanwhile, interest in the U.S. military's stealth technology has increased. It was confirmed that even the U.S. military could not locate the stealth fighter, highlighting the superiority of stealth capabilities once again. The stealth technology unveiled by the U.S. in the 1980s remains one of the country's top military secrets. Although Russia and China also possess stealth fighters, their technology is not considered as advanced as that of the U.S.

Ironically, the original stealth technology was developed in the former Soviet Union. At the time, the Soviets judged it to have little military utility and released it as publicly available information rather than a military secret, which allowed the U.S. to acquire the technology. In other words, a discarded technology became the world's leading military technology.

In this article, we will explore the history of stealth technology, which carries these various episodes, as well as the current status of the technology.

First, let's look at the news. According to AFP on the 18th (local time), the Charleston base in South Carolina, with the cooperation of local authorities, found the wreckage of the missing F-35B fighter jet 24 hours after it disappeared the previous day. The wreckage was found in Williamsburg County, about two hours northeast of the Charleston base.

The F-35B had experienced a mechanical failure during flight near the Charleston base, prompting the pilot to eject. The aircraft continued flying on autopilot before crashing. The U.S. military launched a search for the wreckage but had difficulty locating it. Because the fighter jet is a stealth aircraft and cannot be detected by radar, the military succeeded in finding the wreckage only after inquiries with local residents.

This led to widespread criticism of the U.S. military for failing to locate even a lost stealth fighter. Critics argued that it was absurd for such an advanced strategic weapon, costing around $80 million (approximately 106 billion KRW) per unit, to go missing entirely. Republican Representative Nancy Mace strongly criticized, saying, "How can you lose an entire F-35?" and "How can there be no tracking device?"

In response, the Charleston base defended the difficulty of locating stealth fighters. Jeremy Higgins, spokesperson for the Charleston base, said at a press conference, "Because this aircraft is a stealth plane, it has coatings and designs that make it harder to detect than regular aircraft," and expressed gratitude for the support from local and county authorities.

This incident has sparked a flood of parodies mocking the U.S. military on social media. The confirmation that even the U.S. military cannot find a lost stealth fighter has significantly increased public interest in stealth technology.

Stealth technology is currently a U.S. military secret, and all advanced stealth fighters are produced in the U.S., so it is naturally assumed that the technology was developed there. However, the original technology was actually developed in the former Soviet Union. Strictly speaking, it was a technology discarded by the Soviets.

The father of this stealth technology is Dr. Pyotr Ufimtsev, a Russian physicist. Born in the Altai region of the former Soviet Union, now part of Kazakhstan, he showed exceptional talent in mathematics and physics from a young age and was admitted to Moscow State University as an outstanding student.

In 1959, while a graduate student in electronic engineering at Moscow State University, he devised a mathematical model that could predict the behavior of electromagnetic waves reflected from an object's surface. If properly applied, this model could significantly reduce the radar cross-section of an aircraft, enabling stealth technology that would make it difficult for enemy radar to detect the aircraft. Although he wrote a paper on this, neither his advisor nor the scientific community in the Soviet Union and other communist countries paid much attention.

In 1961, he presented the paper again at an international conference in Moscow but still failed to attract significant interest. Although the Soviet scientific community recognized the potential for stealth technology if applied to fighter aircraft, at the time, there was no effective technology to intercept supersonic fighters, so the main military focus was on increasing aircraft speed.

As a result, Dr. Ufimtsev's paper was made publicly accessible in the Soviet Union and other communist countries. For the next ten years, the paper remained shelved at Moscow University until it was discovered and utilized by the U.S., the Soviet Union's adversary.

The reason the U.S. turned its attention to the stealth technology discarded by the Soviet Union was the Fourth Middle East War in 1973, also known as the Yom Kippur War, where U.S.-supported Israeli fighter jets were shot down like leaves by Soviet-made air defense systems.

In October 1973, the Israeli Air Force, equipped with the then-latest F-4 Phantom jets supplied by the U.S., attacked Egyptian and Arab League forces but lost as many as 102 aircraft. Before the war, Egypt had received new Soviet-made interceptor missiles such as the SA-6 and various air defense systems, creating a dense air defense network that Israeli jets could not penetrate. Israel suffered devastating losses, losing over 10% of its entire air force.

This was a major shock to the U.S. Until then, supersonic fighters were difficult targets for interceptor missiles and air defense systems, and pilots were trained to evade missiles through maneuvering. However, even veteran pilots could no longer avoid interceptor missiles.

Consequently, the U.S. military began developing stealth technology to avoid detection by enemy radar. The team assigned by the Department of Defense to design the stealth fighter was Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works," famous for designing the high-speed reconnaissance aircraft SR-71 Blackbird.

The biggest challenge in developing stealth technology was calculating and predicting the radar cross-section of flying objects. While collecting scientific papers from various countries to secure foundational technology, they discovered Dr. Ufimtsev's paper and expanded upon his model, successfully developing the stealth fighter.

The world's first stealth fighter to emerge from this effort was the F-117 Nighthawk. The U.S. Department of Defense officially announced the acquisition of stealth technology in 1980, and the F-117's first flight in 1981 marked the beginning of the stealth fighter era.

The ironic development history of the stealth fighter teaches a valuable lesson that technology discarded by an adversary can become a cutting-edge military asset. It also highlights the importance of fundamental research at civilian universities for national defense.

Even if fundamental scientific research does not immediately translate into tangible benefits, it is difficult to predict what major technological innovations may arise as times change. Consequently, advanced countries like the U.S. invest heavily in basic science.

In particular, the U.S. views the advancement of fundamental science as critical in its rivalry with China and has significantly increased its budget. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a 2024 fiscal year budget of $11.3 billion (approximately 14.8 trillion KRW), a 19% increase from the previous year.

In this context, there is growing demand in South Korea for increased investment in basic research projects. Controversy has arisen after the government announced a 16.6% cut in next year's government R&D budget compared to this year, including a 6.2% reduction in basic research funding. Regardless of economic difficulties, investment in fundamental science should be recognized as an investment in national security.