Question

What is one of the main objectives of a military aircraft design?

(a) High heat signature

(b) Low RCS

(c) High RCS

(d) Highly stable configuration

This question was posed to me during an internship interview.

The origin of the question is Primary and Secondary Radar in chapter Surveillance Systems, Mapping and Multimode Radars of Avionics

Answer 1

Correct option is (b) Low RCS

Explanation: Military aircraft usually wish to have a very low RCS or radar cross section so that they are stealthy and undetectable on the enemy’s primary radar. RCS can be reduced by various methods like using radar energy absorbing materials on the surface of the aircraft and not having sharp corners on the aircraft which are more likely to reflect radio energy back to the radar antenna.