Slightly OT: What Would a U.S. vs. Russia War Look Like Today?

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Was re-reading this thread and remembered that I wanted to mention something about this comment.

Originally Posted by Olefin

we were talking bombers - thats why the Stealth bomber is such a terrific capability - the Russians literally dont know its there till the bombs hit - whereas with even an SLBM there is some warning

If Australia has the technology to detect the B-2, what makes you think the Russians don't?
Yes the B-2 has radar-absorbent materials and a shape that make it almost invisible to conventional radar but it is not totally invisible, it has a much smaller Radar Cross Section and has the radar appearance of something like a small flock of birds rather than as an aircraft. Most radar operators would dismiss it as a false return.

But the real kicker is that you don't look for the aircraft, you look for the wake it leaves in the air, something which can be detected by weather radar. The turbulence caused by a large aircraft cannot be made "stealth" and will be detected if people know what to look for.
This capability is also possessed by Over-The-Horizon Backscatter military radar and has been known about since the late 1980s.

Newer developments in radar are making use of this concept to detect distortions in not just the airflow but in other forms of radiation such as television and radio broadcasts. The use of longer wavelengths rather than the standard radar wavelenghts has also proven successful in detecting stealth aircraft, this is how the Sertbians detected and shot down the F-117 in 1999.
Also, because all aircraft create friction with the surrounding air, it is conjectured that high sensitivity IR systems could detect the passage of stealth aircraft by the heated air caused by this friction.

The Stealth Bomber can be detected and if Australia can do it, then the Russians certainly have the ability to do it.

Sources:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...pg=1185,962953
http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/...stealth-bomber
http://drtomorrow.com/lessons/lessons6/26.html
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/...ealth-aircraft
http://www.cassidian.com/en_US/web/g...ns%20invisible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_aircraft