The YLC-2E S-band long-range multi-function radar Photo: Ma Jun/GT

Apart from showcasing three types of new stealth fighters, J-35A, J-20S and J-35 fighters, China also presented its anti-stealth detection capabilities at Airshow China 2024. The Global Times learned from the No.14 Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corp (CETC) that an advanced equipment has emerged in China's anti-stealth radar family, the YLC-2E S-band long-range multi-function radar, creating a new technical pattern in anti-stealth radar technology.

Experts from CETC told the Global Times that in the field of anti-stealth radar technology, the S-band was originally supposed to be unrelated to anti-stealth functions. It is explained that the common approach of current active anti-stealth radars is usually based on countering the basic principles of stealth technology: so-called stealth aircraft are not truly invisible, but through the use of radio wave-absorbing materials and special aerodynamic design, they greatly reduce their radar cross sections, thereby significantly shrinking the radar detection distance. Low-frequency radars, also known as meter wave radars, have a natural advantage in detecting stealth targets and have become the main means of detecting stealth aircraft, making meter wave radar synonymous with anti-stealth. 

In the eyes of Chinese radar experts, meter-wave radar is not perfect. It has disadvantages in detection accuracy, for example, even if it detects the presence of stealth aircraft, it is difficult to directly serve as a fire control radar to guide air defense systems for interception, which means for the fleeting nature of modern aerial combat, this is not ideal.

The YLC-2E radar pioneered the use of the S-band, which offers high detection accuracy and is a classic band commonly used for target detection and tracking radars.

Therefore, the YLC-2E radar, utilizing the S-band, can effectively address the issue of detection accuracy. The S-band had faced challenges in anti-stealth technology. CETC experts said that to tackle this issue, the YLC-2E, as a new generation long-range multi-function radar, incorporates almost all of the latest international radar hardware and technological systems, including new-generation semiconductors and modularization. Based on these, the YLC-2E has acquired two key tools to pierce stealth cloaks - energy and intelligent algorithms.

The YLC-2E has a significant advantage in terms of energy. On a radar antenna array that covers an area equivalent to half a standard badminton court, a large number of high-power radar T/R modules are arranged. Through optimized design combined with extremely high energy application efficiency, the radar antenna can generate astonishing energy, forming the hardware foundation for energy-based stealth countermeasures. On top of this hardware foundation, YLC-2E employs intelligent algorithm software that can optimally schedule radar detection capabilities, ensuring the radar can identify tiny stealth targets in the vast sky, and it has strong anti-jamming capabilities, the CETC experts said.

According to the experts, the detection performance of the YLC-2E radar is comparable to that of conventional frequency band anti-stealth radars like YLC-8B and YLC-8E, making it a true high-performance anti-stealth radar that transcends the era of meter-wave radars. However, it is important to note that YLC-2E is not a replacement for conventional frequency band anti-stealth radars, but rather complements them, the experts said.