Scientists say China can detect F-22, F-35 stealth aircraft using the Starlink satellite network

China has long expressed concern that the United States could use Space X's Starlink satellite network in the event of a possible regional emergency. However, in their latest experiment, scientists have demonstrated that China can use Starlink to its advantage by successfully detecting a stealth aircraft using Starlink satellites.

As part of the experiment, the team flew a DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone off the coast of Guangdong. The drone was about the size of a bird and had the radar cross section of a stealth fighter.

Despite its stealth, the target suddenly appeared on the screen, although the ground radar was not emitting any radio waves that could cause an echo. Scientists explained that this became possible due to the fact that the drone was irradiated with electromagnetic radiation from the Starlink satellite passing over the Philippines.

This capability, the report says, has never been demonstrated by any other country.

If such an experiment is confirmed, China would likely gain an unprecedented combat advantage over its adversary and competitor, the United States, which has a significant fleet of stealth fighters such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, as well as stealth bombers.

In the event of a conflict between China and the United States, the latter will most likely try to penetrate Chinese airspace using their latest “undetectable” stealth aircraft.

The Chinese experiment could seriously erode America's stealth advantage and allow the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to shoot down American aircraft if these claims are taken seriously.

How will China detect stealth aircraft using Starlink?

The report from a research team led by Professor Yi Jianxin of the School of Electronic Information at Wuhan University notes that stealth aircraft, such as the US F-22 Raptor, use absorbent coatings and special geometric shapes to minimize the reflection of electromagnetic waves, allowing them to fool radar systems.

However, Professor Yee and his team, in a paper published August 26 in the Journal of Signal Processing, write that if the radar station uses the powerful and ubiquitous signals of the Starlink satellite, its detection capabilities “will not depend on the three-dimensional shape of the target and its surface material.” . This “will provide significant benefits in detecting small and subtle targets,” the team noted.

In addition, during operation, the positions of conventional military radars are visible to the enemy, making them possible targets. However, Yi and his colleagues wrote in the journal that “by using third-party radiation sources, radar systems can gain enhanced camouflage and anti-jamming capabilities.”

The experiment was conducted under the supervision of the National Radio Monitoring Center of the Chinese government, and the results were peer-reviewed before being published.

The Chinese team said the plane can scatter some electromagnetic waves transmitted by communications satellites when it flies over the airspace between the satellites and ground-based antennas. Essentially, this means that these waves, which are also known as forward scatter, can interfere with normal communication signals.

By analyzing these tiny glitches, scientists will be able to detect and monitor their target of interest.

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, is known for having the most extensive satellite network in low Earth orbit. More than 6,000 satellites in this huge constellation created by SpaceX generate high-frequency radio signals, providing Internet speeds of up to 220 Mbps.

The report says that when Western scientists and engineers developed American stealth aircraft several years ago, they did not imagine that these new fighters could become a target for electromagnetic interference from satellites.

SpaceX does not offer service to Chinese users, and Starlink communications are encrypted. However, Yi's team claims they can use readily available and inexpensive electronic parts to assemble a Starlink receiver.

Because the antenna is mounted on a movable base, it is able to track the satellite across the entire sky. A closer look at the physical mechanisms behind the operation led Yi and his colleagues to rewrite the forward scatter radar detection model and create a new algorithm. The received signals were processed by a high-performance chip, but which one specifically remained unknown.

However, there is one catch. The researchers noticed that the drones used in the experiment operated at relatively low altitudes and their radar antennas were proportionally small, roughly equivalent in size to a standard frying pan. Therefore, at this stage, the technology presented in the work cannot be used directly for military purposes.

Yi and his colleagues claim that they were able to effectively identify signals associated with complex characteristics, including the movement of the drone's rotor. This achievement validates the “feasibility and effectiveness” of their approach and system architecture for use in stealth fighter and anti-drone technologies.

China's intentions to detect stealth fighters

China has been making attempts to detect enemy stealth aircraft, and claims about this capability have been appearing for years.

For example, last year there were reports that Chinese engineers had created a small infrared search-and-track system capable of detecting the heat signature of a high-speed mobile aircraft at an unusually long distance. As the EurAsian Times notes, infrared search and track systems (IRST) play a critical role in identifying stealth aircraft.

In 2020, China said it had developed a meter-wave counter-stealth radar capable of detecting advanced stealth. “Meter-wave radars can be placed on vehicles, on land and on warships, creating a dense network in which hostile stealth aircraft have nowhere to hide,” Chinese military experts said at the time.

The SCMP report said China has improved its regional denial capabilities by employing various methods to identify stealth aircraft. In particular, over-the-horizon radars were installed along the coast, emitting long-wave detection signals that cannot be detected by stealth coatings, and massive constellations of Earth observation satellites were used to identify and track American stealth fighters in flight.

None of these statements can be independently verified. Moreover, military experts and critics interviewed by EurAsian Times often voiced their suspicions about China's overly ambitious and theoretical claims. However, the use of Starlink against the United States seems more intriguing than all previous claims.

China believes that in the event of conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, the US military could use the Starlink satellite network to spy on China. These concerns have increased exponentially since Ukraine began using these satellites following its 2022 invasion.