Even before Donald Trump’s ambitious $175 billion missile defense system – the Golden Dome – could materialise, China’s new technology is gearing up to punch holes in it.
China has developed a new material to enhance the stealth of its aircraft and missiles, enabling them to evade microwave and infrared detection technologies used for surveillance.
The much-hyped Golden Dome system is touted to be a multi-domain shield that will be built to keep the US safe against aerial threats from adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
President Trump has described the system as a “transformative leap” in national defence, combining land, sea, and space-based technology to intercept missiles, drones, and potentially even space-launched weapons.
“Golden Dome will protect our homeland,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “Once fully constructed, Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space.”
According to the 2025 Threat Assessment by the US Intelligence Community, “The PLA has the capability to conduct long-range precision strikes with conventional weapons against the Homeland’s periphery in the Western Pacific, including Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska. China has developed a range of ballistic and cruise missiles with conventional payloads that can be delivered from its mainland as well as by air and sea, including by nuclear-powered submarines. China may be exploring development of conventionally-armed intercontinental range missile systems, which, if developed and fielded, would allow China to threaten conventional strikes against targets in the continental United States.”
The ‘Golden Dome’ is expected to be America’s satellite-based shield against the growing intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal of China and Russia. Both countries with adversarial ties to the US have also been working on hypersonic missiles. Beijing had earlier expressed grave concern about the project.
Now, the development of new materials that can help China’s long-range missiles evade detection could be detrimental to the effectiveness of the American missile defense shield.
Stealth coating works by reducing the radar cross-section of a particular aircraft or missile, making it harder to detect. Aircraft and missiles emit strong thermal radiation, specially created by superheated components such as exhaust nozzles, which raises the risk of detection.
Over time, high temperatures degrade or destroy the structure of standard materials. However, the new material is claimed to be engineered to withstand extreme temperatures, making it highly suitable for high-speed military platforms, such as missiles and hypersonic aircraft.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, a Chinese research team led by Professor Li Qiang of Zhejiang University has found a solution to the problem.
A study published in March reveals that the team has developed a material capable of evading both microwave and infrared detection technologies, even when exposed to extremely high temperatures. The microwave and infrared detection are commonly used in military surveillance.
This new ‘meta surface’ claims to resolve the longstanding issue vis-à-vis stealth coatings – instability at high temperatures. When subjected to high temperatures produced by engine exhaust or aerodynamic friction, many stealth materials lose their structural integrity or become less effective. This new material, on the other hand, continues to function at temperatures as high as 700°C.
The material exhibits multispectral properties under laboratory conditions. It lowers radiation fingerprints in a wide range of wavelengths, including microwave frequencies and the short-wave (SWIR), mid-wave (MWIR), and long-wave infrared bands.
In comparison to established blackbody radiation standards, lab testing showed a significant decrease in thermal emissions: radiation intensity decreased by 37.2% in the SWIR band and by 63.6% in the MWIR range at peak heat.
The material has a layered structure, including a specialised “meta-surface” – which is a precisely engineered layer patterned to control how radar and infrared waves interact with it.
The top layer is designed to be moisture resistant, whereas the bottom layer ensures its adherence to the surface. Laser etching throughout the structure allows radar signals to pass through without compromising its heat-hiding abilities.
Blinding The Radars
Since the advent of radar, military aircraft designers have worked towards masking their planes to avoid detection.
Over time, a combination of technologies has been employed, including radar-reflecting shapes and radar-absorbing materials. The leading military powers are continually working to improve their stealth aircraft technology.
Presently, the American B-2 stealth bomber, F-22 Raptors, and F-35 Lightning II are covered in various radar-absorbing polymers and designed to reflect radar energy away from detectors.
They absorb 70 percent to 80 percent of the energy from tracking radar. This makes it difficult to differentiate the aircraft from birds and other smaller airborne objects.
These Radar Absorbing Materials (RAMs) have two major shortcomings – they can be easily damaged due to exposure to salt and moisture. And, secondly, most advanced, stealthy polymers degrade at temperatures above 250 Celsius, a heat level very common around aircraft engines.
China has also been investing in stealth technologies and experimenting with new ideas. Earlier this year, it was reported that Chinese researchers have adapted the 3,000-year-old Jacquard weaving technique to resolve the issue of stealth coating degradation.
The Chinese researchers found that integrating conductive yarns into a warp-knitted “double-sided jacquard” structure enabled the new material to absorb 90.6% of radar waves in the 8-26GHz spectrum, outperforming conventional coatings.
According to the team led by Professor Jiang Qian, the material is a “marriage of ancient patterning and modern electromagnetism.”
Even the F-22’s RAM is not immune to extreme weather conditions. According to USAF’s data, it spends over $60,000 per flight hour and requires RAM reapplication every three weeks, resulting in high costs and frequent maintenance downtime.
In comparison, the article claims, China’s jacquard-woven stealth material extends service life to 18 months, reducing costs by 75 percent.
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