The United States has spent billions of dollars on developing stealth technology. Stealth technology is the electronic equivalent of camouflage designed to defeat the digital eyes of radars.
Stealth uses a combination of radar absorbent paint and oblique angles to reflect radar beams away from the radar antennae, hence rendering the aircraft or ship undetectable, at least by radar.
Stealth aircraft and ships are of course still visible to the naked eye. Stealth aircraft operate at night and are painted black to minimize being spotted. Surface ships though are slower and spend much more time on station thus making them much more easier to detect visually.
The US pursuit of high-tech stealth technology seems to have left with the myopic view that everyone else uses the same type of technology. What gets overlooked is that not everyone can afford cutting edge technology.
On a previous blog, I wrote about the Taliban outgunning US and NATO forces by using ancient, large bore rifles. North Korea followed suit by sinking a South Korean navy vessel using a diesel power mini-sub.
The asynchronous approach was able to defeat the US backed South Korea navy and elude detection. The seemingly impossible was accomplished due to the diminutive size of the mini-sub and its operating location being coastal as opposed to deep sea. Apparently, the US assumptions continues to miscalculate that potential enemies will rely on the same technology and tactics.
Defense contractors must also be held culpable as they continue to sell flashy, high-tech solutions that continue to show their failings against older technology. Years ago as a new intelligence analyst, the An-2 Colt proved be an earlier example of the advantages of older technology.
The An-2 is a single engine, high-mounted wing observation aircraft from the Soviet Union. US forces were confronted with the challenge of spotting this aircraft which flew below radar coverage at sub-sonic speeds and could carry troops into areas such as South Korea.
Twenty-five years later and the US and her allies still can't seem to come up with an answer for Soviet era technology. The term used in the article for this dilemma is asynchronous warfare which means basically that advantages can be won by going old school.
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