Researchers at IIT Mandi have developed a new method to stop military equipment from being picked up by radar.

The scientists at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have created a synthetic material that can make stealth vehicles and hidden establishments less detectable to the radar. The researchers produced a substance that can absorb a broad spectrum of radar frequencies (signals), regardless of the direction from which the radar signal strikes the object.

Radar Cross Section (RCS) reduction is a technique used to make establishments and vehicles undetectable to radar. This is achieved by using materials that absorb radar signals or by shaping objects in such a way as to make them difficult to detect. Aside from its use for windows, this process is also employed to ensure that certain places and vehicles remain hidden from radar.

The results of the study have been shared in the IEEE Letters on Electromagnetic Compatibility Practice and Applications, a journal co-authored by Dr Shrikanth Reddy, an Assistant Professor at the School of Computing and Electrical Engineering of IIT Mandi, and his team, including Dr. Awanish Kumar (First Author) and Mr. Jyoti Bhushan Padhi.

Dr G Shrikanth Reddy of IIT Mandi has done extensive research on the development of a Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) technology that is able to absorb a wide array of radar frequencies, making the surface undetectable to radar.

The design proposes an ITO-coated PET sheet which is optically transparent and has FSS patterns made with laser engraving technology. As FSS patterns are symmetrical and lossy, the absorber is not affected by polarization and can absorb electromagnetic waves in the C, X, and Ku bands.