China Invented a New Invisibility Cloak. What Does That Mean for the Future of Warfare?

Imagine a warplane shrouded by a “cloak” that can zip through the skies, reliably protected from enemies’ eyes. Earlier this year, scientists at Zhejiang University in China announced that they had created just that: an “aeroamphibious invisibility cloak” for aircraft—similar to what you might see on Star Trek. Now, the Chinese military wants to apply the new stealth technology to its growing drone fleet. Aircraft are spotted when they reflect incoming waves from radar systems. But invisibility cloaks are crafted to trick radar systems with specially engineered materials that bend these waves around the aircraft as if they were passing through a plane. The goal is to manipulate waves across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the portions visible and invisible to the human eye. Militaries around the world have worked for decades to make weapons platforms like warplanes undetectable to radar systems. But such stealth tech is far from perfect, and these weapons can still be spotted with the right radar. Now, the Zhejiang University team says they can close the invisibility gap and render aircraft entirely imperceptible. But is it all too good to be true? [View in Browser]( [Popular Mechanics]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [China Invented a New Invisibility Cloak. What Does That Mean for the Future of Warfare?]( [China Invented a New Invisibility Cloak. What Does That Mean for the Future of Warfare?]( [China Invented a New Invisibility Cloak. What Does That Mean for the Future of Warfare?]( Imagine a warplane shrouded by a “cloak” that can zip through the skies, reliably protected from enemies’ eyes. Earlier this year, scientists at Zhejiang University in China announced that they had created just that: an “aeroamphibious invisibility cloak” for aircraft—similar to what you might see on Star Trek. Now, the Chinese military wants to apply the new stealth technology to its growing drone fleet. Aircraft are spotted when they reflect incoming waves from radar systems. But invisibility cloaks are crafted to trick radar systems with specially engineered materials that bend these waves around the aircraft as if they were passing through a plane. The goal is to manipulate waves across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the portions visible and invisible to the human eye. Militaries around the world have worked for decades to make weapons platforms like warplanes undetectable to radar systems. But such stealth tech is far from perfect, and these weapons can still be spotted with the right radar. Now, the Zhejiang University team says they can close the invisibility gap and render aircraft entirely imperceptible. But is it all too good to be true? Imagine a warplane shrouded by a “cloak” that can zip through the skies, reliably protected from enemies’ eyes. Earlier this year, scientists at Zhejiang University in China announced that they had created just that: an “aeroamphibious invisibility cloak” for aircraft—similar to what you might see on Star Trek. Now, the Chinese military wants to apply the new stealth technology to its growing drone fleet. Aircraft are spotted when they reflect incoming waves from radar systems. But invisibility cloaks are crafted to trick radar systems with specially engineered materials that bend these waves around the aircraft as if they were passing through a plane. The goal is to manipulate waves across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the portions visible and invisible to the human eye. Militaries around the world have worked for decades to make weapons platforms like warplanes undetectable to radar systems. But such stealth tech is far from perfect, and these weapons can still be spotted with the right radar. 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