Plasma stealth

[Sam Or I]

OK, does plasma stealth actually work? If so how hard is it to impliment? I am not talking about a huge area, but lets say the size of a license plate. (Yes, I have a lead foot and I am think hmmm, plasma stealth for my license plate of my car.)

[Darth Tanner]

As far as I know the technology is only in the theory stage without a publicly working prototype or even a lab model. Also from what I can see the tech works by reducing a crafts radar image with ionized gas so its unlikely to work at concealing your speeding from the all seeing arm of the traffic police, except maybe for radar speed traps.

Also I'm unclear how safe having highly energized gas around your car in traffic is going to be.

[Velthuijsen]

OK, does plasma stealth actually work? If so how hard is it to impliment? I am not talking about a huge area, but lets say the size of a license plate. (Yes, I have a lead foot and I am think hmmm, plasma stealth for my license plate of my car.)

Don't think so. Unless you manage to find something that can actually absorb all the frequencies in visible light. Current research in this field is about absorption of radar.
There are no known production models. IIRC the Russians claim to have some experimental models for airplanes.
Not sure if a car can produce the power needed for a radar absorbing sheat.
Your car would probably also leave a trail that looks like the northern lights.

[Darth Tanner]

I think your best bet would be to physically remove the license plate in question, this is likely the best/only sort of stealth your going to get.

[Admiral Valdemar]

You could always use metameterials on your car, rather than paint. Make sure they're tuned to the radio wavelengths for radar, though this won't do anything for those bastard ladar systems since we don't have materials that can work with visible light yet.

[SVPD]

How is removing the radar signature of the license plate supposed to help avoid speeding tickets? The radar locks onto the whole vehicle, not just the license plate. Lasers, contrary to some popular rumors, do not have to be aimed at license plates to work either.

[Sam Or I]

K, just a crazy idea.

[Admiral Valdemar]

If you want to make your plate invisible, that is easily done with either a special coating that reflects light back at the camera (cling film works too), or mud. It means your car is recorded, but with obscured plates which is quite the illegal thing.

[Velthuijsen]

If you want to make your plate invisible, that is easily done with either a special coating that reflects light back at the camera (cling film works too), or mud. It means your car is recorded, but with obscured plates which is quite the illegal thing.

The coating doesn't work either. They just overexpose film, increase contrast, etc and still get your number.
The trick in the US would be to read the traffic laws and see if there is anything in there that says a license plate needs to be human readable from so far away directly behind the car, then prevent it from being readable in any other direction.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Weren't the Russians saying that they plan to work on it with the MIG 1.44?

[Darth Tanner]

Weren't the Russians saying that they plan to work on it with the MIG 1.44?

I've seen a few articles that say the Russians have been making rather wild claims about actually having a working model for use on their jets but obviously their not going to actually come out and present the working model to the press as it is a secretive military project and the USAF is not going to admit their rival has a tech advantage over them but in reality theres no reason to believe they have had any more success at successfully implementing this technology than the Americans and indeed if the technology could work at all. The downsides and technical challenges of the technology would appear to me to completely counter any reduction of the radar image of an aircraft.