Stealth Fighter Challenge

[Kerboeing]

[Please Consider] This is my first post on to the KSP forum .  PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK.

     This challenge was designed because after 2448 hours of KSP (Not a joke...), I have realized that stealth aircraft are very hard to recreate.  This challenge is designed to create a challenge for veteran designers.  The goal is to recreate a functional stealth aircraft that is realistic in most standards.  

RULES

1.  Aircraft has to fly and be able to land at the KSC.

2.  Aircraft has to have a realistic shape that is recognizable.

3.  If you decide to build a B-2 Bomber, DO NOT USE MK II PARTS.

4.  NO MODS WHATSOEVER.

5.  No fake or mythical aircraft.

 

Points Listed Below

1 Point - If you make a real aircraft that can land using the KSC runway.

3 Points - If you make a real aircraft that can land using the Kerbal Island runway.

5 Points - If you make a real aircraft that can land using the KSC runway, and fire stock missiles from a realistic location.  (F35, F22 etc must use internal bays)

10 Points - If you make a real aircraft that can land using the Kerbal Island runway, and fire stock missiles from a realistic location.  (F35, F22 etc must use internal bays)

15 Points - If you make a real aircraft that can take off vertically or under 10 meters/second.

25 Points - If you make a real aircraft that can take off vertically or under 10 meters/second, and fire stock missiles from a realistic location.  (F35, F22 etc must use internal bays)

50 Points - If you make a B2 Bomber without using MK 1, MK 2, or MK 3 parts that takes off on the KSC runway, fly without drifting sideways, and then land on the KSC runway.

100 Points - If you make a YF-23 realistically without MK 2 parts, and can fly with thrust vectoring, maneuverability, and speed that can take off from and land on the KSC Runway. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dman979]

Hi, @Kerboeing, and welcome aboard! This looks like a good challenge, I think people will like it!

[SamBelanger]

Wow very good challenge!!

[SG Aero]

I'll try it.

[Guest]

BDArmory 1.0.0+ adds a radar RCS window, allowing you to see what your crafts radar cross section is. Would be a nice addition...

@SpannerMonkey(smce)

Evening all. 

Some little notes on building stealthy parts, based on things i discovered during development (much fun was had)

As a rough guide to stealthy shapes, you can make things, big things, invisible, but there are shapes that do and don't work.

A BIG AND IMPORTANT EDIT

Regarding stock MK0/1 structural parts and tanks and any other constant radius shape (cylinders) They are NEVER stealthy a cylinder typically has a return of 70% approx of that of a similar sized cube .  However from certain angles this cube will be invisible whereas there is only 1 position that a cylinder can reflect a low return, and that position is useless to an aircraft builder,  ( the pos btw is pitched up 10-20deg and in or out the same amount) 

A couple of lovely example below and the explanation

(the first aircraft brought to you by @ScriptKitt3h    and the second by @NotAnAimbot)

Look at these two aircraft carefully, compare the craft to the RCS image for each

Now what are you looking at ? What you are looking at is the simulation of a target being struck by an electromagnetic wave and the reflections returned off the surfaces rendered in realtime, in a monotone image .

Areas with large reflection show as Bright white ( look how much of each aircraft is bright white)  AS reflection angle drops off the color fades from white through to black, with total black showing no signal return, so in effect invisible to radar ( note how although there are a couple a larger areas on the lower craft, there are a lot more smaller NR areas on the upper craft)    Combined with diminished returns from all the angled surfaces, the grey areas, the upper aircraft is considerably more stealthy than the lower.   

Other points of note from these images, if you want stock stealth , and intakes  the shock cone beats all. (could tell you why, but once you've had a play you'll see   )

 

Do note that RCS is totally dependent on the quality of the model and it's colliders,   in fact all the RCS window shows is the collider return .   (one of the unintended side effects of the RCS is that it also shows up messed up normals, those who mod know what I mean).  A lazy collider design will result in a rubbish stealth value

The optimum shape for a undetectable frontal RCS is a 5 sided cone , with the flat face being the reverse/ back side .

The stock flat board wings are horrible , but give them just a touch of taper (ie mod wings) and things change.

Intakes.. Suck, no really, as 90% of intakes out there have a great big fat flat faced collider, the best i've found are B2 style, mounted on the upper wing srf and made so that the fwd face leans back 30deg. or so.

Get somewhere close to 2-5mtrs. stick on a YCSM module and you'll be able to get within 10KM before they'll notice, BUT only if you aren't blasting radar waves and jamming signals toward the enemy. stealth really does in this instance mean sneaky

The permutations are endless and the results can be surprising . For example this ship has a frontal RCS of about the size of a large fighter , retract the missile launchers and that figure drops to 2.97!  

SO  with all that in mind  don't forget  that stealth  weapons and turrets  can also play a part and contribute to the RCS of the vessel as a whole rather than distracting from it.  Stealth is certainly not the preserve of the small and aircraft only. Every single craft type big and small . 

And before someone says ah well you cheat and do this this and this , and make your craft invisible ,   well the thing is,  that all of the Radar currently configured have a zone of guaranteed detection .  So that even the RCS  invisible will be tracked once it can be heard and seen visually . For sure you can configure the radar however you want, but i'm fairly sure that most mod makers who do produce radar are going  to be looking at real values , balancing them against the game , and not selling their customers short. 

It makes a world of difference to a combat scenario , and my ship combats now end up spread over tens of KM's  rather than barely 10

Enjoy ,

Edited October 10 by SpannerMonkey(smce)

 

[EnderKid2]

I made a very interesting internal bay system, but it dost utilize much mods.

[Eidahlil]

What's up with the oversized font?

Haven't made a replica in ages, so went and tried for an YF-23: https://kerbalx.com/juzeris/Yf-23

The clipping is ridiculous on this one, but it flies alright. You'll be the judges if it looks the part.

No missiles, or mods, or mk2 parts or any other m-m-monsters.

Spoiler

 

[NotAnAimbot]

On 11/25/2017 at 4:25 PM, dundun92 said:

the shock cone beats all.

Not true anymore. Now it's about the same as the ramp intake.

Just build and test, best way to find out about RCS 

From what I've seen till now, it's easy to get a small frontal RCS, but the challenge is in the top view mostly, so planes with a smaller top area will generally have lower RCS. Angles still help a bit but aren't broken like in the beta.

Edited November 27, 2017 by NotAnAimbot