Perilous Times
North Korea 'develops stealth paint to camouflage fighter jets'
North Korea has developed 'stealth paint' that absorbs radar waves to
camouflage its warships, tanks and fighter jets from foreign
reconnaissance satellites and aircraft, according to South Korean
reports.
Published: 10:07PM BST 23 Aug 2010
A top-secret North Korean military field manual seen by the Chosun Ilbo
newspaper showed the isolated regime has also built a network of
foxholes and caves, according to a report in the South Korean daily.
The newspaper said the manual quoted Kim Jong-Il, the North's reclusive
leader, as saying: "Modern warfare is stealth warfare. We can say that
victory or defeat will be determined by how we carry out stealth
warfare."
The handbook, printed in 2005, was smuggled out of the North by a
source through Caleb Mission, a South Korean Christian organisation.
It gives detailed instructions on how to make and apply the stealth
paint, which absorbs radar waves, Chosun Ilbo said.
The South's defence ministry confirmed the North's military had used
the manual for years.
"We have already acquired a copy of the manual and are fully aware of
the North's tactics," a ministry spokesman told AFP, declining to give
details.
The manual describes how to conceal facilities or equipment and how to
make military units look as though they are moving when they are not,
in order to deceive South Korean and US reconnaissance.
Chosun Ilbo quoted an unnamed intelligence expert as saying he was
surprised to find that the North's military had done "more intensive
and careful research into stealth tactics than we thought".
Yonhap news agency carried a similar report.
The handbook describes concealing long-range artillery equipment by
applying radar-reflective materials, it said.
The North's military was also ordered to pave fake aircraft runways to
deceive foreign prying eyes, Yonhap said.