A study on optical reflectivity of laser treated aircraft surfaces

For UAVs on mission that involve flights into region or environment with radar detection systems, the risk of detection of the UAVs is inevitable. The situation is detrimental particularly if the flight space of the UAV is in hostile region. Various computational methods have been proposed to show positive results in mitigating the risk of radar detection. Another potential avenue to improve on the risk of radar exposure is through modification of the vehicle´s surface texture to reduce the optical reflectivity. In this paper, we consider the use of laser texturing as a means to enhance the stealth of a UAV carrying mission in a hostile territory. Although the results are preliminary, they gave a clear indication of the potential of laser texturing in stealth mission planning. In general, the results show that the roughness measured in terms of depth of the grooves patterned onto the surface has a direct correlation to the surface reflectivity.