A military ship or aircraft radar showing scan results with multiple targets detected. Photo: Shutterstock Images
By Bojan Stojkovski,
Published by Yahoo! News, 25 May 2025
Scientists in China have debuted a new material that could evade the proposed US missile defense system announced by President Donald Trump, dubbed the Golden Dome. Designed to evade both infrared and microwave detection, the material could be well-suited for use on high-speed aircraft and missiles.
Developed by a team led by Professor Li Qiang at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, the high-performance stealth material is capable of operating across multiple detection ranges—including short-wave, mid-wave, and long-wave infrared, as well as microwaves—even at temperatures reaching 1,292 degrees Fahrenheit or 700 degree Celsius.
Material exhibits reduction in radiation intensity
With detection technologies becoming increasingly advanced, stealth materials have adapted to provide multispectral protection, masking objects across wavelengths from visible light to microwaves. However, many key military systems function in high-temperature environments, testing the limits of these coatings.
High temperatures on military platforms often arise from external forces like aerodynamic heating or internal sources such as engine exhaust producing intense infrared radiation.
Traditional stealth materials can struggle under these conditions as elevated heat may compromise their effectiveness or even lead to structural damage. This has created an urgent demand for materials that combine multispectral stealth with robust thermal resistance.
This is where the new stealth material comes in offering a viable recourse. To test the material’s stealth ability, the team compared it to a blackbody, which absorbs electromagnetic radiation. When heated to 1,292°F, the material’s radiation temperature was about 790°F to 510°F lower than the blackbody’s, the South China Morning Post writes.
The material showed a significant reduction in radiation intensity, with levels 63.6% lower than a blackbody in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) band and 37.2% lower in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) band.
Beyond its ability to avoid detection, the material also does a great job releasing heat. When heated to 700 degrees Celsius, it gave off heat much more effectively than typical metals.
Stealth film could outsmart Golden Dome
The substance’s breakthrough design comes from a composite structure that combines multilayer films with a microwave metasurface. The top layer acts as a moisture barrier, while the bottom layer ensures strong adhesion to the surface beneath.
Additionally, the multilayer film is carefully laser-etched to let microwaves pass through without affecting its infrared stealth capabilities. According to the research, the device reaches a maximum operating temperature and heat dissipation performance that exceeds current leading technologies for combined high-temperature infrared and microwave stealth.
Just a few days ago, US President Donald Trump announced plans to develop the ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system—the American counterpart to Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’—aiming to build it within the next few years. The system is intended to counter ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, and cruise missiles, and will reportedly include space-based tracking sensors.
If infrared tracking proves to be the primary method for the Golden Dome system to detect and intercept hypersonic weapons, materials that offer combined infrared and microwave stealth—like the one developed by Li’s team—could significantly reduce the chance of detection.
See: Original Article
