F-16 signature reduction - Have Glass program

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Have Glass covered RAM treatment of the inlet duct and on other elements of the airframe, addition of a metalized (gold) canopy and foam behind the radar antenna.

Have Glass consisted of

Pacer Mud radar signature reduction; included creation of FMS-3049 RAM.

Pacer Gem infrared signature reduction; created FMS-2026 top coat paint.

The RAM covered about 60% of the F-16's structure in 10-12mil thickness adding 100kg to aircraft weight.

 

[Pit]

According to comentaries by F-16 manteinance officers and NCOs at www.f.16.net's forums, the "Golden Canopy"'s RA treatment was a pretty pain in manteinance and dificult to reaply. I will give the link for the exact quote once I found it again.

 

[flateric]

very nice description at Netrherlads' Wiki
http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Lockheed_Martin_F-16_Fighting_Falcon#Have_Glass

 

[quellish]

very nice description at Netrherlads' Wiki
http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Lockheed_Martin_F-16_Fighting_Falcon#Have_Glass

Which highlights one of the things that makes the F-16 HAVE GLASS mods interesting - they actually go through LOEXCOM and were exported.

 

[LowObservable]

I suspect that, by then, everyone in the world knew how to do that level of RCS reduction, and the US knew that everyone knew. The sophistication was not much higher than the sort of thing done in the commercial world to squelch multipath reflections &c.

Somewhere I have a sheet of mylar coated with ITO that I picked up at a trade show in the 1980s.

 

[Ronny]

Pacer Gem infrared signature reduction; created FMS-2026 top coat paint.

Do you have any further information about the Pacer Gem coating?
I heard Have glass V will use F-35 coating

 

[Whopper]

According to comentaries by F-16 manteinance officers and NCOs at www.f.16.net's forums, the "Golden Canopy"'s RA treatment was a pretty pain in manteinance and dificult to reaply. I will give the link for the exact quote once I found it again.

19 years late, but I found the post that Pit was talking about in case anyone was still interested.

https://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=262&start=30

I have seen the gold tinting since I have been in, that is 14 years now. I have worked these things since I learned what safety wire was. Slowly the canopys are not having the gold tint. It is more of a clear, or gray color. Even the aft trasnparency is comming in clear now. When I first joined I was told by my trainer that it was to keep their eyes from being hit by lasers. I doubted this, but that was the only explanation given. Comming back from CCIP modification with the new HAVE GLASS modifications done, the canopy is staying the same color. The HAVE GLASS you are refering to is talking about the paint, and a few other things. The gold tinting is a very thin almost plastic lining on the inside of the canopy, and if your not carefull you can tear this coating. Cleaning was with water only and only your hand, no rags or cleaners, this was per the TO that told us how to do it. That was also during the day's of canopy polishing which has for the most part gone to the wayside, it is still in the books but not gone. From how I have seen pilots treat the inside of the canopy (wearing watches rings) this is a lot of wear and tear on the inside coating for a situation that since the end of the cold war is no longer an issue.

 

[opkilo]

Is there any interest in making a thread compiling all the radar signature reduction measures taken in 4.5th gen airframes?