How Ancient Silk Weaving Is Solving the F-22's Stealth Coating Cracks in China

As the US faces issues with aging radar-absorbent materials, China has turned to historical approaches for its advanced solutions.

While US stealth fighters like the F-22 Raptor grapple with delaminating radar-absorbent coatings - a vulnerability likened to "moulting cicada wings" - China claims to have found an ancient solution for its fifth-generation jets.

Recent revelations by defence industry researchers suggest that cutting-edge stealth technology aboard China's smooth-skinned stealth fighters May owe its durability to a 3,000-year-old textile breakthrough: the skill of silk jacquard weaving.

Modern stealth aircraft, including the F-22 and F-35 Relies on multi-layered coatings to divert radar waves. However, these materials deteriorate quickly when subjected to stress.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge Our latest platform features handpicked content including explainers, FAQs, analyses, and infographics, all provided by our prestigious team.

U.S. maintenance records indicate that even small scratches caused by high-speed flights or dust storms in desert environments can significantly reduce the effectiveness of stealth technology, necessitating repeated applications for upkeep. radar-absorbent materials (RAM) approximately every three weeks, with expenses surpassing $60,000 per flight hour, as reported by certain US media outlets.

Moreover, in areas such as Florida, humidity intensifies adhesive problems, whereas corrosion close to seaside facilities additional undermines effectiveness.

Chinese aerospace engineers have frequently criticized these temporary fixes. Rather, they aimed for a fundamental solution—one integrated into the very essence of the material.

As reported in a study released last month in the Chinese scholarly magazine Knitting Industries, the solution can be found in a two-tier combined material modeled after Han dynasty (206BC-AD220) jacquard looms - a silk-weaving technique dating back to 200BC.

By incorporating conductive threads into a "double-sided jacquard" fabric using a warp knitting technique, scientists from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) and Tiangong University developed a material capable of absorbing 90.6 percent of radar waves within the 8-26 GHz range, surpassing traditional coating methods.

The material is a "marriage of ancient patterning and modern electromagnetism", according to the team led by Professor Jiang Qian.

Similar to how traditional Jacquard weavers utilized punchcard-like “flower books” to store complex patterns, Jiang and her team integrated radar-evading structures right into the fabric’s structure. The quartz fibers serve as an insulating foundation, whereas stainless-steel threads generate resonating circuits designed to convert electromagnetic waves into thermal energy.

Each conductive thread is meticulously positioned to direct and capture signals, similar to how ancient weavers would arrange silk strands to illustrate dragons or clouds, as stated by the researchers .

The laboratory tests highlighted significant mechanical benefits. It was discovered that the composite can endure up to 93.5 megapascals of longitudinal tensile stress—over tenfold compared to conventional coatings. This exceptional resilience is due to the knitted material’s anisotropic design, wherein the load-carrying threads run parallel to each other. aircraft's stress vectors, reflecting the axial strength found in Han Dynasty brocades.

The Smith Chart, an electromagnetic analysis, further showed near-perfect impedance matching in the longitudinal direction, allowing radar waves to delve into rather than mirror, as per the study.

Archaeologists link Jacquard’s roots back to the looms of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), where craftsmen used manual multi-heddle systems to create intricate geometric designs. By the time of the Han Dynasty, these devices advanced significantly, featuring as many as 120 heddle rods. This pioneering technology was later embodied in the earliest known Jacquard weaving mechanism discovered within the Laoguanshan Tombs near Chengdu.

A scholar from Beijing specializing in scientific history mentioned that those Han dynasty looms were not solely used for producing luxurious items," but chose to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the technology involved.

"They were like early binary computers, storing weaving codes in physical memory. Today's military engineers seem to have revived that wisdom."

More Articles from SCMP

Why China could capitalise on Trump-Zelensky showdown as rift emerges in the West

Hong Kong’s finance sector to benefit from AI, China opening, Asia wealth: think tank

Optimism in China’s property market is well-deserved, with caution

Hong Kong stocks sink to almost 2-week low as Trump’s tariffs stoke trade-war fears

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.