Stealth transport aircraft face a hard size penalty

Could future military transports use stealth shaping without relying on radar-absorbent coatings?

Shaping can help small transports and helicopters, but the benefit falls sharply as payload and airframe size grow. A very large transport remains a conspicuous radar target even after an expensive reduction in its signature.

Small special-operations transports and helicopters can combine shaping with other low-observable measures. As payload increases, the aircraft needs more internal volume, lifting surface, and structural mass, all of which make concealment harder. Reducing the apparent signature of a very large aircraft may still leave a target that radar can detect easily, much as stealth shaping cannot make an aircraft carrier disappear. The later discussion connects reported stealth Black Hawk work to technology developed through programs such as the RAH-66 Comanche, showing how a cancelled project can still feed useful features into later aircraft.