Looking at pictures of the various aircraft labelled 'fifth generation stealth fighters' from Russia, China and the United States, one might conclude that their respective design teams have been comparing notes: the shapes and sizes of the aircraft are remarkably similar. Perhaps that should not come as a surprise. In the past the West has had the advantage of super-computers to model the aerodynamics of the designs in great detail. As that technology has spread, so Russia and China and eventually other countries will come to develop similar designs. After all, aerodynamics is the same the world over. The progress that Iran, for example, is making in its indigenous aircraft programme is testament to the speed of this growing trend. As knowledge becomes democratised - as academics term its spread across the Internet, it is axiomatic that stealth designs for aircraft will proliferate. Anyone with a reasonably sized computer and more than a casual understanding of the laws of physics and aerodynamics can design a fighter with a low radar-cross section. Where things get interesting and more difficult to assess is the operation of the sensor equipment carried within the aircraft and how advanced the stealth coatings are on the surface. These are areas where one side can gain a brief advantage over another.
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