Portuguese ‘breakthrough’ creates ‘cloak of invisibility’ for drones and planes

Portuguese technology company has developed a graphene-based material that could dramatically reduce the radar visibility of military drones and aircraft – a breakthrough its creators say could place the country (and Europe) among world leaders in next-generation stealth technology.

The innovation has been developed by GTechPlasma, a spin-off from the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon.

The company has patented a plasma-based production system capable of manufacturing highly customised, high-quality graphene designed to absorb electromagnetic radiation, including radar waves.

“We are currently very focused on developing coatings for radar and electromagnetic radiation absorption,” GTechPlasma co-founder Bruno Soares Gonçalves tells Euronews.

The technology is intended to be incorporated into coatings, or paints, that reduce the radar cross-section of military aircraft and drones – making them significantly harder for enemy radar systems to detect.

“Our estimates indicate that an F-16 (U.S. produced fighter jet) would have the radar signature of a bird,” he said.

“The aircraft is either not detected, or detected too late, and that is a military advantage,” explains Gonçalves, adding that comparable radar-absorbing materials are exceptionally rare, and subject to strict export controls.

European alternative to tightly controlled U.S. technology

“The material used to coat the (United States’ manufactured) F-35, for example, cannot be exported,” he said. “We now have a ‘Made in Portugal’ material with strong application potential.”

There is no equivalent technology available anywhere else in Europe, says the GTech co-founder.

How is graphene produced?

The graphene is produced from carbon-based precursors such as ethanol or methane using proprietary plasma technology that allows researchers to control the material’s structure at the atomic level. That precision enables its properties to be tailored for different industrial applications.

Beyond defence, the technology could also be used for electromagnetic shielding, hydrogen storage and the separation of rare earth elements and uranium, says Gonçalves.

“Our system allows us to control the entire process at the atomic level.”

The production process has already been patented in the United States, Japan and Europe.

Scaling up production

The technology is now moving towards industrial production.

GTechPlasma’s existing equipment produces around 40 milligrams of high-quality graphene per minute, with plans to increase manufacturing capacity using multiple production units operating simultaneously.

The industrial scale-up will be carried out by Portuguese company Plasmaphene, based in Vila Viçosa, with support from the Compete 2030 funding programme.

Rather than supplying customers with raw graphene powder, GTechPlasma intends to develop ready-to-use products, including radar-absorbing coatings and paints that can be applied directly to military drones/ planes, etc.

The company has already supplied 260 grams of its radar-absorbing material to a Portuguese drone manufacturer as it seeks to expand partnerships within the defence sector.

If successfully marketed, this technology will almost certainly establish Portugal as one of the few countries capable of producing advanced graphene-based stealth materials at a time when demand for strategic defence technologies is increasing across Europe.

Source material: Euronews/ Executive Digest