Stealth Irrelevancy Theory

Stealth Irrelevancy Theory is the concept that, under nominal circumstances, stealth as a design feature in FJRT competition either does not provide any tangible benefit to an aircraft or is a detriment to it. Though its ideas have been suggested and acted upon countless times throughout modern competition, the term itself is rarely referenced directly.

Origins
While the concept of stealth being of limited use has existed essentially as long as competition itself, the specifics of Stealth Irrelevancy Theory (in particular the insistence that stealth is either functionally neutral or harmful in its practical use) were suggested by several designers during the early days of the FJRT2 season. The phrase itself was coined by Android originally to describe the idea that modern (at the time) FJRT combat did not create any need for stealth. Radar-guided missiles of the age had very low hit rates against most aircraft, with reliable evasion techniques generally proving to be more than capable of removing these weapons from a designer's list of threats to be addressed.

Implications in FJRT2
Radar-guided missiles in FJRT2, along with most competitions before it, were not often expected to hit their mark. With very few exceptions, these missiles were used as positioning tools, being fired at the enemy to force them into predictable evasion routines which included turning away from their attacker. This disrupted the opponent's building of speed and energy during the formative stages of the fight and aided in positioning when nearing the merge.

While being forced into evasion was not ideal, it was preferable to being hit and damaged by these missiles. This outcome became more likely the closer the missiles were launched to their targets, giving aircraft less time to react and sometimes resulting in a kill. Some aircraft began to make use of "Missile Shotgunning", in which radar missiles were set to engage only at very short ranges, attempting to catch the target in a bad position in which it did not have the speed or time to fully evade the missile. This is where the idea that stealth could be harmful, rather than helpful, originated.

Stealth forces the enemy to fire their radar missiles later and at closer ranges, with the range decreasing as stealth increases. Stealth Irrelevancy Theory points to this primary function of stealth as a detriment under these conditions; when radar-guided missiles are at their most effective at close range, stealth is a detriment. FJRT2 was perhaps the competition in which the suggestions of Stealth Irrelevancy Theory are most clearly apparent.

FAS II
Broadly speaking, the capabilities and uses of radar-guided missiles in FAS2 remained the same as they were in FJRT2. However, the general consensus within the community was that evasion had become less reliable, and therefore stealth was viewed somewhat more positively by those who were willing to dismiss it in the previous season.

FJRT3 and the Modern Day
FJRT3 is built around a wholistic perspective of combat in which all forms of weapons are balanced with the goal of having the potential to hit and kill even a very capable and prepared opponent. This balancing perspective is inclusive of radar-guided missiles. Capable missiles such as the SAAM, LAAM, and QAAM regularly hit and kill their targets, sometimes despite seemingly adequate preparation. With this in mind, stealth returned as a desirable design feature. This was only made more prevalent by the advent of "Radar Immunity", in which an aircraft's RCS is brought within a certain threshold where active jamming can render them entirely un-lockable by any radar. During this period, stealth was almost seen as a necessity. Once this aspect of stealth was removed, and radars were given a range at which they were guaranteed to lock any target (a range which varies by radar model between 3 and 6 kilometers), stealth became much less prevalent. However, radar-guided missiles still pose a major threat, and with the more recent implementation of minimum launch ranges, stealth is seen as a way to reduce the number of missiles an opponent can fire as they approach, reducing the number of chances they have to score a kill. Stealth Irrelevancy Theory in the modern world, then, suggests that this advantage is less desirable than having to deal with a higher volume of radar missiles which are fired from a greater range, and that modern jamming alone may be a much more viable option and one which is more easily utilized by any airframe.