Modeling and simulation of a stealth-optimized cruise missile: A benchmark for long-range radar detection

This paper proposes a modeling and simulation framework for quantifying the radar detectability of the AGM-129, employed here as a benchmark low-observable platform for long-range surveillance assessment. A full-scale three-dimensional perfectly electrically conducting model was developed and analyzed using static and dynamic radar cross-section simulations against a ground-based L-band radar. In contrast to studies based on stealth assessments conflating radar-absorbing material effects with stealth, the work adopts a deliberately conservative perfectly electrically conducting-only representation to isolate the contributions of aerodynamic shaping and aspect-dependent scattering to radar visibility. The results show that the AGM-129 maintains low-observable behavior across the frontal and rear sectors and that, even without radar-absorbing material, the combination of stealth geometry and low-altitude flight can reduce the effective detection range by up to 60.9% relative to the nominal radar range. Dynamic simulations further reveal that dynamic radar cross-section significantly reshapes detection, producing scintillation and highlighting the inadequacy of nominal radar range as a reliable proxy for engagement performance against stealth-optimized cruise missiles. By linking validated electromagnetic modeling to detection analysis in an operational scenario, the proposed framework establishes a conservative, reproducible, and operationally relevant benchmark for future studies on radar-absorbing material integration, multipath exploitation, and adaptive routing in next-generation cruise-missile survivability analysis.