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Professor Hyung Hee Cho Mechanical Engineering

Selected as One of Korea's Top 10 Mechanical Technologies in 2022

Yonsei University Professor Hyung Hee CHO’s Team Selected as One of Korea's Top 10 Mechanical Technologies in 2022 for Developing Next-Generation Combined Visual/Infrared/Radar Stealth Technology


- Independently developed combined aircraft stealth technology, which has export restrictions

- Gained an edge in developing defense technology by registering the technology as an international patent

- Led the commercialization of the next-generation stealth technology by developing surface treatment-based technology


The combined visual, radar, and infrared stealth technology for next-generation aircrafts that was successfully developed by a research team led by Professor Hyung Hee CHO at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, was selected as one of Korea’s Top 10 Mechanical Technologies in 2022 at an event jointly hosted by six organizations to commemorate the 2022 Mechanical Day on November 2.


The combined visual, radar, and infrared stealth technology for next-generation aircrafts is a technology that absorbs radar waves to deceive radars while maintaining visual camouflage and avoids tracking by next-generation detectors that simultaneously detect visual, radar, and infrared signals by reducing infrared signals generated by the aircraft.


This technology is expected to contribute to improving the survivability of weapon systems in future battlefields by applying it to the latest weapon systems, and it is significant as it focuses on commercialization by applying surface treatment-based technology that can endure extreme situations such as surface wear and tear due to supersonic flight or cleaning processes beyond simply verifying the basic performance of stealth technology.


As stealth technology is considered a state-of-the-art defense technology that has export restrictions, it is absolutely necessary to conduct domestic research and development on this technology. Professor Cho independently developed the next-generation stealth technology, one type of state-of-the-art defense technologies, in Korea, and was recognized for his pioneering spirit and technological innovation.


Professor Cho served as the Director of the National Defense Detection Reduction Technology Specialized Research Center from 2009 to 2017 and currently serves as the IR Project Officer for the Aircraft Detection Reduction Technology Specialized Research Lab from 2019 to 2025, which is associated with follow-up research. In a country that previously had no stealth technology, he has remained committed to identifying and demonstrating the principles of stealth metamaterials.


For the above-developed technology, an international patent was registered in the US, which is regarded as one of the most advanced countries in defense, and five domestic patent applications were filed or registered. This research achievement was selected in a cover paper (Vol. 29, No. 10) in one of the world’s leading journals, Advanced Functional Materials (IF 19.9, top 4.9%), and published in eight papers related to stealth technology, including in Applied Surface Science (IF 7.4, top 5.0%).


This technology was selected as one of Korea’s Top 10 Mechanical Technologies in 2022 for contributing to gaining an edge in the development of stealth technology not only in Korea but also across the world, and it is expected to serve as an underlying technology that can help Korea to continue its technological development in ultrasonic fighter jets and develop and own a next-generation stealth fighter jet in the future.

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