Title: Can someone actually "fly under the radar"? - Aviation Stack Exchange
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Can someone actually “fly under the radar”?
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Content: So just because you're out of or below the range of the far-away radar does not mean that no one is watching you. Share
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answered Apr 1 '14 at 22:01
StallSpin
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Yes, staying at low altitudes can mask your presence to ATC primary radar systems as well as all but the most advanced military radar systems. Low azimuth scanning by a radar antenna introduced unwanted electromagnetic interference with its signals also known as ground clutter. It becomes much more difficult for a radar set to detect a single target flying in this clutter until the aircraft is much closer to the transmitter, thereby greatly reducing the detection range. Military pilots in non stealth combat aircraft will often opt to fly at low altitudes to hide in clutter. While this does offer a measure of protection against command guided surface to air missiles as well as fighters, it makes the aircraft vulnerable to short range surface threats like close in radar guided AAA or MANPADS. Drug smugglers perfected an art of low flying to avoiding detection in the late 1970s and early 1980s by flying mule aircraft low on the deck over the ocean. See Mickey Munday's or Barry Seal's story from the documentary Cocaine Cowboys where they talk about flying an aircraft into the Bahamas at night 50 feet above the ocean. They claimed that as long as they couldn't see the glow of lights from Tampa, FL, they were too low to be detected by ATC. Share
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answered Jul 5 '18 at 3:13
Carlo Felicione
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In addition to the other answers, radars need to account for moving objects on the ground.