Radome on planes?

Question

How can you spot it out on an aircraft and what does it do?

Answer 1

It protects the antenna. as for spotting it ???

Answer 2

It is in the "nose" of an aircraft. It covers the radar dish and allows the proper operation of the radar system as well as easy access for maintenance.

Answer 3

A radome is a structural protection given to an antenna against weather and undesired physical interference. The radome material allows passage of relatively unattenuated electromagnetic signal across it.

How to spot it would be a a difficult question... It can be on the nose if the airframe geometry allows it. It can be on the airframe, or like a distinct object as on the AWACS and the Apache Longbow or even on the tail as in the case of the new Sukhoi fighters. In the MiG-21 the nose cone inside the air-intakes houses the radar.

Answer 4

A radome is a streamlined enclosure for a radar antenna.  They come in all sizes and shapes, though the most common is the black bump on the nose of an airplane.  Look at pictures of a C-130 for a really prominent radome.  It's the black "salad bowl" attached to the nose.  They are painted black because that is the color of the low-energy-absorbent paint that must be used to minimize the shielding effect and let as much of the radar energy pass through as possible.

The radome itself is made of fiberglass or composite material--non-metallic.

Radomes also come in other shapes and for other purposes.  The big rotating "discus" or "flying saucer" on top of an AWACS airplane is a type of radome, and you will also find them under fuselages and on the leading edges of wings.