By Rajan Bhavnani – Actually almost all fighters (including the “plain” grey ones) are camouflaged; it’s just not the kind of camouflage you’re used to seeing.
The problem with using a typical blue “camouflage” paint scheme on a fighter is the constantly changing altitude and viewing angle.
If I’m in fighter at a higher altitude than you and looking down at you, the top of your aircraft should be the color of the ground not the sky.
Unfortunately, now if you’re at the same altitude as me and you bank toward me you’ll stand out like a sore thumb against the sky.
If you fly over water you’d be equally easy to see.
Even worse, modern fighters fly so high, there’s also an issue with the atmosphere making everything look “washed out.”
Sunlight in the atmosphere acts like a light blue/grey fog. That’s why you see blue when you look up during the day. If the atmosphere was clear you’d just see black space or white light from the sun.
When you’re at a high altitude and you look down all that atmosphere between you and the ground makes the ground look blue/grey.
Take a look at the background in this photo.
Now, all those ground camouflage paint jobs stick out like a sore thumb; even against the ground.
The grey one is actually the hardest to see against the atmosphere!
This is just the tip of the iceberg, but depending on where you are and where the enemy fighter is a camouflage paint job that was making it hard to see you can also make you very easy to see!
Each nation has designed fighter aircraft paint schemes based on their opinion of what’s important, the most common tactical scenario, the specific use of the aircraft, etc.
For example, Lockheed originally was planning to paint the F-117 stealth fighter grey like other US fighter aircraft.
However, the USAF requested the F-117 be painted black because they planned to use it primarily during night missions to maximize its stealth effect.
Most people mistakenly assume the typical grey US fighter paint scheme isn’t camouflage, but it actually is!
In addition to helping hide against the blue/grey atmosphere, most grey colored fighters use a technique copied from nature called “countershading.” This is where the underside of an animal is lighter colored and the top is darker.
Here’s how it works:
Now, take a look at this F-18. You can see how some parts (particularly the underside) are a lighter shade of grey.
However, when the F-18 is flying level it just looks flat grey and starts to blend into the washed-out blue/grey atmosphere and ground.
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