[AlaskaErik]

Radar is radar. If the target has enough of a cross section it’s going to show up. C-130’s can dump butt loads of chaff and that stuff hangs out there forever. I’ve seen chaff clouds that look huge on the screen.

There isn't enough chaff on a C-130 to begin to create that kind of image on a weather radar or any other type of radar. I have over 5000 hours in the C-130 and am familiar with the chaff and flare capabilities they have. You want enough chaff to confuse a radar-guided missile homing in on you. You don't want so much that you show every radar in an entire enemy country where you are and what direction you're heading.

[gundog]

Would ‘t the radar returns be messed up for quite some distance down range from the chaff? There wouldn’t necessarily be chaff over that wide swath.

[sean327]

Without getting into too much detail, I’m one of the EW OPFOR guys your crews go up against, and I’ve seen massive chaff clouds on my PPI from C-130’s. Enough chaff to kill my picture of the valley we operate from. It can be enough to screw up our MTI.