# Project 1 — B-21 Threat Detection Range Analysis
Group projectDue Lesson 1040% deliverable category
## Background
The B-21 Raider is an all-aspect, broadband low-observable bomber designed for long-range penetrating strike inside heavily defended airspace. Before any route is planned, mission planners need one fundamental product: the range at which each threat radar class first detects the aircraft, as a function of aspect angle and operating band. Detection range is not a single number — the B-21's RCS varies with the aspect the threat sees and with the threat's operating frequency, and the radar range equation turns every dB of RCS into kilometers through the fourth-root law. Broadband LO suppresses RCS everywhere, but not equally: suppression is most effective at high frequency and least effective in the low bands where early warning radars live. Different layers of an IADS therefore see the B-21 at very different ranges, and those differences drive where the ingress corridors are. Your group is the survivability analysis cell supporting B-21 mission planning — your product feeds directly into the route-planning work this course returns to in Block 4.
## Materials
Project 1 handout (PDF) — the authoritative tasking, deliverables, and rubric
B21_RCS_Table.csv — notional RCS vs aspect in UHF, S, and X bands
The MATLAB starter skeleton, `code/L9_Project1Starter.m`, is bundled in the [course code download](../downloads/Download_Course.md) with the CSV beside it — it loads the table, defines the three threat classes, and verifies one worked $R_{\max}$ so your group starts at the physics, not the plumbing.
## Schedule
- **L9** is a dedicated in-class work day — see [L9 — Project 1 Work Day](L09_Project1WorkDay.md).
- **L10**: slides (PDF) and code due before class; 10-minute presentation + 5 minutes Q&A, every member speaking — see [L10 — Project 1 Presentations](L10_Project1Presentations.md).