Are fighter jets easy to detect?

Answer 1

Commercial jets are easier to detect than fighter jets. Fighter jets are easier to detect when they are in groups, spread out side by side. They paint a bigger echo that way when you're tracking them on radar. When they're in a tight formation, the radar thinks it's seeing a small target. But when they start to split up, they become multiple smaller targets. In that condition, they're not so difficult to detect as they are to track. The newer US 'stealth' fighters and bombers have multiple countermeasures available to them which make them difficult to detect. Another way to detect jets is to intercept and DX (find the direction) their electromagnetic (EM) emissions: radar, voice, navigation, etc. Frequently, a jet's EM transmissions can be received well before its target echo is received by a radar.