Strips of aluminium foil to obstruct radar detection?

Answer 1

When we were children (c.1948) my father brought home reels of aluminium tape. We used it as Christmas decorations. He told us that the tape was dropped by a plane prior to a raid over the channel. German radar would then think they had a full scale raid coming over the channel. Once the jerries had launched all their fighters to attack and then returned empty, our planes would fly in to catch them as they refuelled. Another trick was to chaff over the channel at height while our planes flew around at low level so again jerry fooled. It was dropped over the channel so that it fell into the sea so jerry couldn't find out how we fooled them, until some drifted onto the French coast.

The tape was stiffer than baking foil and about 1/2" wide. You had to be careful you didn't cut your hands on the edges.

Answer 2

While aluminium foil can block or reflect radar waves, it may not be effective for obstructing radar detection in a real-world scenario. Radar systems are designed to detect signals even when they are partially obstructed or reflected. It's more effective to use specialized materials and techniques to evade radar detection in military applications.