Back to LO (LO, the poster, not the stealth feature), the point I was making is that the LO application is not just an applied layer. It's actually built into the skin structure and "baked" on in such a way that it bcomes part of the structure.
The technology is't that new, but its use in this application is. Fairly. The issue for me is that any significant damage means there is not coating to reapply, instead it is maintenance work well beyond the flight line. As I said before, the good news is that minor damage or errosion is not going to be an immediate issue for the overall RCS, although there must come a time when there will need to be a deep servicing re-application.