Carlos
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Someone on another forum said that it's just CG. Looks impressively real.
Very impressive if that's CG. But would be better if it isn't, I already have trust issues
Someone on another forum said that it's just CG. Looks impressively real.
X-31 Vector says hiHoly ****...that thing could out maneuver anything!
Except missiles.Holy ****...that thing could out maneuver anything!
The flat spin impressed me
I think that's it (not counting the experimental long tail SR-71).How many variations are there of the Lockheed A-12? I know there was the A-12, the YF-12, the SR-71, and the M-21. Am I missing anything?
Those Russians just love thrust vectoring, don't they?
Who is manufacturing the T-50? Tupolev?
The man is saying that the V-TOL version doesn't have enough maneuverability judging by the size of the wings, so it's less maneuverable than the Harrier?
He also says that the "bomber" version is bad, because you can't hang weapons outside. But you can do that.
He didn't really say anything else. Yes, the program is slow, but I believe that it will be a good airplane. It has a delta wing plane with rear canards (pardon, I don't know how to describe this in English) so this will give it good maneuverability. It has diverterless supersonic inlet for better stealth and lighter weight. The airplane is well designed if you look closely.
Stealth... oh wait, it is said that the stealth is fake.
Stealth is no good when you are found.
Yeah sadly, the F-35 doesn't have enough space for larger weapons, and while they can be carried on the outside on the wing pylons, it makes the fighter visible under radar.The man is saying that the V-TOL version doesn't have enough maneuverability judging by the size of the wings, so it's less maneuverable than the Harrier?
He also says that the "bomber" version is bad, because you can't hang weapons outside. But you can do that.
He didn't really say anything else. Yes, the program is slow, but I believe that it will be a good airplane. It has a delta wing plane with rear canards (pardon, I don't know how to describe this in English) so this will give it good maneuverability. It has diverterless supersonic inlet for better stealth and lighter weight. The airplane is well designed if you look closely.
Stealth... oh wait, it is said that the stealth is fake.
Which is wrong, given that wing size by itself means nothing. The Harrier is subsonic, so it's hardly in the same league as the F-35 when it comes to tactical flexibility. The lack of speed makes it more vulnerable to missiles, hurts it ability to attack with missiles, prevents it from taking advantage of altitude, and restricts the amount of excess energy it can put into instantaneous maneuvers. But putting that aside, the F-35 is stealth and has better avionics. There is nothing attractive about the Harrier in comparison unless you're shooting fish in a barrel and need something that's already paid for.The man is saying that the V-TOL version doesn't have enough maneuverability judging by the size of the wings, so it's less maneuverable than the Harrier?
Not only can it hang weapons outside, it can hold so many bombs that it would probably never fly a combat mission fully loaded.He also says that the "bomber" version is bad, because you can't hang weapons outside. But you can do that.
The wing is a trapezoid, it should perform better than a delta at lower speed while giving good high speed performance. The F-35 is optimized for subsonic curise, rather than supercruise like the F-22. Although, since the F-35 can carry internal weapons, that allows for greater control over its area ruling. The F-35 is probably significantly less draggy than a F-16 with a large payload because of this.He didn't really say anything else. Yes, the program is slow, but I believe that it will be a good airplane. It has a delta wing plane with rear canards (pardon, I don't know how to describe this in English) so this will give it good maneuverability. It has diverterless supersonic inlet for better stealth and lighter weight. The airplane is well designed if you look closely.
Yet every nation spends tons of money trying to get it.Stealth... oh wait, it is said that the stealth is fake.
Stealth is no good when you are found.
The F-35 does not become visible when weapons are hung outside. All the stealth still works. Also, the F-35 carries the heaviest class (2000 lb) of general purpose bombs in the USAF arsenal internally. It's probably more important that it carries the 250 lb SDB II though, as they have standoff capability and better guidance.Yeah sadly, the F-35 doesn't have enough space for larger weapons, and while they can be carried on the outside on the wing pylons, it makes the fighter visible under radar.
Which is wrong, given that wing size by itself means nothing. The Harrier is subsonic, so it's hardly in the same league as the F-35 when it comes to tactical flexibility. The lack of speed makes it more vulnerable to missiles, hurts it ability to attack with missiles, prevents it from taking advantage of altitude, and restricts the amount of excess energy it can put into instantaneous maneuvers. But putting that aside, the F-35 is stealth and has better avionics. There is nothing attractive about the Harrier in comparison unless you're shooting fish in a barrel and need something that's already paid for.
But here is one funny thing about the "wings too small" argument:
F-16: 18,900 lbs / 300 ft^2 = 63
F-35: 28,300 lbs / 460 ft^2 = 62
It says the F-35 is more agile than the F-16. So anyone using that argument should keep that in mind. More important to keep in mind is that the wing loading argument is a poor one.
Here's an interesting read that goes a bit deeper than wing loading:
http://elementsofpower.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-f-35-and-infamous-sustained-g-spec.html
Not only can it hang weapons outside, it can hold so many bombs that it would probably never fly a combat mission fully loaded.
Also note that the F-35 can carry weapons like the SDB II. With increased weapon precision and concern over collateral damage, we've switched from carry tons of bombs that miss by literal miles, to carrying a small number of accurate bombs. The F-35 can carry 8 SDB II bombs internally. So that's 8 things you can blow up before you hang stuff outside. And you have two AIM-120 along with that in case you wanted to shoot down fighters too.
The wing is a trapezoid, it should perform better than a delta at lower speed while giving good high speed performance. The F-35 is optimized for subsonic curise, rather than supercruise like the F-22. Although, since the F-35 can carry internal weapons, that allows for greater control over its area ruling. The F-35 is probably significantly less draggy than a F-16 with a large payload because of this.
Yet every nation spends tons of money trying to get it.
Actually it is, but I'll get to that. Stealth is the most important advantage you can have and it's basically always been that win. WWII wasn't about going head to head with other fighters. It was about sneaking up on someone who didn't see you and shooting them down when they couldn't do anything about it. That has pretty much remained the default winning strategy for air combat ever since.
Back to after you've been found; search radars differ from guidance radars and use higher frequencies. These frequencies are required in order to be able to accurately guide weapons. These are also the frequencies that are most vulnerable to stealth because their short wavelength prevents them from scattering off the surface of a large object, like a fighter. So even after a stealth plane has been found, you can't shoot at it.
But Lockheed really, really doesn't want you to shoot at their planes. So they have ECM too. That means, after you've gone through the trouble of finding it (which is hard), got yourself into a position where your sensors can guide weapons to it (which puts you at risk of being attacked), you still need to defeat the F-35's active defenses which will also degrade your sensors and weapons. With the F-35 being stealth, ECM is made more effective to boot.
Also, the F-35 may become the first fighter armed with a laser, which might make it nigh invincible.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/lockheeds-new-laser-super-turret-could-change-air-comba-1635210849
The F-35 does not become visible when weapons are hung outside. All the stealth still works. Also, the F-35 carries the heaviest class (2000 lb) of general purpose bombs in the USAF arsenal internally. It's probably more important that it carries the 250 lb SDB II though, as they have standoff capability and better guidance.
Stealth works like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar#Radar_equation
Make sigma (the RCS or Radar Cross Section) very small. Notice that at no point does the stealth plane become undetectable (unless sigma is zero) which would be the point at which P_r is zero. However, the range at which it can be detected becomes so small so as to make the radar useless. When you put weapons on the plane, RCS goes up by some amount, but it's a lot less than the RCS of something like a F-16.
EDIT
I started watching the Fifth Estate video, Sprey doesn't say much that makes sense and if his words are a basis for that video, the entire thing is likely a joke. For one, the small wings argument can be refuted by someone in the 3rd grade. The idea that the F-35 has taken on too many roles to be successful doesn't hold much weight when the F-16 and F-18 did exactly the same thing.
Also, the praise that the video gives the F-16 seems underhandedly misleading. By "most successful" I think they mean that the F-16 was the most produced. Something like 4000( if I remember) made. The F-35 program goes for a similar strategy, although less planes are planned. There are two important differences though. First, the F-35 is being set to reach the large scale production from the start. This means that all the cost to make all the F-16's and support them for decades is being paid upfront in the F-35 program. So it costs about the same as the F-16, but newspapers get to through around bigger misleading headlines when it comes to cost. The second difference is that the original F-16 was a terrible idea, the kind of terrible idea that Sprey is still trying to run air forces into the ground with. It was a Vietnam era fighter at best with zero chance of surviving a real war. It was blind, had terrible range, and couldn't carry much that was useful. Notice that air forces around the world use F-16C, or similar, type Falcons. Not F-16A's. The reason is simple. You need a big, computerized fighter to be taken seriously in large scale combat. Something like the F-15. If you can't afford the F-15, you get the F-16 and you put all the things on it that Pierre Sprey doesn't want.
The F-35's DAS should give the plane the best visibility of any fighter ever made. It will display and identify targets not only beyond the canopy, but under the floor or through the seat, etc. It is probably not possible to sneak up on a F-35 when within visual range to it. This is all continued evolution of fighter avionics like when pilot sight was primarily replaced with radar post WWII. Now we have sensors to help out in close range as well, and they do things that pilots can't like picking missiles out of the sky.But the awkward rear visibility does seem to be a problem?
The F-35A can pull 9g. The B and C are limited to less like the F-18, but they aren't the primary air to air version of the plane. However, note that g limits don't tell you how hard a plane can turnAnd what about the people saying it can only pull 6.5/7g max while it was promised to meet the F-16's 9g?
I have also read about the wide fuselage causing more drag than preferable.. And the infamous report about that F-16D beating the F-35 few months ago?
According to Wiki 4,500+ units are built. You're probably right about the wrong term used, being most successful. Our nation only operates the F-16, I think like what you said they didn't have the money for the F-15 being 10+ million more expensive than the F-16. (F-16C: 18m - F-15A/B: 28m - F-15C/D: 30m)
Here's a good vid about the stealth myth.
The Harrier is subsonic, so it's hardly in the same league as the F-35 when it comes to tactical flexibility. The lack of speed makes it more vulnerable to missiles, hurts it ability to attack with missiles, prevents it from taking advantage of altitude, and restricts the amount of excess energy it can put into instantaneous maneuvers. But putting that aside, the F-35 is stealth and has better avionics. There is nothing attractive about the Harrier in comparison unless you're shooting fish in a barrel and need something that's already paid for.
So if somebody makes a very good radar and missile system they can make the F-35 obsolete.
The Harrier isn't a bad plane, but for all its success it's not a very good front line fighter. It did well against Argentina, but it had many factors on its side. Namly the British were a better trained force and had better missiles. The Harriers weren't up against an integrated air defense network or BVR fighters. If they were, they may not have even been able to attack at all given that the AIM-9's they carried could only fly a couple of miles.I'd disagree... it was tremendously successful in air-to-air combat when in service
It's fair to call a unique ability an advantage, but VIFF is not terribly useful. It's an energy bleeding maneuver. That makes it useless in BVR and extremely risky in WVR fights. Especially against modern WVR missiles., and I can't think of any other aircraft that can viff (maybe the 35-B will be able to too).
I agree with the rest of what you wrote though I'd say that Harrier is a very good close platform while the Raptor et. al. are bred more for stand-off work.
Even if the Harrier turned out to be more agile, the first sight advantage can be carried from long range to short, and before you get a merge of two groups of fighters, you must pass the No Escape Zone (NEZ) of their long range missiles. Cruising slowly through that zone is not a good way to survive it.
Taken from Wiki, so it may not be 100% spot on, but yes, there are survivors still airworthy.Curious are there any F7F's still flying?
Harrier isn't an altitude platform though, it sits in the weeds on the front line operating from dynamic FOBs. In conventional war it would (or would have) be pushing around at ground level, close to the front line, down with the Hawks rather than up with the Raptors.
Long-range engagement should already be taken care of by the high-alt platforms. Again though... I'm being picky with your point, I quite agree that I wouldn't rely on Harrier for my air defence. It's still a tragedy that Britain scrapped the best, punchiest GR platform we ever invented.