marcos

I guess a lot depends on how stealthy the J-20 and PAK-FA will be. As a first attempt at stealth, they may not be any better than an F-117, which isn't much better than a EF2000 or Rafale from some RCS figures I've seen banded about (all between 0.025 - 0.1m2). What was classed as a stealth plane 20 years ago, wouldn't be one today. Unless the RCS falls under 0.003m2, it might not even be correct to class them as 5th gen fighters. If they have 1700 F-35s, then problem solved I guess.

That's actually pretty fascinating. Makes sense too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_radar

In the future it may be possible to raster scan the entire sky with a laser, who knows what the future will bring. I also predict that stealth, in its current guise will become obsolete. It took 40 years after the invention of radar for it to be defeated, so maybe 40 years after the invention of stealth, it will also be defeated.

LOL this reminds me of something I watched about WWII, where they moved an entire city out to sea to confuse Nazi bombers.

ADAPTIV There also a cover that shields RF detection too. Seen it somewhere but can't find it. Ah: MULTISORB http://www.mbda-systems.com/e-catalogue/#/solutions/battlefield/1006/introduction http://www.mbda-systems.com/e-catalogue/#/solutions/battlefield/1006/performance

Raptor with a bad hangover?

Raptor photos - get them.

Too big.

But if 400 F-35s cost the same as 1600 F-16s, the F-35 can't be in 4 places simultaneously. Same issue with the Raptor. In a straight head-to-head it can turn the odds on their head, but in a large strategic battle, it has no powers of self-replication. The less aircraft you have, the more limited your offensive/defensive front. You can't defend as much and you can't attack as much simultaneously. Your game plan is more limited. You either spread the Raptors wafer thin, or you narrow your field of play.

If they could have got a rope on it, it would have made a great TRD.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/all-stealth-force/

Maybe they were trying to force it to land to get their hands on the technology.

Talk about using a round peg in a square hole.

It's sort of like blue-ice... grey ice?

I got a failure to download an object.

There is no correction for moving targets with dumb bombs AFAIK because they are rarely used in CCRP mode on moving targets. By 'rarely' I probably mean 'never'.

SDB II (GBU-53) will provide it but right now there's some ability with some variants of the Paveway and AASM HAMMER but they require laser designation. It could be argued that the release point of the SDB II isn't really that important at all. Some other cool stuff like SABER, Viper Strike and Scorpion will do the same thing.

This is my corner you whore.:)

Downloading of updates seems slow. So will it, or do we have to repeat the same process we went through only 1 month ago? Wait... the bar is creeping right....

So this will auto-update?

It will only work if the target is moving away from you. If the target is moving towards you, it will miss. Your best bet is to come in fast at 1500-2000ft in a shallow dive and CCIP them with an LDGP, HDGP or CBU-87/97.

Whether they like the F-35 or not it's a very necessary part of future capabilities. If you want a stealth fighter with an internal bay big enough to mount a hard standoff attack, the F-35 is the only option on the table. The F-22 bay cannot fit the JSOW, JSOW ER, Harpoon or HARM. Light SDBs are your lot unless you want to drive up really close to the enemy. The JSOW ER however provides the ability to attack a major target like a ship, bunker or airfield from >300nm (556km) away. I don't know whether it could successfully get past a good CRAM system but you can nevertheless make an attack.

You can change coalitions at the start of a mission build but the easier way to get a NATO Su-25T is to simply add it as a Georgian Su-25T.

The JASSM has been successfully integrated onto the F-15E, so the K must be different. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/july/mfc-072612-lm-completes-JASSM-F-15E.html

Actually the BAC Lightning could supercruise with 2 AAMs. Mach 1.2 is just outside the transonic region and the whole purpose of the F-35/F-22 is not to carry weapons externally. With only 187 F-22s, it's likely that the USAF will exploit the stealth potential of both aircraft. I predict it will only be used with external weapons in either a CAS or Stand-off roll. Air-superiority, Interception and Interdiction will be conducted with internal weapons only. And actually, yes, people did doubt that it could supercruise at all.