Blaze1

I've seen those (it's been many years granted) as well as a paper which discusses the ineffectiveness of flares against similar seeker technology in 90%+ cases, so it agrees with you. Comments from the guy who took the shot: You get the impression that the missile perhaps didn't function as designed, however all he states is that he loses sight of the smoke trail and doesn't know what happened to the missile. There was no mention of the Fitter throwing out flares however. Footage of the shootdown (does really show much):

Fingers crossed for that. :) BTW, there are a couple of videos of AIM-9L/M's getting decoyed. One of them features an F/A-18 with its pilot trying to get the seeker to lock-up a B-52, but the 52 is throwing out flares like confetti and the Hornet driver sounds a little p***** that his AIM-9 is going "Ooh, look at all those pretty bright lights!". The second is of a F-15C shooting a -9L/M at a QF-4 drone:

Okay I just found this: https://combataircraft.keypublishing.com/2017/06/23/how-did-a-30-year-old-su-22-defeat-a-modern-aim-9x/ I didn't realise the AIM-9X had been fired in anger yet.

Interesting. I remember there being a conversation here about ineffectiveness of flares against the AIM-9X due to its FPA seeker, with the another side saying flares could still work and is one of the reasons the missile received/is receiving ECCM upgrades.

Skipper, the advanced cockpit is supposed to be an option, so I guess the Saudi's were happy with the current set-up.

That could be an aspect. If the missile is flying a pursuit course however, that could complicate things.

Okay, I've just seen a video which shows the same 'len' around the stab tailboom as we see beside the cockpit, so I'm guessing it's part of the electro-optic defensive system.

F-15SA:

Wizard, I've read comments about it being part of the aircraft's defensive suite, but I don't know how accurate that is.

F-15SA with a new cockpit update: The steam gauges below the left MPD have been removed and replaced with what looks like a backup EADI. The MPDs also look like they may have been updated. The edges between the bezel and the screen look less curved, leading to a little more screen area in the corners, but I'm not sure about that.

An F-15E Thread. WHy didn't anyone tell me!!! An F-15E thread, how the hell did I miss that! Time to get down to business. An F-15E with 2 practice GBU-24s on the middle CFT stations and an AN/ASQ-236 radar pod between them: F-15K front cockpit with the Air-to-Air RDR display on the left MPD, the (new NVG compatible) UFC with autopilot setting shown in the middle, The TEWS display up on the right MPD and the TSD on the lower middle MPCD: The new UFC display looks much better, much cleaner, however I must admit I prefer the neatness of the older square UFC buttons, rather than the new rectangular ones. Also the new UFC doesn't line up as well. It has a thicker panel causing it to overhang the HUD Control Panel. Another image of the new UFC panel: Older UFC design: Still got love for you. F-15K rear cockpit with the TSD on the far left MPCD, the HUD repeater on the middle left MPD, the Air-to-Air RDR on the middle right MPD and the Air-to-Air Armament display on the far right MPCD: F-15SA showing how much of a mean bastard it could be: I don't if that's a legit weapons load in terms of wiring and weps sep, however it's still a crazy loadout!

An AV-8B with heterochromia:

Thanks guys. I expecting it to happen perhaps once a year or every other year, but thinking about it, the weaponry cost would be astronomical for peacetime work. Dangerman, Bond would approve of your latter choice. Nice to have some Tornado/Phantom crew here. :)

How often will a typical pilot/crew participate in live fire exercises?

That's definitely an issue. The funny thing is, the USG considers all material in the public domain as having been exported. The supp NATOPS and tactical manuals from the mid 80's at least until the Tomcats retirement in 2006 are likely all classified.

AN/ALR-45 & AN/ALR-50 Audio Tones. The AN/ALR-45 generates artificial tones that closely represent the PRF and scan of the threat radar. Track While Scan radars thus produce a chirped tone and other radars a continuous tone with a frequency related to the PRF. The AN/ALR-50 generates two tones. One for MA (Missile Alert) the other for ML (Missile Launch). MA produces a slow warbling tone at 450Hz and 550Hz, alternating at a rate of 1.8Hz. ML operates at a faster rate of 7.3Hz. Hope that helps.

Check out the list of 'Applicable Publications' in those manuals and they don't even include maintenance publications that can be helpful!

Nealius, I'm not aware of the HARM having a self-destruct feature as you describe, however if its power source has expired meaning control inputs can no longer be accomplished, under these circumstances self-destruct could be plausible.

Early ALR-67A(V) for the A-6E Hi BeoWolf Correct me if I'm wrong. The ALR-45F was a digital version that did away with the strobes and Incorporated alphanumeric symbols? Also are you familiar with the early ALR-67A(V) as installed on the A-6E? I ask because there's a version with a different set of warning lights on the right side of the gunsight. This version appeared to have 'HARM' like features, given the warning/indicator lights in question included 'SP PBK' (Self-Protection Pull BacK) for example. I'm wondering if it was an early WCSI version that never made it to fleet?

One of the benefits enjoyed by HTS equipped F-16's, is the ability to produces GPS quality targeting, by utilising co-operative techniques between aircraft.