Tomas9970 Posted January 17 Posted January 17 (edited) Hello. As you may or may not know, the Eurofighter has a somewhat special placement of the Meteor missiles on the cheek stations. More specificly, the rear ones are rotated 90 degrees inwards (probably to allow air into the engines). However in the 2025 and Beyond trailer, all shots show the Typhoon with it's missiles rotated the same way. Is that just a WIP? Or am I missing something. And yeah, I know I'm rivet-counting but I'm also quite curious about it. Edited January 17 by Tomas9970 2
TheBiggerBass Posted January 17 Posted January 17 May be I am asking a stupid question as a DCS rookie - just started a few weeks ago. But where and how can I install the Eurofighter option? DCS: A-10C II Tank Killer, F-4E Phantom II, F/A-18C, F-16C Viper, A-10A Flaming Cliffs, Caucasus, Marianas, Normandy 2.0, The Channel, Kola, Syria, CW Germany, Combined Arms System: HP Z2 Tower, Win11 24H2, i9-14900K, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD (M2) + 18TB HDD (Sata), GeForce RTX4070 TI Super 16GB VRAM, Samsung Odyssey 57" curved monitor (main screen) + BenQ 32" UW3270 (secondary screen), VKB Gunfighter Ultimate MK4 + S-TECS Throttle
BigBorner Posted January 17 Posted January 17 1 hour ago, TheBiggerBass said: May be I am asking a stupid question as a DCS rookie - just started a few weeks ago. But where and how can I install the Eurofighter option? There is no eurofighter yet. Probably somewhen in 2026. 2 1
bies Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) This semi-recessed pylons were used in all US interceptors/air superiority fighters like F-4, F-14, F-15, F/A-18 as well, because they significantly lower the drag, when missile is inside fuselage boundary layer. It's obvious when you look at F-4 or F-15 manual and compare drag index of the Sparrow/AMRAAM below the wing and inside semi-recessed pylon. That's why F-4, F-14, F-15, EF are so fast not only clean, but with 4 Sparrow/AMRAAM missiles as well, when e.g. Su-27, F-16, MiG-29 etc. are significantly slower when carrying missiles. And that's part of the reason EF can supercruise so fast being armed and not having full weapon bay. This way missiles generate lower RCS as well. Downside is such pylons are not universal - you can only carry Sparrow/AMRAAM/Meteor there. Plus you can't design semi-recessed pylons for some shape e.g. R-27 missile. But if you want pure air superiority cutting edge kinematic performance - with such pylons you're golden. Good observation with Meteors being rotated, it may have something to do with the drag of the aircraft as you've said, or access to non-turbulent air by the Meteor itself. It may be optional as well, being tested in different positions. And it may also be a configuration with the smallest overall drag found in a wind tunnel/simulation. Edited January 18 by bies 6
doedkoett Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) The simple answer is that the mounting point for the missile in the recesses, is inboard on the forward recesses, and outboard on the rear ones. Why, I do not know. My guess would be that it has something to do with safe release of the weapon, but it might as well be something else, like lack of space for the pylon mechanism. Anyway, this means that any missile, Meteor or AMRAAM, will be rotated 90 degrees between the front and rear mount. Edit: attached a photo of the belly of a Typhoon I shot last summer. Edited January 18 by doedkoett 1
Dragon1-1 Posted February 5 Posted February 5 On 1/18/2025 at 1:39 PM, bies said: Good observation with Meteors being rotated, it may have something to do with the drag of the aircraft as you've said, or access to non-turbulent air by the Meteor itself. It may be optional as well, being tested in different positions. And it may also be a configuration with the smallest overall drag found in a wind tunnel/simulation. The answer is far simpler than that. The Meteor is designed to be suspended from the top. The hardpoints are on the edges of the fuselage, not directly below it. If the missile wasn't tilted, the connection points wouldn't fit inside the fuselage. Now, why the hardpoints are there and not directly under the fuselage, it's probably a combination of aerodynamics, clearance (especially with the drop tank) and internal layout that makes this place the most suitable for them. 1
doedkoett Posted February 6 Posted February 6 15 hours ago, Dragon1-1 said: Now, why the hardpoints are there and not directly under the fuselage, it's probably a combination of aerodynamics, clearance (especially with the drop tank) and internal layout that makes this place the most suitable for them. The attachment points must be tilted off to the side due to the geometry of the missile. Seen from the front the fins take the shape of an X with the mounting lugs on top, as you say. But to be able to fair in the missile properly in a semi recessed mount, it has to be rotated 45 degrees to a configuration resembling a + so that the top fins stick in to the fuselage. This rotates the mounting lugs and umbilical connections 45 degrees off to the side.
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