marcos Posted November 8, 2012 Posted November 8, 2012 http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2012/November%202012/1112fighter.aspx The F-35, while not technically a "supercruising" aircraft, can maintain Mach 1.2 for a dash of 150 miles without using fuel-gulping afterburners. As I predicted. Moreover, the surface material smoothes out over time, slightly reducing the F-35’s original radar signature, according to the Lockheed Martin official. Only serious structural damage will disturb the F-35’s low observability, O’Bryan said, and Lockheed Martin has devised an array of field repairs that can restore full stealthiness in just a few hours. The F-35’s radar cross section, or RCS, has a "maintenance margin," O’Bryan explained, meaning it’s "always better than the spec." Minor scratches and even dents won’t affect the F-35’s stealth qualities enough to degrade its combat performance, in the estimation of the company. Field equipment will be able to assess RCS right on the flight line, using far less cumbersome gear than has previously been needed to make such calculations.
schroedi Posted November 8, 2012 Posted November 8, 2012 Hello! Nobody doubts that it can supercruise. The point of supercruising is to travel fast but not using equivalently much more fuel. Breaking the soundbarrier and beeing near to the it (doesn't matter if a little bit above or below soundbarrier) useses more fuel than going for example with mach 1.4. There are several Planes capable of partly supercruising i.e. Super Etendard can do Mach1 and has no afterburner or the old BAC Lightning (i thing the F-15 might do it, too). Problem with all these, including the F-35 is that they only can perform supercruise without external weapons. Good, the F-35 has a weapon bay but honestly how often will it fly without external weapons? I am pretty sure the USAF will use it mainly like they use the F-16s - as a bomb truck with external weapons. Maybe other countrys will use it in it's stealth configuration more often than the US itself. The other question is, which F-35 can do supercruise only the Air Force's A model or the B and C model, too?
Griffin Posted November 8, 2012 Posted November 8, 2012 Nobody doubts that it can supercruise. There was a discussion here a while ago where I posted a link that said that JSF engines weren't designed for supercruise but no one really knew if the aircraft can still do that. Thanks for info!
marcos Posted November 8, 2012 Author Posted November 8, 2012 Hello! Nobody doubts that it can supercruise. The point of supercruising is to travel fast but not using equivalently much more fuel. Breaking the soundbarrier and beeing near to the it (doesn't matter if a little bit above or below soundbarrier) useses more fuel than going for example with mach 1.4. There are several Planes capable of partly supercruising i.e. Super Etendard can do Mach1 and has no afterburner or the old BAC Lightning (i thing the F-15 might do it, too). Problem with all these, including the F-35 is that they only can perform supercruise without external weapons. Good, the F-35 has a weapon bay but honestly how often will it fly without external weapons? I am pretty sure the USAF will use it mainly like they use the F-16s - as a bomb truck with external weapons. Maybe other countrys will use it in it's stealth configuration more often than the US itself. The other question is, which F-35 can do supercruise only the Air Force's A model or the B and C model, too? 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.
aaron886 Posted November 8, 2012 Posted November 8, 2012 Mach 1.2 is (as a rough guess) probably sufficient to be out of the effects of the majority of wave drag. 150nm at M1.2 is nothing to shake a stick at. I've always been of the opinion that the F-35 is being grossly underestimated. People get very hung up on finding easy to understand performance numbers... that's how they make comparisons. Just remember, air warfare is constantly evolving. A valuable assessment of a tactical aircraft is one that reads between the lines.
marcos Posted November 8, 2012 Author Posted November 8, 2012 (edited) Mach 1.2 is (as a rough guess) probably sufficient to be out of the effects of the majority of wave drag. 150nm at M1.2 is nothing to shake a stick at. I've always been of the opinion that the F-35 is being grossly underestimated. People get very hung up on finding easy to understand performance numbers... that's how they make comparisons. Just remember, air warfare is constantly evolving. A valuable assessment of a tactical aircraft is one that reads between the lines. 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. Edited November 8, 2012 by marcos
marcos Posted November 13, 2012 Author Posted November 13, 2012 Looks like supercruising ability could get stronger still: http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1603541&postcount=40 Looks like it could get 50,000lbf after all.
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