Re: Eurofighter Typhoons in the USA
- From: mrpigz@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: 28 Sep 2005 19:59:15 -0700
Drewe Manton wrote:
> On 2005-09-28 18:59:09 +0100, mrpigz@xxxxxxxxx said:
>
> > This goes to most in this thread - NOTHING locks onto an F/A-22.
>
> Care to share your source for that particular piece of hyperbole?
> --
I could go on and on...
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAK/is_2_56/ai_n6137193
Air Force reservist Lt. Col. Alan Norman
"The aircraft is eye-watering with all the capabilities it has," he
said. "There is no comparison between the legacy F-15 and F-16 aircraft
and the Raptor. This aircraft will be around long enough that our
children can fly it and not have to worry about being defeated."
http://www.lowobservable.com/Protos.htm
The "Typhoon" is an air superiority fighter being developed by a
consortium consisting of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. Seven
development aircraft have been constructed and tested. The first
prototype flew in 1992.
Although it's not actually a stealth aircraft, careful shaping and use
of composites and limited low-observable technologies, make the
Eurofighter extremely light with a stealthier radar profile than 1980's
era fighters. The radar cross signature is said to be about 1/5 that
of an f-16, compared to the F-22's much smaller rcs which is 1/15 the
size of an F-15.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-22-stealth.htm
The F-22 represents a SIGNIFICANT DESIGN EVOLUTION BEYOND THE HIGHLY
SUCCESSFUL F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, with performance not
achievable by today's front-line fighters. Low observable, or stealth,
technology has advanced to the point where conventional aerodynamic
configurations can be made incorporating low observability without
compromising aerodynamic performance or increasing costs significantly.
Design development risk was greatly reduced by the performance
demonstrated in the dem/val program where angle of attack attitudes up
to 60 degrees were flown. The validity of the low observability
features of the F-22's design were confirmed by full-scale pole model
testing.
Low observability is achieved by a range of measures. The F-22 employs
planform shaping and faceting with blended facet boundaries, the latter
a necessary concession to high performance aerodynamics. This is
apparent in the shape of the nose, the fuselage sides about the inlets
and engines, and the upper forward fuselage. Lockheed/B/GD used
serrated edges extensively, as with the F-117A, to control the returns
from panel boundaries, this is very visible on the undercarriage and
weapon bay doors. The planform results in a multiple lobe design, as
the boundaries of the major surfaces are not parallel with respect to
each other. Planform return lobe structure is defined by the radiation
pattern lobes resulting from surface wave reflections which occur at
the leading and trailing edges of the airframe's major surfaces. The
objective of lobing is to concentrate this unavoidable radar return
into specific directions so as to minimise frontal/aft/beam aspect
return and maximise scintillation in the direction of the lobe.
Scintillation is a measure of how rapidly the size of the return varies
with angle, the greater this variation, the more difficult a target is
to track. The lower the number of lobes and the narrower the lobes, the
lower the probability of detecting any return.
RADAR ABSORBANT MATERIALS, OR RAM IS APPLIED SPARINGLY ON THE F-22
AIRFRAME AS OPPOSED TO THE ENTIRE AIRFRAME ON THE F-117. This is
because designers have incorporated curves on crucial surfaces and
edges, which lessens the need for RAM. For example, new ceramic-matrix
RAM is utilized on the engine exhaust nozzles to reduce radar and IR
signatures, and a greater amount of wide-band structural RAM is used on
the wing edges. THE INTERESTING SHAPE OF THE RADOME ON THE F-22
REFLECTS RADAR SIGNALS AT ALL FREQUENCIES EXCEPT THE PRECISE
WAVELENGTHS EMITTED FROM THE F-22. This can be attributed to the
radome's low bandpass type.
http://aimpoints.hq.af.mil/display.cfm?id=3296
As a strike aircraft the F/A-22A will have similar internal payloads to
the JSF, but will be vastly more survivable due to better stealth to
evade air defence missile batteries, plus better speed/altitude
performance, more defensive internally carried air-air missiles and the
ability to kill opposing fighters with no difficulty.
There can be no doubt that the Raptor will remain unmatched in
capabilities and combined
stealth/aerodynamic performance for decades to come. The number of new
technologies used in its design compares only to the radical break seen
in the 1960s TFX program, and only comparable investment in developing
analogous technologies can produce an equivalent design in the EU or
Russia. The Raptor seems destined to remain in a league of its own for
decades to come.
.
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