European vs American Fighters
- From: "Charles Talleyrand" <kitplane01@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 19 Apr 2006 19:02:37 -0700
Consider the Eurofighter and the Rafale and compare them to the F-22
and F-35. The American fighters have much more significant stealth
features than the European fighters, and presumably pay for these
stealth features. The American fighters for instance have internal
weapons bays (which effects weight and size) and limits payload that
can be carried in a stealthy way. Further, these planes are not to be
often used with drop tanks and therefore must have larger internal fuel
tanks. Finally, I assume that the stealth features added to
development time and cost and forced a non-optimal aerodynamic shape.
The European fighters, although they have a lower radar cross section
than their predecesor, are not that stealthy. Instead they carry
weapons and drop tanks externally and have shapes more optimized for
aerodynamics than stealth.
So .... who's right?
Either the Americans are right because stealth is going to be as
revolutionary for fighter aircraft as the Dreadnought was for naval
warfare,
Or Europe is right because stealth does not work that well in practice
and the costs are not worth the benefits
Or both are right because Europe is assuming that they will not need to
fight an advanced air defense and America is assuming that they will
fight an advanced air defense.
-Charles Talleyrand
.
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