Combat Aircraft technology and Evolution

asianobserve

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A drawing of Hughes (later on Raytheon) Meteor design way back in 1994:



Different versions of VFDR AMRAAM or Extended Range AMRAAM





 

Steven Rogers

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My point is if USA goes forward with ramjet in near future than your theory of how USA can't throw away aim experience and tactics is flawed.

Rocket motors can't keep up with sfdr. That's just physics. Let's see what USA will chose better physics or older experience which is no longer relevant to the new era.
irrelevant,that depends on engagement range,a force will be prefer a rocket motor powered missile for med range for better KE over ramjet,why?simply because rocket motors burn instantaneous impulse which is of higher order than sustained impulse of ramjet and in mid ranges by the time missile reaches,they activate the 2nd pulse(also effective in the long rangesjust not enough than ramjet)(As in AIM120D)to regain some of ke enough to down a target.

Rocket motor are preferred over the ramjet in the mid ranges, and that is why most of the western AFs use the combination of Ramjet and rocket bvr.
 

IndianHawk

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irrelevant,that depends on engagement range,a force will be prefer a rocket motor powered missile for med range for better KE over ramjet,why?simply because rocket motors burn instantaneous impulse which is of higher order than sustained impulse of ramjet and in mid ranges by the time missile reaches,they activate the 2nd pulse(also effective in the long rangesjust not enough than ramjet)(As in AIM120D)to regain some of ke enough to down a target.

Rocket motor are preferred over the ramjet in the mid ranges, and that is why most of the western AFs use the combination of Ramjet and rocket bvr.
Exactly a combo of ramjet and rocket motors. Now where is American combo? Why such neglect to long range warfare?
 

asianobserve

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And yet they don't have it. How ironic.
They have it first and perhaps have the best ramjet engine for A2A missile even until now. But they don't use it because they still find rocket motors more suited for their fighting doctrine. Instead, they are looking for ways to further increase the range of their rocket motors.

Americans like rocket motors more than ramjet since it is simpler thus cheaper, more compact thus their fighters can carry more missiles internally or externally, and rocket powered missiles are more streamlined since they don't have inlet ducts (imagine the drag of these inlet ducts when you strap 4 Meteor to a fighter externally) and thus flies faster to its target within its optimum range.
 

asianobserve

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Look at how compact AMRAAM is:



Do you think an F-15 can carry that much Meteor (since Meteor has bigger body due to protruding inlets)? And even if Meteor can be carried at that density, imagine the drag that all the exposed Meteor inlets will do to the aircrat.
 

IndianHawk

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They have it first and perhaps have the best ramjet engine for A2A missile even until now. But they don't use it because they still find rocket motors more suited for their fighting doctrine. Instead, they are looking for ways to further increase the range of their rocket motors.

Americans like rocket motors more than ramjet since it is simpler thus cheaper, more compact thus their fighters can carry more missiles internally or externally, and rocket powered missiles are more streamlined since they don't have inlet ducts (imagine the drag of these inlet ducts when you strap 4 Meteor to a fighter externally) and thus flies faster to its target within its optimum range.
Read the post above by @Steven Rogers the optimum solution in combo of ramjets and rocket powered. That is why India is also getting both meteor/ sfdr as well as derby ER and astra dual pulse.
 

IndianHawk

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Look at how compact AMRAAM is:



Do you think an F-15 can carry that much Meteor (since Meteor has bigger body due to protruding inlets)? And even if Meteor can be carried at that density, imagine the drag that all the exposed Meteor inlets will do to the aircrat.
Yup it can carry more missiles. Yet against a fighter armed with single meteor this f15 will have to stay far away as all of its might aim missile are outranged. It can't use them without coming closer while enemy with ramjet missile can target it from farther away. So what is the point of carrying dead weight.
 

asianobserve

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Read the post above by @Steven Rogers the optimum solution in combo of ramjets and rocket powered. That is why India is also getting both meteor/ sfdr as well as derby ER and astra dual pulse.
I wonder why USAF - the biggest, most high tech, best organized, most experienced and highest funded air force in the World - is not doing it? Or you think you're better than the entire USAF?
 

asianobserve

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Yup it can carry more missiles. Yet against a fighter armed with single meteor this f15 will have to stay far away as all of its might aim missile are outranged. It can't use them without coming closer while enemy with ramjet missile can target it from farther away. So what is the point of carrying dead weight.
Except that F-22s and F-35s ahead of F-15s will detect first any opposing fighters and datalink with F-15s allowing the latter to fire first.

Always remember, ISAF does not operate on our level of armchair fantasies. They approach any and operate against any hostile action/force as a system. Their platforms and weapons are carefully selected for the way they will fight.

In real air war, no single missile or fighter will win it. It will be the whole package that will win.
 

IndianHawk

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I wonder why USAF - the biggest, most high tech, best organized, most experienced and highest funded air force in the World - is not doing it? Or you think you're better than the entire USAF?
Ah ! What an argument . Why are all other airforces including France , UK , Germany , India , Russia developed/ developing ramjet missiles. Are they all idiot or you are the dumb one?
 

IndianHawk

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Except that F-22s and F-35s ahead of F-15s will detect first any opposing fighters and datalink with F-15s allowing the latter to fire first.

Always remember, ISAF does not operate on our level of armchair fantasies. They approach any and operate against any hostile action/force as a system. Their platforms and weapons are carefully selected for the way they will fight.

In real air war, no single missile or fighter will win it. It will be the whole package that will win.
Eh! And you think enemy will send a single fighter.
Enemy jets will have irst too. Even if f35 can see enemy first what it's gonna do when it's missile can't reach enemy . To bring enemy under it's missile range it will have to move closer and get caught on enemy irst and enemy with longer range ramjet will make turkey of f35 !
 

bhramos

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The latest electric motor will make the aircraft industry of the #Russian Federation inaccessible to the West !!!
 

Longewala

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I wonder why USAF - the biggest, most high tech, best organized, most experienced and highest funded air force in the World - is not doing it? Or you think you're better than the entire USAF?
Well, one must keep in mind that the bestest air force in the world entered the Vietnam war with fighters armed with useless Falcon missiles and no guns, and is currently relying on a next gen F-35 fighter which is effectively outclassed kinematically because they insists on burdening it with the B version.

They have sub par artillery, SAM capability, their armour is hamstrung by gas turbine engines, etc

Of course they have got a lot right technologically. Their aircraft stealth, engine, sensor and interface tech is a generation ahead of the entire world.

But that doesn't mean they cant get things badly wrong or get cocky.
 

bhramos

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How Quantum Radar Could Completely Change Warfare
You've heard of stealth aircraft—now meet stealth radar.
 

asianobserve

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The SR-71 Blackbird's Predecessor Created "Plasma Stealth" By Burning Cesium-Laced Fuel




Lockheed's A-12 Oxcart spy plane, which the company developed for the Central Intelligence Agency, was a direct response to the growing vulnerability of its earlier U-2 Dragon Lady to hostile air defense networks. As such, the plane – the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force's iconic SR-71 Blackbird – was extremely high- and fast-flying, but also incorporated then-state-of-the-art features to reduce its radar cross-section. These included a combination of a stealthy overall shape and radar-evading structures, as well as the use of composites in its construction, and the incorporation of radar absorbing materials on its skin. A far less known, but still a key component of the Skunk Works plan to make the A-12 harder to spot on radar involved a cesium-laced fuel additive to dramatically reduce the radar signature of the plane's massive engine exhausts and afterburner plumes by creating an ionizing cloud behind the aircraft to help conceal its entire rear aspect from radar waves.


A J58 during a ground test


Another J58 engine running

The basic principle behind this is a concept known as “plasma stealth.” In the simplest terms, this involves creating a cloud of plasma, or ionized gas, around some or all of an object. The plasma then absorbs electromagnetic radiation, such as radar waves, preventing them from reflecting back. There are multiple ways to generate the required plasma Lovick’s idea was to inject an alkali metal, via a fuel additive, into the extremely hot exhaust streams, where the heat would turn it into an ionized gas.

The final additive mix was 30 percent cesium metal and 60 percent dialkyl phosphate, according to Lovick. However, he says in his book that the testing of the additives, which included flight tests at Area 51, was finished by 1965, but it’s unclear if this only refers to Lockheed’s portion of the work before the project passed to Pratt & Whitney.

However, none of the post-mission reports clearly state that the A-12s on either of these missions, or any others, used A-50. Available records also make clear that standard JP-7 did not have the cesium mixture and that personnel would only have added it when authorized to do so for a specific mission. It’s not entirely clear why, with the reported effectiveness of the mixture, the CIA would have declined to actually employ operationally in the end.

Given that the A-12’s speed and its electronic warfare package seemed sufficient to protect it over North Vietnam, the CIA may have continued to withhold use of A-50 for operational security reasons. Using it could have exposed its existence and given the Soviets and their allies time to develop countermeasures, rendering it less effective when it might have been absolutely necessary.

Whatever the case, A-50 appears to have at least remained available for use throughout Operation Black Shield. What happened to any remaining stockpiles of the additive after the A-12 program came to a close in 1968 is unclear.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...d-plasma-stealth-by-burning-cesium-laced-fuel
 
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asianobserve

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Raytheon unveils the development of the new Peregrine advanced air-to-air missile

According to a statement released by Raytheon, “the new, smaller Peregrine missile is faster and more maneuverable than legacy medium-range, air-to-air missiles, and doubles the weapons loadout on a variety of fighter platforms. Its sophisticated, miniaturized guidance system can detect and track targets at any time of day and in any weather condition.”

The missile will have a multi-mode, autonomous seeker which also includes infrared imaging, a “new, high-performance propulsion system”, a blast fragmentation warhead and a “new lightweight airframe and high-performance modular control system”.

The missile is in fact expected to be about 6 feet long and to weigh 150 pounds, that is shorter and lighter than both the AIM-120 AMRAAM (which is 12 feet long and weighs about 335 pounds) and the AIM-9 Sidewinder (which is 9 feet long and weighs about 190 pounds).

https://theaviationist.com/2019/09/...ment-of-the-new-peregrine-air-to-air-missile/



A “new, high-performance propulsion section” will accelerate the Peregrine to supersonic speed to achieve potentially slightly better range than the AIM-120, but Noyes declined to describe the specific type of propulsion technology selected for the new missile. Several options are available to modern missile designers. The Stunner uses a multipulse rocket motor, while the MBDA powers the Meteor missile with a ramjet-augmented rocket. Missile developers also have been experimenting with new propellant technologies, including exotic gels.

Even at a range equivalent to that of the AIM-120, the Peregrine should provide similar endgame maneuverability as the super agile AIM-9X, Noyes says.

“It will go supersonic and that’s attributable to that new lightweight airframe and high-performance modular control system,” he says. “That permits it [to] go and do incredible maneuvers, especially at the endgame where it’s needed most.”

http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/raytheon-unveils-medium-range-air-air-missile-project
 
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Angad Singh

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MILITARY MODERNISATION: INDIAN AIR FORCE
Written by Air Marshal R. Nambiar
Full article:- https://saluteindia.org/military-modernisation-indian-air-force/

The IAF is the most technologically advanced and intensive service because the medium in which we operate requires it—that is the air and space domain. The modernisation plan of the IAF thus essentially centres around the induction of the state of the art weapons as far as possible and the ability to upgrade whatever we have to make it more combat-capable to retain IAF is the most technologically advanced and intensive service, because the medium in which we operate requires it—that is the air and space domain. The modernisation plan of the IAF thus essentially centres around the induction of the state of the art weapons as far as possible and the ability to upgrade whatever we have to make it more combat-capable to retain its operational relevance.
 

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