AMCA MK1 will have 55 sqm wing area while F-35A wing area is 43sqm (perhaps to reduce cost) & hence the leading edge sweep angle is decreased & the common fuselage is a lifting body design at nose, cheeks, intakes, LER, while AMCA MK-1 seems to be more sleek & piercing, perhaps to aid super-cruise.
The lifting body actually increases RCS compared to sleeker body, 1 of the reasons why F-35 has 10x more RCS than F-22.
The DSI bumps also contribute to RCS & makes any jet look like it got tonsilitis or mumps.
The belly is also quiet bumpy rather than like F-22.
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Rafale's total load is 9T due to lack of IWB (which itself has weight add.) & lift given by canards & its LERX while AMCA MK1 won't have canards & LERX. So it is is not a compromise on airflow at all.
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Only # of engines doesn't matter. Total thrust with aerodynamics & airframe strength matter.
F-35 has 125KN engine & AMCA MK1 will use F-18E's engine 2xGE-414=116KN.
F-35 started with X-35 w/o IWB, so AMCA MK1 will hopefully have far better MK2 version. I'll compare AMCA program little bit with F-22 program, in way of progress bcoz YF-22 was quite close to F-22 in DEMVAL program demonstrating Sidewinder & AMRAAM shots & other capabilities. Similarly AMCA MK1 could be LSP (Limited Series Production) & later upgraded to MK2 when stronger engine by JV/indegenous options is available. We already did something similar by getting Su-30K & upgrading/replacing them with MKI version. And now LCA has been inflated to MWF. So AMCA MK2 also will be far better. AMCA might also get inflated to AHCA with some structural changes as replacement of MKI, who knows?
A rough comparison:
AMRAAM weighs 335 lb (152 kg), AIM-9X weighs 188 pounds (85.3 kg).
F-35's stealth A-A load has only 4 AMRAAMs= 608 Kg, so F-35 has stealth dry T/W ratio of (125*225)/{(13.3+8.3+0.6)*1000*2.2}= 28125/48840=0.58
Astr AAM weighs 154 kg (340 lb) & AMCA can carry 4 of them = 616Kg.
AMCA has stealth A-A dry T/W ratio= (2*58*225)/{(12+6.5+0.6)*1000*2.2}=26100/42020=0.62, more than F-35.
Coming to max load, F-35 is depicted to carry 10.1 T (22.3K lbs), so MTOW = 10.1+13.3+8.3=31.7 T & dry T/Wmax= (125*225)/{(13.3+8.3+10.1)*1000*2.2}=28125/69740= 0.4
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480 gallon full fuel tank = 4,100lb
AGM-158C LRASM is 2,500lb,
AGM-158 JASSM is 2,251lb
GBU-31 JDAM is 2,000lb
Paveway LGBs are max 2,000lb
so the heaviest load i can think is similar to following:
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Replace outer CCM with AMRAAM & JDAM with LRASM.
So we have external (2x300lb AAM + 2x2,500lb LRASM + 2x4,100lb tank + 1000lb gun pod)=14,800lb=6.7T
and internal (2x300lb AMRAAM + 2x2,000lb JDAM)=4,600lb=2.1T
Total load is coming to 8.8T.
MTOWmax= 13.3+8.3+(6.7+2.1)=30.4T=66,880lb
& dry T/Wmax=28125/66880=0.42
By same dry T/Wmax=0.42 AMCA should be able to pull up {(2*58*225)/(0.42*1000*2.2)}=28.24T MTOW instead of 25T or 28.24-12-6.5=9.74 Tons total load theoretically instead of 6.5T. But like i said, aerodynamics & airframe structure also matter. AMCA doesn't seem to be lifting body fuselage.
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USA & France have vast experience of series of jets but we have to play safe with our 1st indegenous stealth jet prototype.
Succesive testing & improvements might actually prove higher total load from 6.5 to 8-9 T in MK1 version itself perhaps.
Aeronauticsis highly practical stuff.
So with AMCA, it is not compromise on airflow, etc but a
safety margin & try to maintain stealth, supercruise, & avoiding overconfident estimates & overhyped publicity, etc when the prototype is yet to fly. It is an intelligent & matured action.
RF & IR Stealth is advantageous only when adversary's RF & IR capability is considerably lesser. It is easy for a technologically better &/or bigger country or alliance to defeat smaller &/or lagging country/alliance. The stealth engagement window is small & crucial.
The bombs & missiles & the IWB also need to be stealthy otherwise their RCS/IR detection can give away location. So it is impossible to hide burning of fossil fuel by the jet & a missile. Military & remote-sensing satellites can also detect aircrafts & terrain changes with modified algorithms.
If both sides have equal stealth &/or RF/IR jammers then outcome is non-deterministic & depends on gunfight where TVC & pilot skill will dominate.
So, until DEWs are implemented, TVC & guns will play important role. Hence F-22 has TVC & gun & F-35 w/o TVC can loose a gun-dogfight against an agile jet of any size.
There is no CG model but AMCA will have a 23 mm GSh-23 gun in MK1 & most probably TVC also in MK2 version. As Su-57 has 2 embedded DIRCMs hence AMCA MK1 must also think of it. Now when AMCA will have F-35 style EOTS & perhaps DAS too then an early CG model released showing possible IRST turret-balls can actually be used for DIRCMs similar to in Su-57 (fwd. upper one relocated to neck behind cockpit).
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