Stealth as its name imply is not Invisibility, is reduced radar cross section, if the airplane get too close to a radar or is visible it become a target.
2026 Israel-US vs. Iran conflict [Military updates/News Only]
- Thread starter Phead128
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I think the issue is that they got complacent after flying through Iranian air space with relative impunity for so long.
We have no clue about what and where they flying.
Topograhy of iran makesi t easy to find valleys where is no radar. Simply to complicated mountainous country.
Long wave radars can track any aircraft, and in practice stealth means instead of say 300 km the fire control radar can track and illuminate from 100-150 km .
Nothing special, in reality. If a SAM system can track and target low flying cruise missiles then the stealth planes are not a real problem .
that seems to be the case , i think iran only has surface to air missiles with short engagement envelopes , the f-35 flew too low and on a predictable path , iranians got the specular reflection and launched the anti air weapon , much like what happened with f-117
People need to understand that no fifth gen has true all aspect stealth. Why did J-36/50 and F-47 go to such lengths to remove vertical slabs? Because you can’t do better than 1 M^2 when viewed from the side even under optimal conditions.
The F-35 has computerized system to aim the aircraft so that the optimized profile (frontal +-20 degrees) is presented to enemy radars. This may actually be a moot point since that this aircraft was flying so low and targeted by IR so that RCS doesn’t matter a bit.
Supercarrier is kinda hard to target.
On the other hand, we do know that the USN is sending the ESG-7 (1x LHD + 1x LPD + 1x LSD) from Japan to Iran right now. Unlike the supercarrier, these warships have to get within vicinity of the Iranian coastal regions in order to conduct operations effectively.
Perhaps Iran should get their hands on them instead (as they are also comparably easier to target/disable)...
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look at the imagery. It is not grainy or low SNR at all. It is in fact extremely clear, and showed a collision from an oblique angle rather than straight up and down. So it was not a luck based shot.
If it was complacency it would be a low contrast, low SNR image, with a vertical shot as the plane flew right above - which is kind of like what happened in Yugoslavia.
I think it may be a case of tracking and waiting for the plane to enter the envelope of a IR guided missile.
In 1 month, the Missile inventory will be near depletion says Rheinmetall
With the frequency of strikes, there is probably repeated flight paths that those planes are taking in country. It's simply a case of camping out one of those spots with IR based missiles and springing an ambush during a flyover. I.e same playbook used in the shootdown of the F-117. A consequence of the drone attrition perhaps? Without constant overwatch the hidden AA have a lot more latitude to perform these types of attacks.
F35 hit
Israel oil hit
Trump lifting decade long sanctions
Damn I only just got back here and all this stuff happened when I was out.
Israel oil hit
Trump lifting decade long sanctions
Damn I only just got back here and all this stuff happened when I was out.