I agree with you. There should be some margins for sure.
Chengdu next gen combat aircraft (?J-36) thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
In combat scenarios, when a stealth plane open IWB & launch missiles, won't its RCS grow significantly larger, thus gets detected immediately by enemy radars? 
How do 5th gen & 6th gen aircrafts slove this problem? Or it's a problem can't be solved anyway?
How do 5th gen & 6th gen aircrafts slove this problem? Or it's a problem can't be solved anyway?
Yes definitely, although since the action of opening one’s bay to launch a missile then closing it takes a matter of seconds it’s very likely the enemy will see something pop up on the radar and disappear relatively quickly. With any luck (and proper range and attitude management) this will make the jet very hard to be locked and locatedIn combat scenarios, when a stealth plane open IWB & launch missiles, won't its RCS grow significantly larger, thus gets detected immediately by enemy radars?
How do 5th gen & 6th gen aircrafts slove this problem? Or it's a problem can't be solved anyway?
lcloo
Captain
Also to be considered is the distance from the target aircraft, if the distance is around 200km away, the exposed door hatch treated with ram, couple with ECM to disrupt enemy's radar, there is less chance of being detected.
Surface of ram treated exposed IWB door can't be more radar wave reflected than other surface of J20 like the wing, tail etc.
He is the one said Chinese EW was so advanced that IAF pilot saw warning messages in Chinese through their HUD during 5-7 battle.
dont forget that in networked warfare, the sensor platform doesn't have to be the shooter. it will be more valuable to let a stealth platform sit passive closer to the enemy, supporting a missile that a different teammate further away launches. this has already been demonstrated by both americans and russians using f-35 and su-35 guiding surface to air missiles.In combat scenarios, when a stealth plane open IWB & launch missiles, won't its RCS grow significantly larger, thus gets detected immediately by enemy radars?
How do 5th gen & 6th gen aircrafts slove this problem? Or it's a problem can't be solved anyway?
because everything is networked, the entire system can pick who has the best sensor, then pair it with who has the best weapon. we are freed from the problem of trying to do everything in one package.
Yes when a stealth plane opens the IWB there is a large increase in RCS, this has actually mattered in real combat before, see the Serbian shootdown of F117 in 1999. However IWB is only open for a very short time so this is something that is pretty marginal. Warfare is chaotic and unpredictable so maybe there will be some freak occurrence where this once again leads to the downing of a stealth plane.In combat scenarios, when a stealth plane open IWB & launch missiles, won't its RCS grow significantly larger, thus gets detected immediately by enemy radars?
How do 5th gen & 6th gen aircrafts slove this problem? Or it's a problem can't be solved anyway?
However it's very unlikely this will be a major weakness so it will be relegated to freak occurrence status and thus not really that important in the grand scheme of things. If you lose 1 or 2 stealth planes due to this kind of thing in a major war where dozens or hundreds of stealth planes are lost, it doesn't really matter that much. So this hardly invalidates the concept of stealth planes and isn't really something that 5th/6th gen planes need to solve per say. 5th/6th gen planes are also lost to various accidents just like any other plane and that will probably cause more losses than this sort of freak occurrence. You don't see anybody saying that makes them not viable.
Typical illusions about the performance of electronic warfare
They don't solve it other than making the launch sequence as fast as possible. Primarily, they attempt to kill their enemies before they can meaningfully react and then leave location. I think this was among the major reasons why supercruise was a requirement for the F-22 and Sino fifth gens. I also think this is partially why China and US didn't introduce ramjet powered AAMs.In combat scenarios, when a stealth plane open IWB & launch missiles, won't its RCS grow significantly larger, thus gets detected immediately by enemy radars?
How do 5th gen & 6th gen aircrafts slove this problem? Or it's a problem can't be solved anyway?
I have a feeling even a momentarily spike in RCS in unlucky scenarios could result in a lock. Modern AESAs could focus their beam to achieve a higher than normal range sensitivity provided it knows where to look so if timed correctly it might be possible to lock on to a stealthy target even if spike in signature is temporarily.