TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
No it was Truncated as at the time the Political mindset was it was a Cold War relic and F35 the strike fighter more matched the for of mission set being seen in combat of Iraq and Afghanistan. Where in the air to air capability was null to the ability to drop guided munitions. F35 at the time cost as much as F22.
@Jura loves to comment on F35 and F22 being used to drop bombs on bicycles. Well F22 wasn’t supposed to do that F35 has been almost tailored for doing that.
This was a period and is to some degree still where the Powers that be
This is what I mean by changing the way we build these aircraft. F22 and F35 were built as a wholistic approach you design the aircraft and everything in it. For F22 and F35 as they exist now it was an absolute necessity.
However as time has progressed Raptors seem to be moving to a open architecture model not just in computers but potential add ons. This I think is how the next generation will start using more plug and play type mission equipment.
Laser technology is still maturing However thus far its not ranging out to seventy KM but more like twenty to thirty. The power supply is a issue here the engine of a Jet is packing all the electrical power of the fighter. A twin engine is inherently going to offer more electrical power than a single engine of the same or similar class.
F22 does fly faster and with super cruise that doesn’t mean a larger IR signature. It’s the Reheat that drives up fuel and heat.
It should be apparent right now B21 is not a quick development. We are still waiting to see it. It’s supposed to enter service in 2025 and the program got its wheels under it in 2016.
Farther more is the juice worth the squeeze for such? If the USAF was looking for a small strike bomber flying wing Northrop Grumman has that the X47B. B21 is not a fighter it’s a Very Low Observable bomber it’s meant to drop large bomb payloads and large missiles on target. Lasers are not a panacea. The power recharge rate, range and fact that other nations are working on them mean that their value is not such as to make up for the limitations of the flying platform they are in.
You brought it up before to. But lasers do not make a Strike fighter the dominate bird of the sky. They are a system to be integrated.
Missiles are increasing range and speed a slow speed large payload may be don’t for strikes but not air to air engagements you still need some ability to intercept and fight especially since the world is working on its own stealth platforms. J20, FC31 and SU57 mean that air superiority may mean closing range for a dogfight of some form. Having Uber turning rates like SU57 at the cost of low observable shaping doesn’t mean an advantage but it does mean it’s not an open and shut case. Bombers have a job and are better to that job. B21 will be impressive for its intended missions. But some jobs need a fighter.
A high low mix is mix and match. I feel that what we will see is more an expansion of the support aspects of the fighter program rather than ditching the fighter concept for a manned mini bomber with lasers. Distributing support for the fighter wings.
Right now F22 and F35 have issues but a number of them are sourced to the environment around them.
Complaints about short range; they are real issues but before we could have a fighter dragged to the fight by a Tanker today Tankers and AEW are missile bullseyes in the sky. You cannot make a Fighter as large as bomber it wouldn’t be cost effective. You cannot give a Fighter a eco cruise efficient engine like those used on jet liners. It’s not survivable in combat.
You can make a more efficient fighter engine which is what we see finally happening. You can add external tanks like we see on Raptor’s sometimes and being added to F35A now, conformal tanks like the Israelis are working on for F35I. But these only aid in adding range. What is needed is a tanker that doesn’t light up every IADS radar for a thousand miles. Smaller and cheaper with a smaller RCS. A drone could do the job.
Complaints about Radar range, F22 and F35 have monster radars today but not theater wide radars. Using data links F22 and F35 can talk to each other sharing part of the picture but only to those able to listen. Clearly that still leaves potential gaps. E3 Sentry birds though light up missile networks like a Christmas tree as as proven the type of platforms they are built from are easy missile prey. Since we know that LPI air to air radars can be mounted in VLO platforms I ask why not build an AEW Flying wing drone with data links for both F22 and F35? The USAF has already been looking at taking the operators off E3.
F35 and F22 both have built in excellent electric warfare suites rivaling any previous or current E/A or EF jammer birds built. There low observable aspects are farther augmented by jamming. Stealth does have flaws generally it’s optimized to the X band as this is the band chosen almost universally for use as attack radar. Low frequency bands may “see” a stealth but it’s like how Mr Magoo sees a lion. A bland blur of something over there. Jamming i this range though may be needed though along with other bands and having more jammers up spoofing along side the manned fighters could farther break an enemy’s battle effectiveness.
They can also aid in creating gaps for other assets like Infantry transports, Bombers vs a competent air Defence perhaps even forcing back sea denial systems.
Small payload. This issue though I think is part of the existing weapons in inventory. Air to air load outs with large pre internal bay weapons that were designed for flying open air. Already work is started into more compact faster longer ranged missiles that would better fit in the current VLO and potential future ones.
