Posted on 05/15/2005 6:58:54 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Yes, and imagine the psychological impact that an F22 Fighter Sweep will have on an enemy airforce. Planes exploding with no threat warning whatsoever? Just after 'wheels up'? What do you do? If you stay down, the USAF comes in and craters your runways -- destroying your airforce wholesale (preferred method). If you go up, you are only prolonging the agony by being taken out 'retail' (just takes a bit longer until we get bankruptcy).
Are the Europeans really trying to build something to match the F/A-22??The only "new" system that I can think about coming out of Europe is a UCAV programme which SAAB,Dassault etc are working on.The Rafale & EF-2000 are pretty old in that sense & very limited.The Gripen belongs to a completely different category.
Puke,does the Raptor have the sort of integrated FLIR system that is found on the new F-16s??
"an f-15 in afterburner can barely keep up with an f-22 in SuperCruise(non-afterburner)That's good news.I had read that the f22's top speed was just barely mach2(?)which i infered was with afterburners.I felt that was a disadvantage.The supercruise is amazing technology,but i assumed that a top speed of mach2(or less)was a limitation of the supercruise technology.(i'm not an engineer:)Anyways,the f15 has a top speed of mach2.5,that means the f22 was was moving at least faster than mach 2.5.In other words,speed wise,the f22 is on a par with the euro's.Add in stealth,supercruise,superior avionics....
(opinion)
"Why is the US so keen to build a fighter that can beat theirs?" You said
Because Iraq flew Mirage. Because Schroeder and Chirac want arms sales restrictions between China and the EU dropped. Because French ROLAND Missiles were found in Iraq with a date of 2003 stamped on them (meaning they were sold just months before our attack).
But there is more.
The F15 is a monster, even today. Despite all the BS you read on Vladimirs magic MIG site, a F15C with AESA, AIM120C5, AIM9X is king of the hill-hands down. He is the big bad boy out there, even today and is ONLY surpassed by the F22. The F15 came on line in 1975! Back then many said "It's too expensive"; "It's a waste". Yet because of its leap technology and massive performance the F15 was able to hold on for 30 years as the world’s premier air superiority fighter for such a long time. The F22 will be around a long time as well.
Planes like the EF will age quickly as the Tornado did. By building generation 4 fighters in 2004, the French, Germans and Swedes insured they have an obsolete airframe within 10-15 years, despite all the cheerleaders out there hailing these air frames. A lot of the F22 is not the US competing with the Europeans, but rather with oneself! If you want something that’s viable in a world where SA12’s, SA10’s AND BETTER are proliferating, where many of the threat radars, AAMs are getting longer ranges and smarter, you might run into issues with a huge RCS.
The US is building an airframe designed to meet specific design parameters (Some established standards) which we foresee as being necessary in the future (The airframes expected life time). The reality is that the F22 is out of the budget range of most our allies. If ANY F22’s get sold at all outside the US, it will be few. The F22’s are not in the same market as a EF, Rafale or Gripen. The European fighters built are comparable to newer and better 4 GEN plane such as the F18, no more. The F22 and even F35 are true GEN 5 planes and are completely out of the league of a EF, Rafale or Gripen. The sizing up of the F22 vs. EF is done in chat rooms and in the media. In reality the F22 is competing against some set RCS standard which we know this plane has to meet if it’s to be viable in 20 years. See a difference?
Red6
They are throwing out wishful ideas. They are trying to counter the obvious weaknesses of the competing designs which they like or feel some loyalty to because they might be French, German, Austrian, Italian or even British. Reality is, the F22 is without competition. To stupid to understand, they dismiss the advantage of stealth, super cruise, thrust vectoring, AESA, integrated electronics, 70,000 pounds of thrust, data links, HMCS and and and. The only real competitors to the F22 out there are theoretical planes that don't even fly yet.
Red6
Clubbing baby seals?
Please add me to the list.
Godspeed, The Dilg
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