they've produced what, 14 of them so far with an order for 48 more???
Posted on 06/18/2013 1:50:57 PM PDT by Carbonsteel
The Su-35 (NATO designation Flanker E), Russia’s latest version of the famous super-maneuverable multirole fighter jet has demonstrated its stunning capabilities during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.
During its display, the 4++ generation aircraft has showcased some almost impossible manoeuvres, demonstrating unbelievable low-speed handling authority.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
“Correct. Speed and range/TOT win jet modern dog fights.”
Actually, its more fundamental than that.
Having jets is what wins modern jet dogfights. The cost element and inherent unaffordability of the f35 and f22 is what will sell Russian jets. It cannot be ignored in this day and age.
they've produced what, 14 of them so far with an order for 48 more???
“Going for guns is a planned last resort.”
True. And I see no reason to design a plane without a gun...but that is NOT the primary weapon planners should design the plane to use. Nor did they, on the F-22.
BTW - I’ve carried a pocket knife since the 3rd grade, largely on the same principle! Better to have what you don’t need, than need what you don’t have.
That isn’t true. Fer instance, there is the well documented case of the Saudi F15 knocking out several Iraqi air-craft. It was a missile shot - but I believe it used IR, not radar guided.
An you will also note that the F22 has guns! It likely can duplicate the maneuvers at the Paris airshow too. It has the same basic technology, i.e. fly by wire & thrust vectoring.
I think drones in the form of really, really smart “missles” with a primary turbine are going to be a loiter threat in the very near future.
They'll be up against Chicom stuff in open country with no nearby base of support. Close quarters combat might be part of that agenda ~ hundreds of miles from any Ground to Air missile defense systems.
“We have network-centric technology that apply in an A/A environment, really.”
Sure.
And they are wonderful, BUT, if you fight like a Russian and don’t care about your friends, civilians, they are like a +1, not a +10. A marginal improvement.
Funny, to me that is what sells upgraded F-16s.
But then I am Israeli (and flew F16s).
I am in the avionics business and have never paid attention to those labels.
I think they depend on who is selling what.
Little known facts about American air superiority in Vietnam: the top American ace had six kills, while the top North Vietnamese ace had nine. Plus, Americans had only three aces in the entire war. North Vietnam had 17.
You are correct — I conflated gen 4+ with gen 5...
LOL
Yeah right.
The gun was great to have for CAS. Unfortunately, the USAF does not believe in CAS (look at all the respect they give the Warthog community, in spite of the fact that the ground pounders love the ‘Hogs). The Air Force ends up hanging bombs on fighters for their CAS missions.
Talk about the Su-35 and its airshow performance; the F-16 wowed’ em at the airshows. What did it end up doing? CAS. At least they finally put a gun on it.
I bet the Soviet pilots who served on Communist side were in for the duration, whereas our guys did x number of sorties before rotating out of the theater of combat. In addition, the Soviets had the benefit of flying over friendly airspace, meaning they could fly longer without running out of gas.
If I wanted to go that slow, I’d also want to be in an A-10 Warthog... cause I want to go home too.
TT
While that Russkie pilot is doing his pretty, slo-mo pirouette, hanging there in mid-air, any one of our frontline fighters can blow him to kingdom come.......from many miles away!
its not the aircraft that makes a difference in a dogfight it’s the pilot. my money is our guys.
In a related news I’ve heard they finished development of their 5 Gen engine for T-50.
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