No it can’t. In order to actually use the R-40 one R-33 has to be replaced with a datalink pod.
:rolleyes: Keep telling yourself that. Whatever.
So soc what does it mean this picture the AA-6 Acrid is just an adorn?
You have to see this detail, if the SR-71 has a turn of 100 miles of diameter flying a Mach 3.2 it flies at around 1km/s, this means a turn of 180 deg will take it around a little bit more than 2 minutes see that is not exactly a very agile aircraft
Of cause there is a small chance, that such AAM can kill a SR-71, when fired under optimum conditions. As your example with the Cheetah showed. The intended target have to be unaware to the looming threat and it has to pass in a small distance. Two demands, which are difficult to achive at the same time. The Cheetahs are looking for unaware victims, which are not in best physical conditions at first.
The Russians are aware, where a recce flight of a SR-71 will go most of the time in “Cold War” conditions. The number of intresting or worthwilhle recce targets is limited in a given area. The open preperations of SR-71 flights gave an ample pre-warning time to prepare the interceptors. The flying-route choosen at Mach 3+ reveals the area of intrest for the SR-71. But even under optimum conditions it was a tough task for the MiGs to reach a firing position most of the time. It was some kind of ‘cat-mouse-play’ most of the time, when both sides used such missions to hon their skills. The Russians were aware, that the Amercians had/have many other recce assets to get the desired information. (Keyhole f.e.)
We keep in mind that the Syrians operated/operate MiG-25 interceptors, which were unable to bring-down Israeli RF-4E and F-4E(S) over Syria in “wartime conditions”.
Raw technical data and calculated optimum conditions from “amateur-warriors” are not helpfull.
The MiGs pose a constant threat for such recce-flights, but were/are unable to deny that under wartime conditions. The same is true the other way around, when it comes to recce MiGs! The ones, which “suffered” from that, stayed tight-lipped most of the time to avoid further outlays related to that. None country has the money to seal its whole airspace 24 hours every day against determined and well prepared intruders.
The military are well aware about that, when the public is not.I remember about the Israeli Mosquito recce-flights over Egypt in the 50s, when the Egypts operated MiG-15Bis and MiG-17F. Those ended, when the Egyptians received MiG-17PF and better radars!!!! But the Mosquitos were replaced by Vautours and nothing changed for Egypt really. The Egypts did manage to come close to such recce flights sometimes like the Russians. But to come close and to bring-down someone is a further step. For the Egyptians and the Russians it may be a mission-kill or to pose mission limitations for further recce flights at least?! The name of the game is reaction time versus speed most of the time, like your Cheetah example showed. Even under favourable conditions, that rate of escape for the victims is still high. (something of ~ 1:10 ratio in average to experienced Cheetahs)
Sens i guess you are over stating facts. first any missile has a kill probability, the R-33 has a 65% chance of killing a target, second you have to see that in the case of the Israeli-Arab wars both sides lost aircraft and indepedently of what statistics you use killing an aircraft is not as hard as it seems, specially in times of war.
If you see data from the gulf war I in 1991, the US lost almost the same number of aircraft Iraq did, around 40 american aircraft were lost, we are talking about a super power versus a third world nation.
Israel has lost aircraft and in fact was uncapable of hitting the MiG-25 in the 1970s, the MiG-25s that Syria lost according to Russian sources are two and the MiG-25s shot down an Israeli F-15.
Israeli sources claim three MiG-25 were shot down, but see this were fighters and not the MiG-23R which can fly faster if needed.
The SR-71 is beatable, it is not inmune to missile attacks, its turning agility is quit horrible it takes 100 miles to turn at Mach 3.2 only 180 deg, the AA-9 flies at Mach 4.5 and can kill targets handling a max load factor of 4Gs, see that a lone MiG-31 can fire four AA-9 Amos and two AA-6 acrid, if it is guiding two or three MiG-25s and it is flying along side another three MiG-31s these group of russian interceptor can cover 600km of radar space and launch at least 30 missiles to the Sr-71.
The Sr-71 is also a heavy and large aircraft flying high and fast it`s max load factor will be quit low so we can expect it won`t be able to avoid and out turn the AA-9
The latest AA-9 Amos C has a range of 150km around the same distance a Sr-71 can turn 180 degrees the AA-9 Amos A has a range of 120km, so the Sr-71 is not theoretical but realistically in great danger of being shot down, also it can not fly at around 3700km/h for a period longer than 10-15 minutes so once the SR-71 is hot enough has to return to Mach 3.2 and it only has an advantege of 500km/h over the MiG-25 and MiG-31 so the AA-9 is not as handicap as you might think, the posibility of killing the SR-71 is quit high that is the real reason the US halte any intrusion over Soviet territory.
Can someone provide some info about how many croccodiles have been built and how many have been downed (afganistan, chechnya, olso outside russia’s conflicts) and how many still are in service.
I think the number is quit high, the Mi-24 has been vastly produced helicopter i read that less than 5200 Mi-24 were produced
In terms of losses i guess Russia has lost at least fifty Mi-24s.
This a Mi-24 shot down on 6th October 1995 over former Yugoslavia
http://www.yuairwar.com/gubici4.asp
I’m not sure an SR-71 would fly inside Soviet airspace anyway. It’s not just the threat from Mig 25’s and 31’s, but also SAMS.
Not to mention the fact that if a Blackbird suffered any sort of technical malfunction, say 100 miles inside the USSR, causing the A/C to slow down to say Mach 2 or worse, subsonic, thats where it would be in trouble.
Imagine the crew of an SR-71, forced to bail out deep behind “enemy lines”. The Soviets would have a field day!!!! They’d have wreackage of one of America’s most top secret A/C, its sensors and perhaps 2 surviving pilots in their hands.
I totally agree with you, in terms of speed the SR-71 is a great aircraft, i have read that in terms of speed the SRS-71 only can fly at mach 3.5 for 10 to 15 minutes and no more, speeds beyond Mach 3.5 are only attainable with a different inlet design because the Sr-71 inlet has a max operational speed at Mach 3.5 beyond that the inlet would had problems dealing with the engine compressor temperature and the the inlet capture area is not capable of dealing with speeds beyond mach 3.5.
In reality the SR-71 has a operational speed of Mach 3.2, a sustained speed of Mach 3.5 would meant modifications to insulate the aircraft from additional heat generated by the air friction.
Missiles like the AA-9 Amos can kill targest flying at 3700 km/h, this in fact assured to the AA-9 Amos a kill.
The F-12 in fact is not very different to the MiG-31 in concept, it used the AIM-47 a similar missile like the AA-9 Amos, even it had an IRST system.
The MiG-25 in the other hand was much simplier and less sophisticate but it won the battle because it got into production and 1200 were built
Later in the late 1970s the more powerful MiG-31 a real F-12 equivalent was flown proving simplicity always get you the shortest way into an aircraft production and upgrade
I disagree. If this were the case, we’d just keep using the U2, which was enormously cheaper to keep in service than the mach 3.2+ SR-71; the U2 could stay in the area much longer, as well. The SR-71 stayed in service for many years after it came in, thus showing we wanted it for a reason. The SR-71 was specifically designed to fly fast to avoid threats when flying in enemy territory; it just wasn’t used this way over the USSR because, as said before, we made it a rule not to overfly them because of the U2 fiasco.
Many make it seem as if the U.S. was saying “It’s a fact the Mig-25 can intercept the SR-71, therefore, this is the reason why we’re not flying it over the USSR.”
lol This is not true. Even Belenko (a Mig-25 pilot himself!) admitted, saying the SR-71 was just too fast, and at the same time as being so fast, it flew so high. The SR-71 could cruise at mach 3.2 at 75,000 to 80,000+ feet. And just think, mach 3.2 wasn’t its top speed, but most efficient CRUISING speed; of which it could sustain for over an hour. I believe the SR-71 would’ve hit mach 3.6 to 3.8 if it really had to. I read an SR-71 pilot said he remembers pushing the SR-71 past mach 3.5 during a mission, and it made no sounds of strain or unusual noises that’d occur when an aircraft is at its speed limit.
So that’s not only SR-71 pilots saying they never felt threatened by any Mig-25s, but a Russian Mig-25 pilot himself saying it had no chance in intercepting the SR-71.
The U.S. was not in a ‘hot war’ with the USSR, therefore, flying over their territory in peacetime would be a risk only someone stupid would take. Not only the risk of it being shot down, but the political ripples it’d cause would not be very good for keeping the Cold War cold.
Funny logic if the Blackbird was unvulnerable to interception by the MiG-25 why then being afraid of overflying the USSR? if the MiG-25 can not catch you why not violate the Soviet airspace?
There are several reasons and these are not political but technical, if you get the right aircraft and you can fly with impunity of course you will use it, the SR-71 is not agile, it can not turn on a dime in fact it will have a turn radius of several miles in fact at Mach 3.2 it has a turn radius of 50 miles and just to do a 180 deg turn it will make a turn with a diameter of 100 miles so any missile can kill it if it is fired close to it.
It is a lie that the SR-71 can avoid missiles at subsonic speed even a MiG-23 can make a turn of 1.4km of diameter but the SR-71 will do a turn of 100 miles at Mach 3.2 around one hundred times bigger.
Get an AA-9 Amos close to the SR-71 and you will see why the SR-71 was not intruding the Soviet airspace.
Now the MiG-25 had a max load factor of 4Gs too but it is amed with missiles, the main problem with the MiG-25 is limited radar range and limited combat radius.
It is like a cheetah and a gazelle, the Cheetah needs to kill the Thompson gazelle before getting tired, but here we have not one cheetah but several cheetahs hunting a lone gazelle, lions are usually slower than zebras an still can kill a zebra due to tactics, the same a MiG-25 and MiG-31 team they can shoot a SR-71 for sure
Do not even understimate the R-40 it is also a good missile less impressive than the R-33 but definitively a capable one
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