BW – The qualifier is that you don’t scream in at 500 feet on a target full of 57s and 37s.

dj – 15,000 feet would be a pretty lucky shot for a MANPADS against a fast jet with MAWS and IRCM. It’s not an un-alerted transport.

Being forced to fly above 15K AGL improves the effectiveness of the enemy’s CCD techniques, unless you use an integrated sensor suite to sort the fly specks from the pepper.

While a Gen 4 can do the former, they do not possess the kit for the later.

I suspect that by the time a Gen5(TM) with integrated sensors is in service, it will not be the first, since what we’re really talking about is mostly EO and SAR. Real counter-CCD is likely to involve networking and UAVs, and may also involve pod-mounted SARs (higher rez and strip-map) like the ASQ-236.

snafu352 – +1

DJ – The full report is not talking about a detachment. They are talking about the full deployed force.

Spud – There is an obvious issue with blowing L-16 signals out from an F-35 anywhere in contested airspace (the airspace immediately outside the “red bubble” zone, where LO is supposedly mandatory, is not likely to be permissive).

The issue is this: If I can hear you squawk, but you don’t show up readily on radar, you have just positively ID’d yourself.

Oh, and Block 4 two-way LPI satcom. GLWT.

Standard technique in JSF marketing is to make lofty claims that can’t be refuted directly, because they are predictions far in the future.

However, if anyone can wrangle a $67 million price tag out of any current official figures (and including the bit that makes the jet go) they are welcome to try.

Exclusive video of LockMart marketing training:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5CbLnSjo0

Track Before Detect is only one counter-LO technique that is in service and relies on memory and processing.

As for advances in ECM: 1980s technology for fighter self/mutual protection fell into two groups – crude and not working. This is no longer the case and is a very large difference.

Of course LO is an advantage. However, the question is how much it costs and consequently how long it takes to implement…

Spud –

If the USMC is at IOC by 2015 (the date is not publicly disclosed any more) they will be flying Block 2B aircraft limited to Mach 1.2, 40000 feet and 5.5 g, and with no multi-ship fusion.

The AIM-120D is not due to complete OT until FY14 so the chance of IOC within the year is small (DOT&E report).

Fat chance on seeing a new motor any time soon. ATK won’t even be re-qualled to deliver the existing motor soon, Nammo being the sole source for the foreseeable future (DOT&E again).

The obvious flip-side of the GPS and high-arching profile is that the missile needs to keep getting radar updates from the launch aircraft for a longer period after launch – on the upward trajectory the target may not even be in the seeker FOV, and the high-arch takes longer to cover the distance.

So the shooter (1) is using more radar emissions and (2) has to keep the target in its radar FOV, closing the range. Neither is an ideal stealth-type engagement.

AIM-120D may be an improvement when it eventually gets here, but it’s not a super-weapon – it’s a relatively cheap fix for AMRAAM’s kinematic shortfalls.

And I tend to concur with ff1987 that IRST or indeed MAWS will detect launch flare at a greater range than 5-10 km. Indeed, IRST should see the upward-trajectory flare of a long ballistic profile pretty easily against a cold sky.

Superfly?

If there’s going to be an RFI on the street, you don’t announce in advance that you won’t play.

Whether that means you stay in the fight until the last dog dies is another matter. If you consider that the deal is rigged (as EF did in Norway in 2008) you may bail to avoid being publicly repudiated.

Also, the attractiveness of the Super H as a fall-back to the F-35 is strongly dependent on the US. If the official plan stays in place, to retire the SH starting in 2030, it loses a lot of appeal as a 2018-ish IOC.

So if I was Dassault, I would take the view that if the F-35 becomes economically or politically toxic in Canada, but the US continues to bore on with the JSF, and if India stays on course and I win in Brazil, I have a chance.