What a load of ********.
(sorry, just had to say it)
Ooooh, wow. I presume that’s because of stealth. How this is supposed to be a new capability, who the hell knows. And what cruise missiles are being launched from behind enemy lines now?
Gibberish. What is *that* supposed to mean?
Does it have photon torpedoes too?
Oh BSSSSSSSSSS. As if the pilot doesn’t have enough to do, he’s going to wirelessly invade enemy computer networks and do … what?
Wasn’t it Su-30Ks vs regular F-15Cs?
Seriously, just reading that much of this article makes my brain hurt big time.
Four of the initial seven cadre pilots in the 43nd Fighter Sqdn., the Air Force’s first F/A-22 squadron, came from the AESA-equipped F-15 squadrons in Alaska, where they developed concepts for airborne cruise missile defense
While F/A-22 crews will train to attack cruise missiles with AIM-9s and 20-mm. cannon, the primary weapon will be the AIM-120C Amraam. A variant, the AIM-120C-6 (available by 2006), has been specialized with an improved seeker to optimize the explosive cone of destruction for small, slow targets in a head-on engagement with the F/A-22. The upgraded Amraam incorporates improved fuzing through a new quadrant target-detection device. One tactic for the F-22s will be to approach a wave of cruise missiles head-on, get in a first shot and then turn at Mach 1.7 supercruise speed for a second and third shot from behind.
Most intriguing about the F/A-22’s future were hints from various sources that the fighter would have drastically improved electronic attack capability and would introduce computer network attack to its arsenal. Critics say some of the planning borders on the fanciful. Officials have acknowledged that the F/A-22’s AESA radar has a projected capability to concentrate its transmission power onto a narrow spot–most likely the electronic radars and communication links associated with air defenses–with enough focus to jam them. The Thor jamming system is to be active in 2008. Those working on improvements say that with the addition of radar cheek arrays to the aircraft in 2010, it would be able to focus enough energy in a beam to actually damage electronic components in enemy sensors.
An associated capability is airborne computer network attack that, under project Suter, currently resides with the EC-130 Compass Call. However, the aircraft is large, slow and can’t penetrate defended airspace. Futurists say a further modified F/A-22 will be able to operate over key targets and carry out computer attack or surveillance with much less power. “If you’re 5 mi. from the threat, you don’t need the power of Compass Call” to penetrate an enemy computer network, says one official.
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