However, previous generation aircraft just were not designed to have all that stuff which is today seen as necessary equipment for a fighter. You can’t install DAS to an F-16, much less MiG-21, there is no room. New requirements keep coming up, this means new systems, new sensors, new equipment, better performance -> volume and weight requirements go up, and you need a larger plane.
interesting point, but why can’t you install DAS on an F-16? from what I can tell it’s just a number of small camera’s. if anything it’ll be much easier to install on an older aircraft, because you have no worry about stealth
Nearly everything has to be carried externally as there is no room inside the aircraft
which is one of my biggest beefs with stealth aircraft, they have extremely limited room for new stuff
for example we can assume that lasers will become a deciding factor in future air combat. let’s assume for a moment that they make missiles and cannons pretty much obsolete
but what if the size of the laser is an essential factor, that decides power and range?
in that case stealth aircraft would be at a big disatvantage, their laser would be limited by their need for stealth. like the Super, maybe they’ll only be able to carry it outboard, reducing their stealth
you might be able to put it in a stealth pod, but you see my point: the nature of stealth aircraft greatly reduces their ability to integrate new technology
so the pilot has a thigh-mounted mini-display for maps and other essential information.
which is a very effective and innovative way of integrating new tech onto an old aircraft. you install something new and useful wherever you find the room
it’s the same thing with guns for example: put a new scope onto a 50 year old design like the M-14, and you’ve got a weapon that can match the best
sure the newer models are lighter, have a silencer, adaptable to lefties… but this way you get 90% capability for the price of the scope, rather than buying a whole new weapon
which might have the newest scope integrated, but this will become a limitation as scopes evolve. good example of this is the Steyr Aug rifle, which came with built in scope, but this means at one point it becomes outdated
With today’s WVR dogfight missiles and HMS, everybody dies in the furball.
agreed, which is why I’m a big fan of unmanned fighter UCAVs, at least for that initial WVR identification
fast and cheap, they’d be little more than a big missile
or you can take an actual missile, explosives optional, and send it to the target so you can get a visual ID. I imagine modern data-linked missiles with optical sensors like the AIM-9X can already do this
if you make it reusable (parachute, or even re-atach to the launch aircraft), it becomes a relatively cheap way of avoiding a dogfight
For 99.9% of air policing tasks, a high end business jet from Gulfstream, Bombardier or Falcon fitted with an IRST pod would perform quite well and be substantially cheaper to purchase and support than a fighter.
again, then you might as well go for a UAV, it’s even cheap, with better endurance and no pilot at risk
At the same time you get much higher processing power from a smaller volume.. LED displays are much lighter and thinner than CRTs… modern radios and GPS receivers are a fraction of the size and weight of their predecessors..
exactly, the F-22 is already outdated in many ways, how long before the F-35 is?
Sanem, you would upgrade your F-16 so much that they would look like an F-16 block 70 which would cost a lot. If your goal is to confront a plane like a PAK-FA, it would be very cost effective I think to add 50-66% to the cost and get a stealthy F-35.
ah but then you’re talking about buying the brand new block 70 F-16, which will cost you 70 million. then an F-35 is probably better
I’m thinking more along the lines of upgrading warehouse F-16As to block 90 if you will. then for maybe $20 million you get F-35 level abilities and more (if you use more recent tech, considering the F-35 tech is already 10 years old)
Sure thing, you can make big improvement over old equipment. But a whole new aircraft remains more capable.
and a lot more expensive
I mean if you could choose between an F-35, or a 50 year old F-5 upgraded with the latest technology, their technological level will not be that different (other than stealth) but the F-5 would be a fraction of the price
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