After looking up some data on the APG-73 and the Zhuk-ME, I found that maximum ranges for air-to-air targets are about 185-km for the -73 and about 115-km for the Zhuk.
Can’t tell ya much there, I don’t know so much about radars
Additionally you have to look at cockpit ergonomics. That’s an area where the Hornet has always been superb. The Fulcrum is finally beginning to catch-up to the Hornet, but with the advent of the latest color MFD’s (including touch-screen displays in the case of the Super Hornet), the Hornet is still ahead. The cockpit of the Hornet also provides better visiblity than the relatively low-cut (for a “bubble” canopy) canopy that is on the MiG.
Ohh so what if the Hornet is a little more comfortable or if it’s MFDs are a tiny bit better or if the Hornet is little easier to service, big freakin deal because during wartime, this is not going to make such a huge difference, except the servicibiliy rates, where the GAP is not that much bigger.
Additionally I looked up some range performance figures for the MiG-29M, and they don’t seem to be that much better than the SMT, which means the Hornet is still slightly ahead in this area. The Hornet can certainly carry more external fuel. Additionally, the Hornet has a larger weapons load, and when you look at bring-back capability, the Hornet will remain way ahead of the MiG-29K.
The F-18C/Ds performance is a tad bit better but the gap is not humongous out there to make these advantages make the F-18 seem so much better. The GAP is pretty short
Srbin,
You keep mentioning weapons like the R-77-PD, which sound superb on paper, but how do you know they will perform as advertised?
The AIM-120C7 might not work as advertized either, however if you want you can currently compare the normal AIM-120C with the R-77E if it makes you feel better.
KS-172? On The Fulcrum? Give me a break. The drag on that thing is enormous and a fighter the size of the Fulcrum isn’t really very suited to carry a weapon that large.
The KS-172 is rather large, but 2 would be enough and they would be fired at AWACS rather before the actual BVR fight went on, doesn’t matter how draggy they are in the beggining they will be gotten rid of before enemy fiighters start shooting MRAAMs. There were never plans to fit the KS-172 on any Mig-29 variant, instead they opted for the R-37M, however the KS-172 was planned on the Flanker. It’s all bureaus teaming up against other bureaus.
And say what you want about the HARM, but I’d say it has more than proven itself in combat against various types of radar systems, and with further improvements it will only get better.
The HARM is rather slow and short ranged, giving radars plenty of time to shut down and move on, where as Kh-31P is longer ranged and twice as faster thereby reducing the time. I wouldn’t exactly call HARM’s performance over Serbia so great, though I don’t think Kh-31P would’ve done so much better, but the point is that it has much greater performance.
Weapons like the P-900, Yakhont, and Kh-59 are also something I have my reservations about……at least as far as carriage by the MiG-29 is concerned. The Flanker or the Fencer? Yes, I can easily see them carrying it, but it would put a huge drag penalty therefore futher reducing range.
The Mig-29M/SMTs payload should allow for carriage of at least 1 Yakhont and possibly up to 3 Alfas as discussed on other threads. The Kh-59 would be stuck to probably one since it requires a pod so thats a bitch.
Yes the KAB series might be cheaper, but how accurate are they compared to the latest Paveway III’s? They are certainly not any better aerodynamically.
Maybe soo and I’ll give you that one, but their cost makes up for it really.
And the Kh-25 better than the Maverick? I wouldn’t be so certain about that. The only advantage I can see with the Kh-25 is that it comes in an anti-radar version, which is a nice feature.
It really isn’t, the Maverick is longer ranged and etc however these are rather both short ranged weapons.
Where on the MiG is the SAPSAN carried? I’d be willing to wager it puts much more a drag penalty on the MiG than the Sniper does on the Hornet.
I assume centreline hardpoint, the SAPSAN looks pretty small, you should look at some pics to judge how draggy it is before you make that judgement.
R-73M2? How close is it to entering service? Manuvering capabilities compared to the AIM-9X, AIM-132, and IRIS-T?
I think it already is in service in low numbers in Russia, not sure though. There were some discussions on there. Anyways, they are all maneuverable enough to hit any fighter, just cuz A missile can maneuver 60gs while B missile can maneuver 30gs doesn’t mean the B missile will not get the hit at the same range. Even 20Gs is an overkill.
The only advantage I can see for the MiG that would warrant a second look at it is the political angle.
And the fact that it’s something like 2.5 times cheaper than the Sewer Hornet. F-18C/D is no longer in production and E/F is only offered. I am not sure the Sewer Hornet is 2.5 times more capable than the Mig-29M for say.
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