In other words, If the missile has 7-8 seconds boost time and if it needs to spend 2/3 of its boost just to start maneuvering towards its target, its of no use. I don’t know about R-40, but R-33 (or AIM-54) do sustain its maximum mach number for quite some time, not barely touch like R-27.

Such short times are not uncommon. The most short range missiles I know have burn times of 2 to 3 seconds. In this time they accelerate and by burnout they have their maximum speed. After that they can maneuver for some seconds in which the speed decreases. Such a job lasts for a few seconds only. One can imagine, that the effective range of such missiles are only a few miles, much less than advertised. The first BVR missiles generation are similar. But the newer generations have dual thrust motors. They accelerate for a few seconds with maximum thrust and sustain some seconds with peak speed. But again, this are seconds only. So I don’t believe in maximum ranges as advertised. They work against non manouvering targets but not against agile fighters. Against agile fighters I think BVR missiles works in ranges not more than 25 to 30 nm.

No, you can not mount MLRS an a AC-130 ramp door. Look how M270 works and then think about how to get the back blast of the rockets work in an aircraft.

AC-130 is only useful in environments without any AA. They are too big and too lazy for environments with resistance.

I regard UAVs as a good addition to CAS aircrafts but not as replacement for such aircrafts. A video camera has not the situational awareness of eyeball V1.0. IMHO best is a combination of UAVs and dedicated CAS aircrafts like A-10.

In the last 20 years we faced conflicts with no AA resistance. But we don’t know how future conflicts will be. Imagine an opponent with the ingeniousness of the Vietnamese in the 60ies and with AA guns hidden in the countryside and a country supporting these guerillas…

What is mini on this missile if warhead and other parts are the same? smaller fuel tank? New and smaller engine?

It shows that both relied on comparable data gained from any kind of research. Form follows function…

@halloweene:

Taurus doesn’t work with hard points in front of the landing gear. I attached an image I made on the fly. Taurus and EF are in scale and you can see how big this beast is. I pushed the Taurus to front so that the landing gear can be used. It is impossible to use it so.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]228959[/ATTACH]

Tornado’s range sucks by comparison. On those two tanks it only gets as far as a Typhoon on one. And due to the pylon layout, it’s not like a Tornado can only carry one drop tank and 2 Storm Shadows anyway. What both pictures have in common is that neither aircraft, in that configuration will survive deep in defended airspace. The drop tank count thing is mainly an issue for backwards air forces with inadequate mission planning capabilities and/or a lack of refuelling assets. Your point is moot.

I am not that opinion, Sir. :p

Tornado has an equivalent range like Typhoon. But Typhoon has this range in Hi-Hi-Hi and Tornado in Lo-Lo-Lo mode. In an wide land with heavy anti-aircraft, one can perform his job only in low level and use all the obstacles an the way to hide himself. Tornado is designed to do such a job very easy in a smooth ride. I doubt that Typhoon, or any other temporary fighter, will ride so low over a wide range so smooth like a Tornado. Flying so low for a long time means AFAIK a heavy bumpy ride that will exhaust the pilot and the systems. Imagine a wide country like Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Russia, Ukraina, China, India and so on would have a very effective anti-aircraft umbrella and you have to penetrate very deep into that country with no opportunity to refuel once inside the country… and you are forced to stay low or you risk to be shoot at…

To get independent Iraq will buy another aircraft from other sources, sooner or later. Every country in the region does it.

I agree. But ATGMs can be used against small ships in coastal regions, not against big ships.

German images appear to be a bit of a dogs breakfast, as far as I’m aware their World War II stuff used to be copyright expired at one point yet are now in copyright (something to do with the European Union and Spain?)!

The German copyright expires after 70 years of death of the copyright owner.