The radar could provide an accurate velocity vector at launch, so the missile knows in which direction to go to have a lead.

Well, if it was that simple they wouldn’t have built the F-22 this way. Supercruising reduces the IR sig a lot and also gives the plane a much longer supersonic range. As soon as the F-35 goes supersonic on its AB, any Aircraft with an IRST would detect it from far.

If you want to know what the ultimate fighter looks like, look at the F-22, if you want to know what the ultimate strike fighter looks like, look at the F-35 ( and even at that the F-35 has a fat fusalage, it could have been better had the STOVL requirement not been there ).

What would you determine to be ‘sufficient speed’ given that IR signature increases with speed? Bulges need not increase RCS at critical angles, if their shape from that angle is sufficiently stealthy.

What I define as sufficient speed is a speed at which the F-35 would not be completely outclassed. Fighting a PAK-Fa which can supercruise at mach 1.8 with a plane which can supercruise at mach 1.2 (it can hardly do it with the current F135 ) is definitely a disadvantage. If at least if it could do 1.4, that would be well above the transsonic regime. Maybe also the top speed could be increased to around 1.8 to reduce its disadvantage in top speed.

With more SC capability, the IR signature would be significantly reduced, as the plane wouldn’t have to use its reheat as much.

If the aircraft is to be used to enter in enemy airspace it is better to have maximum stealth from all angle, including from the ground.

The precision of the tracking doesn’t need to the same at long range versus medium range. Perhaps the accuracy of the radar could be used closer than 30km, for further mid course updates the RWR would be enough. I think that having an accurate position and velocity vector at launch would also help.

Let’s try to repeat it, we are talking about making a 2-seat variant of a existing 5 gen plane.
It would mean to recalculate its RCS a second time, a very costly thing indeed, for just a pair of it for each squadron.
This when, just as an example, Russia acquired just a mere 20 Su-30MK2 to act as the OCU of all of its new acquired Flankers instead developing an ad hoc version of each of them.
So, probably we will see two seat 5gen just when they would made the substitute of a plane that is actually comes in two seat version only, unless the advance of technology would allow to made the second one redundant.

You can’t make a 2 seat variant of existing 5th gens, not the F-22 and F-35 at least. Their fuselages are not designed for that, they would have to be lengthened and it would change the CoG completely.

Plus what good would it be to fly clean to minimize your RCS & at the same time be the one who uses his radar to detect the enemies?

Unless the RBE2 AA uses the same pixie dust as US radars.

Nic

The AA probably has Advanced LPI modes, and must be quite resistant to jamming. Even if the rafale is detected at some point, if the meteors are already more than half way towards the targets, it is a big advantage. The meteors will hit before the enemies missiles are close enough to the rafale to have a high pk. If they don’t hit, the enemy planes will probably have done an evasive maneuvers, so they are likely to lose their tracks on the rafale. As soon as the meteors seekers activate the rafale can make an evasive maneuver to escape.

i think the entire logic is flawed, the shooter should be as close as humanly possible to maximize Pk

Not necessarily with the meteor and off board targeting. If the missile receives good in flight update the missile would have a much better pk. The pointer rafale could well do that with its AESA radar from a good range.

I wonder how effective the rafale would be using a pointer shooter tactic. The pointer could have only 2 wingtip MICAs and nothing else to keep the RCS and drag as low as possible, and the wingman would carry a full load of meteors and tanks. A pair of rafales would be able to carry about 10 missiles. The pointer would be light so would rely on its maneuvrability and speed to escape after it has guided the meteors launched by the other. It wouldn’t need to use its AB much so it would be harder to detect by the enemy FLIR.