HMS was certainly the best around. Others were comparable for any realistic purposes.

IIRC the Russian HMS was fileded in about the same period with tthe earlier DASH models (mid 80′).

Though its radar did not quite match the APG-63 (later variants in particular), IMHO the inclusion of IRST, HMS and datalink gave the Su-27 an overall avionics package that was pretty much on par, taken all around.

Su27/Mig 29 had a more “rounded” package (radar/IRST/HMS/HOBS missile/datalink) and reasonbly good integration of these, but none of the systems taken individually was the best of its kind.

Again, 150 km is not plusible in those days, not matter how hot the SR 71 exhaust gases/fuselage could hve been.

With the exception of the Rafales using their radars, which means a quick death by Raptors, what surprise you inside that report ? There is nothing new.

Except that until now, the F 22 & Rafale were supposed to met in WVR only…

[QUOTE=sumshyam;1529249]ok…for time being …let me be agree with you….but the question then come in mind is why on the face of earth they degraded themselves….:o:o!

Who (degraded themselves) ?

The estimated range for detection from a tail-on aspect has been reported to be 70-90 km and up to 40-50 km for head-on engagement for non-afterburning targets

http://www.milavia.net/aircraft/su-35/su-35.htm

If the latest and most modern russian IRST, not yet in service (Su 35 isn’t yet, AFAIK) can find a “cool” (head-on, non afterburning) target at 40 km, how on earth a MiG 31 did the same some 30 years ago ?

It could be that GCI guided the MiG 31 and close (10-15 km) the MiG find the SR 71 with the IRST.

The SAAB Gripen (well, almost, six months late and roughly 150 millions over budget), the General Dynamics F-16, the McDonnell Douglas Super Hornet, the CASA C-212, the CASA C-295, the Embraer Super Tucano, the Fairchild-Republic A-10, etc, etc, etc…

Except for F 16 none was an amitious program such F 35, let’s be seriuos. And even F 16 as incredible it was when it was introduced, was built in a sigle variant. No jump jet variant, no carrier variant. No stealth. Existing engine (from the F 15) helped too.
________
BABE BIKINI

No, it was not.

Yes, it was. The F 14 A used AWG 9. It was the first radar able to track multiple targets (6) at over 185 km (the range of the Phoenix missile). It became operational in 1972 (the Su 27 was on the drawing boards then). The F 14 D used APG 71, even more powerful:

AN/AWG-9
The AWG-9 was originally developed in the late 1960s for use on the F-111B, but transitioned to the F-14A when the F-111B program was canceled. The system incorporated the highest-power transmitter ever installed in a production fighter aircraft, and as a result was capable of detecting bomber-sized targets at ranges exceeding 100 miles (160 km). The AWG-9’s advanced analog signal processor analyzes the doppler effect of returned pulses to determine the velocity of the object. This allows it to pick out moving objects from stationary ground or sea clutter, aiding in detecting and tracking small low-flying targets.Modern Marvels: F-14 History Channel DVD

Hughes delivered enough AWG-9 systems and spares to equip approximately 600 F-14A/B aircraft for the U.S. Navy, and an additional 80 aircraft for the Iranian Air Force. All of the U.S. Navy systems have been retired; the status of the Iranian systems is unknown, but it is believed that a few may still be in service.
AN/APG-71
The APG-71 was a 1980s upgrade of the AWG-9 for use on the F-14D. It incorporates technology and common modules developed for the APG-70 used in the F-15E Strike Eagle, providing significant improvements in (digital) processing speed, mode flexibility, clutter rejection, and detection range. The system features a low-sidelobe antenna, a sidelobe-blanking guard channel, and monopulse angle tracking, all of which are intended to make the radar less vulnerable to jamming.

The system itself is capable of a 460 mile (740 km) range, but the antenna design limits this to only 230 miles (370 km). Use of datalinked data allows two or more F-14D’s to operate the system at its maximum range.

Hughes delivered enough APG-71 radars and spares to equip 55 F-14Ds before the program was scaled back as a cost-cutting measure and eventually canceled. These systems will remain in service until the last squadron (VF-31) is retired, expected in September 2006.

The only Rusian radar comparable was the Zaslon, but it was in the ’80.

No, it was not; the US Navy never adopted it, it was too primitive. The first US operational HMS was in Army’s Apaches. Check your sources.

Nope: http://www.best-of-flightgear.dk/vtas.htm:

The US Navy were the first to field an operational helmet-mounted sight system in a fighter aircraft, the Visual Target Acquisition System, also known as VTAS. The VTAS interfaced with the Sidewinder Expanded Acquisition Mode (SEAM) installed in US Navy F-4 Phantom II aircraft to exploit the advanced lock-on possibilities in the AIM-9G Sidewinder air-to-air missile. From 1969 the SEAM was incorporated in the F-4J and enabled the missile to be locked on a target off boresight slaving the missile’s seeker head to the aircraft radar. The VTAS system allowed the Sidewinder seeker or the aircraft radar to be slaved to the position of the pilot’s head using the sight picture displayed on his ‘Granny Glass’ (VTAS I) or on the inside of his visor (VTAS II). The VTAS system was incorporated in F-4J Block 45 and 46 aircraft and later retrofitted to earlier aircraft. VTAS and SEAM were also incorporated in those F-4B that were updated to F-4N standard from 1970 onwards under the Bee Line programme

So ~ 500 F 4s are not enough for you?

Still, even if I take your claim for granted, why no other later fighter did not adopt any HMS system untill JHMCS appeared? Tres bizzare, no?

Not quite. The VTAS is a HMS (helmet mouted sight). With such, you are limmited within visual range. The fratricide risk is very high. Tha’s the reason the US droped them, and they were right: in the Gulf war in 1991, the Iraqi MiG 29 used them. The result; two kills. too bad that they were Iraqi too :diablo:. The JHMCS is a HMD (helmet mounted display). In a HMD you got data from the radar and thus you know foe sure that the target is ennemy or not, because is verified by IFF. The first HMD was the Israeli DASH. Note that the present Russian system is a HMS, not very far from the “primitive” VTAS, albeit linked with a more performant missile the R 73. I am not aware of any russian HMD until now.

Wrong again, the first IRST was adopted even before (again by US aircraft). But guess what? None was adopted on a serious scale. Even today, no US fighters have IRST systems, only in pod form. Strange, don’t you think?

Can’t you read? If you count only the F 4 (that had the AAA-4) and still you got 5,500 of them! That’s not enough “serious scale” to you?

The best IRST is considered the AAS 42 introduced an F 14 D in 1992. It can detect (weather dependent, of course) a “cold” target at > 150 km. By contrast, the best Russian IRST (OLS 35 of the Su 35) can detect a cold target at 40 km. Almost 20 after the AAS 42 !