…very effective triple digit SAMs

There is no such thing as “triple digit SAMS’. The term “Double Digit SAM” references the NATO name of the missile system, not the Russian one. It is the NATO reporting name that garnered the nickname “Double Digit SAM”, not the original Russian name.

For instance:
Russian Name NATO Name<br />
S-300 SA-10 GRUMBLE<br />
S-300PT-1 and S-300PT-1A SA-10b/c<br />
S-300PS/S-300PM SA-10d/e<br />
S-300PMU SA-10f<br />
S-300FM SA-N-20<br />
S-300V SA-12<br />
S-300PMU-1 SA-20 GARGOYLE<br />
S-300PMU-2 SA-20B<br />
S-400 SA-21 GROWLER

What I call a “clean” F-22 is a combat ready F-22 : internal fuel and missiles in bays . If it does carry extra sidewinders externally , LOBL becomes possible which is a different story , as I said .

The F-22 does not (and was never cleared for) external carriage of AIM-9Ms. They are carried in cheek bays and are stored INTERNALLY until needed, just like the AIM-120C7s in the belly bays. It does this while maintaining a CLEAN configuration the entire time.

AK , the F-22 ‘s short range IR missiles are stored inside the bays and even with the doors open , the seekers are blind so any Lock On Before Launch (LOBL) is impossible . It means that the F-22 has to go “active” (APG-77) to fire its sidewinders .

That is not how it works. Only the AIM-9x Blk2 is able to execute a LOAL engagement. The AIM-9M is not able, under any circumstance, to execute a LOAL target.

You had it half right. The AIM-9M is not able to lock on until after the bay has opened, the missile extended, and the seeker has had a chance to see the target. What can happen is the F-22 could provide a cue (via ALR-94, APG-77, off-boards sensors, etc) that will shorten the AIM-9M lockup time and enable a quicker launch.

Here is a pic of the Aim-9M in the extended position. Notice how the seeker has an unobstructed view of the area in front of the F-22.

Bandwidth will help you to manage more UAVs at once, but all your UAVs will suffer from info delaying , no matter how much bandwidth you stuff in your satellites…

Any UCAV will have some delay (.5 sec), even if you only fly one. If you fly too many for the satellites to handle, that delay goes up, hence the need for a wider bandwidth pipe.

F22 doesn’t change anything, its just marketing hype. If anything it could be said F22 is a step back as its less multirole than the F15E. The F22 does provide a good combination of capabilities in a new package, much like Typhoon and Rafale, but none are a major shift in air combat, such as the shift from propellor to jet aircraft.

The F-15E was a replacement for the F-111 and the F-22 was a replacement for the F-15C/D, not the F-15E. The only thing that kept the F-22 from becoming a true multi-role fighter was budget cuts, not inherent design limitations. They already had cheek arrays, IRST, and FLIR units designed and tested for the F-22. If the economy gods appear and bring a boon to the US, we could very well see the F-22 get these systems.

The concurrent SDD and LRIP cycles were requested by the DoD as a time-saving measure in order to get F-35s to the operational squadrons as soon as possible. If they waited until 2013 to start LRIP then IOC & FOC would not be until many years later, likely a 5-7 year delay.

btw, Funds have already been set aside to bring all pre-Blk3 LRIP F-35s (mostly training and evaluation jets, not combat squadron jets) up to Blk3 as part of the LRIP5 build cycle. This way all LRIP aircraft will be Blk3.

The hero of the new Green Lantern movie is a JSF test pilot… (from the 0:27 – 0:42 mark)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NWGl_A3b60