personally i think the F-35 is the best 5th gen fighter ,even when compared to the F-22 or t-50
in BVR :
F-35’s RCS is about 0.0015 m2 , even the strongest radar on fighter today , the irbis-e can only see the F-35 from 45 km , the L-band radar on T-50 seem to be too small and weak to be able to detected F-35 from longer range
F-35’s APG-81 can track target with RCS = 1 m2 from 160 km ( enough to see any 4th , 4.5th gen fighter from a long distance ( caused these aircraft carry weapon externally and dont think their RCS can be less than 1 m2
the EOTS’s laser finder range can reach 80 km that mean it can detected , track , lock both air and ground stealth target from 80 km http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10652020
APG-81 have been shown to be able to jam even the APG-77 so it very less likely that it will having trouble jamming R-77 , aim-120 or Meteor , and F-35 ‘s very small RCS also make it a dificult target
Meteor can be carry by F-35 , that may be the best BVR missile
In WVR :
F-35 can do 9.9 G , reached 50 degree AoA , and at least as agile as an F-16
DAS allow it to detected , track enemy in 360 degree around the aircraft , allow over shoulder shot
F-35 will have DIRCM http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/australia-shows-dircm-for-jsf-204809/ , that the only way to defeat modern seeker on missiles like Python-5 , aim-9x or R-74
F-35 can also carry many CUDA missiles for WVR http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=17227 
even the F-22 or Su-35 are not going to out manuever AIM-132
P/s : IRST may be the good way to detected F-35 from longer distance , however irst on most fighter have very weak laser finder range to allow them to lock target from long distance
OLS-35 laser range is only 15 km
Pirate , aas-42 don’t have laser
OSF laser range is 40 km
And the Pantsir S1 has a 100% killrate in real combat. Problem was that the F4 didnt use countermeasures. And neither has any other fighter that has been shoot down in BVR.
Against SAMs the situation is different because the missiles come from below. To trick them you need to get them in a tail chase outside the ground radars reach and then you can use the chaffs and jammers efficiently. And many ground based fire controls have 2 radars + optic scanning so its sort of difficult to trick them with jamming alone. And you will probably be targeted by a really strong radar for the SARH, and that means you have to foil the ground radar and not the missile. But thats another story.
The discussion is BVR, and in BVR its pretty fair to say that the AAM arent that dangerous if the pilot has warning systems, jammers, countermeasures, agility and buddies that can jam.
And about agility…
Try calculating with this to see how many G forces a misisle needs to handle to follow a slower airplane in a steep turn…
It is applied like this:a = accelleration = gravitational force, gravity has the accelleration speed of 9,8m/s², thats the constant for a. If the pilot can take 9 G then a = 9*9,8m/s².
v = speed in m/s. To simplify it is [mach speed * 340m/s], and this is squared
r = turn radius in meters.For a eurocanard that gets chased they will slow down briefly and to a split S sustaining 9 G going downward, this is the approximate turn radius and d = turn diameter for for the full 180.
9G*9,8m/s = (0,8mach*340m/s)²/r | 88,2m/s (felt gravity) = 73’984ms/r | r = 839 | d = r * 2 = 1’678 m
In mach 2 the radius is 5,2 km with the same G. (to perform the same turn (5,2km r) in mach 4 the G loading is over 36..)How many G does the missile need to handle to be able to follow the fighter? (it can make a short cut thanks to the distance so it might be tricky to calculate but give it a shoot).
How many G can the AMRAAM cope with?
Can the AMRAAM decelerate fast enough?EDIT: This is to simplify and let you come to your own conclusions.
Missile dont make the exactly the same turn as the aircraft , but intercept them so they dont need to turn that much G , aim-120 can cope with 36g
Sign In
