please indulge me if this seems like a stupid question but why is the eurofighter advertised as a agile fighter if every body and her mum can beat it in a WVR fight. and if it struggles in the low speed areas why doesnt it just keep things quick where its supposed to be good?

Well it’s said that it was optimised for supersonic manoeuvering and BVR fights, where slow manoeuvrability isn’t as important as in a dogfight.

HMD and agile missiles will make up for that I suppose. But I find it quite surprising nonetheless as its huge reserve of power should help a great deal.

Nic

Are there any details about the crash itself?

Browsed the french press for you:

It crashed after being diverted from a convoy escort to support Italian soldiers in a fight. Both pilots ejected safely. Enemy fire was ruled out as the cause of the crash, and one of the articles states that it is presumed to be an engine failure.

The ministry of defense website says it’s the first crash over afghan territory in 10 years of operations over afghanistan (I guess it’s a good way to discount the Rafale that was lost at sea off Afghanistan).

Nic

To me 50% power means 50% from full military power, but even then, M 0.9 @ 75% military power wouldn’t be that bad with 2 2000L tanks and six AASM.

Nic

You’re right sorry, I just thought the canopy would be jettisoned without further checking the pics.

Nic

Other impressive tidbits:

To illustrate the Rafale’s networking capabilities, one pilot described how the aircraft can receive target coordinates from an AWACS or another aircraft via Link 16. To accept the assignment, the pilot pushes a button, and the coordinates are automatically programmed into the AASM guided bombs, with no further action by the pilot who, once in range (up to 30 nautical miles), again pushes a single button to launch all three – or all six – AASMs to their individual targets. “We can fire the AASM against targets abeam or behind us, and can hit up to six in a single pass,” the pilot continues.

Transit to Libya is flown at 50% power setting, which translates to Mach 0.9 cruise speed even with six AASM bombs and two large underwing drop tanks.

Pilots at Solenzara say that, in just over two months of operations, no missions were aborted because of aircraft unavailability, and detachment commander Lt. Col. Pierre G. says that the availability rate is close to 100%.

Nic

Hmmm… Could you elaborate ?

It can’t 😀

Yes it can carry it on those stations, and no the AMRAAM isn’t integrated.

Nic