Agreed. There’s real ethical problems with just using ordinary aircraft to drop cruise missiles from. But then the same could be said about putting cruise missiles in cargo containers I guess.

CM-400AKG
YJ-12

Would certainly be useful in a South Atlantic conflict with some AGM-86 or equivalent.

http://www.scorpionjet.com/aircraft-features/

The claims regarding WVR and avionics are baseless to stay polite. It lacks a JHMCS, which has been funded only to be withdrawn..Is that the fault of the program or the developer,operator? They can ask for capability, the congress and the DOD has to fund it.

The JHMCS was indeed the basis of my comment. It seems like something that could be integrated but at present it isn’t and there are no plans to, so the remarks hold for the current F-22 system as a whole. AIM-9X will not be incorporated until 2017 either, so until 2017, it has no LOAL, HOBS or HMCS capability and is using an out-of-date SRAAM.

I stopped reading once i saw a Kopp link 🙂

It’s funny but a lot of people seem to feel that way about Mr. Kopp. His site contains a lot of good information but it’s when he adds his analysis and fills in the gaps that things take a turn for the worst.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/syrian-warplanes-flee-after-testing-2259425

Syrian warplanes flee after testing defences at British air base in Cyprus

RAF Typhoon fighters won a mid-air showdown with two Syrian warplanes heading towards Britain’s main base in Cyprus, the Sunday People can *reveal.

The dramatic confrontation came after President Bashar al-Assad’s air chiefs sent two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s to probe our air defences.

The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK’s Akrotiri air base to contact them.

RAF pilots flying the world’s most advanced combat jet were scrambled before the Sukhois could enter our 14-mile air exclusion zone.

The Typhoons – which can scream from runway standstill to seven miles high in 90 seconds – soared into the sky to make visual contact with the Syrian pilots.

But the moment the Syrians *spotted our planes on their radar they high-tailed for home.

If the bombers had pressed on into our exclusion zone they would have been shot down, military experts said last night.

And despite Parliament’s refusal to sanction military strikes against Syria, the RAF’s swift response is a warning to dictator Assad’s forces not to mess with Britain.

Defence analyst Edward Hunt told the Sunday People: “If they will not turn back then they have to be shot down.”

The showdown happened on Monday before David Cameron and US President Barack Obama went to the G20 summit in Russia to

press for strikes against Syria *following a nerve gas attack in the capital Damascus that killed nearly 1,500 civilians.

Two Turkish F-16s were also scrambled from their Incirlik air base in Turkey.

But they arrived on the scene long after the British Typhoons.

And as the Syrian planes codenamed Fencer by Nato were still in international air space all the scrambled allied planes were recalled.

A military source said: “If there’s no communication between the guys on the ground and the aircraft then this is what we do.

“These guys were heading in our direction.”

Flying at 600mph the planes could have reached Cyprus within 15 *minutes of taking off from their base at Tiyas in the east of the country.

But AWAC spy planes detected them on radar and signalled the red alert.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The MoD can confirm that Typhoon air defence aircraft operated from RAF Akrotiri on Monday to investigate unidentified aircraft to the east of Cyprus.

“The aircraft were flying legally in international airspace and no *intercept was required.”

The UK air base at Akrotiri is packed with US and French *warplanes ready to strike Syria when President Obama gives the go-ahead.

A military source told the Sunday People: “Recent intelligence reports have warned of an attack

on Akrotiri.

“The RAF Typhoons were launched after sensitive airborne early-warning radar picked up the ‘contacts’ flying low and fast.” The British typhoons are part of a squadron of six sent to Cyprus to guard our bases there as the Americans prepare for an attack.

A Navy Type 45 anti-aircraft *destroyer is also sitting off Cyprus to provide early warning of Syrian fighters or missiles launched against the island.

Two French Navy Atlantique spy planes have also been moved to RAF Akrotiri.

And US aircraft and special *operations helicopters are on *standby there as planning continues for Syrian strikes.

Officially Monday’s Syrian warplanes are still being classified as “unidentified aircraft”.

But the Su-24 is feared as the most dangerous aircraft in the former Soviet arsenal.

It is a low-level bomber with capabilities similar to those of the American F-111 but the Su-24 is lighter and more powerful.

It is capable of supersonic speeds at low level and is equipped with terrain-following radar and laser-designators for guided weapons. These features give the SU-24 the ability to streak towards enemy targets beneath radar and attack with pinpoint accuracy.

The Sukhoi Su-24s used by the Syrian Air Force are assigned to Assad’s 819 squadron and based at Tiyas air base.

Meanwhile International Development Secretary Justine Greening said countries opposed to military action against Syria should think about doing more to help the country’s two million refugees.

The Prime Minister welcomed offers of new humanitarian assistance from Canada, Italy and Qatar at the G20 summit, following his announcement of an additional £52million in British aid. But Miss Greening warned: “What we can agree on surely as an international community is the need for a humanitarian *response and right now that response is not great enough.

“The UN appeal is not even half funded and it’s time to step up.”

Hi lukos, its a pleasure to make your aquintance. Welcome to Key Publishing Forums! Those are some interesting systems, I must say.

Let me see if I can explain the dilemma quickly and simply. CAS plays a critical role in the modern battlefield and can be considered one of the key ingredients behind victory or defeat. In the Indian subcontinent they can potentially play an even greater role because of the operational topography.

Along with the typical mission set of recon, fire support, tank busting, etc two additional roles can be highlighted:

1. Anti-artillery. In the subcontinent, artillery is king, as maneuver warfare plays a backseat role. Artillery radars play a role here in spotting enemy fire, which is critical to the artillery duel. However, artillery radars tend to be very vulnerable themselves. Additionally, artillery radars have a range of 50kms around at best, and in operational terms, probably closer to 35. This means that it cannot play the anti-artillery role in its full spectrum.

2. Artillery or tanks, cannot provide any additional dimensions in this kind of frontal battles. They don’t have the fire range to reach the enemy’s rear or soft spots as easily. A CAS aircraft would have the ability to have a far longer reach, and provide precision strike in real time.

In short, there is no replacing the CAS aircraft’s role without fundamentally compromising operational capability.

Neither do the theater opponents have the capability to look at using significant stocks of precision (and high cost) munitions. A simple CAS aircraft, even firing Hydra rockets can do huge damage at minimal cost.

To fulfill this role, I’ve conjured up the image of a simple single engined aircraft, framed approximately on the lines of the Harrier without the VTOL complexities. An aircraft with no internal cannon but an internal 70mm rocket launcher that can shoot either cheap unguided rockets or laser guided rockets. Additional hard points can provide for a wide range of other typical CAS munitions.

Right now, there seems to be an increasing consensus that such an aircraft is needed for Army Aviation of said hypothetical country. They seem to think a K-8 appropriately modified would do the trick. I’m ambivalent about that and think a brand new design, perhaps using an off the shelf parts bin, may just be the better option…

Right I think I understand your problem better now. My solution was focused on the contested airspace element. Pretty much anything you put up of notable size the enemy is going to want to shoot down, so I was focused on small aerial surveillance mixed with precision portable weapons, precision LR artillery and tactical missiles.

However, with your specified limits on the solution I’ll re-think.

The Harrier without VTOL isn’t a good option for STOL because the wings are too small. Harrier wings are small to help hover and minimise weight for VTOL purposes. For STOL you need a larger wing area. From safe range, a gun is honestly more accurate than rockets and provides better target saturation (unless they’re guided rockets but that brings the issue of cost). Also an internal rocket launcher is kind of complicated as regards the rocket plume happening inside the aircraft, unless you propose to eject them first, losing even more accuracy, or have an exhaust system for the plume, which is again complicated. In all honesty it sounds like you should look at the Rutan ARES Mudfighter at the end of my last post.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_ARES

Very good wing area, small target to ground fire, room for internal bays for small bombs and potential for wing pylons and a fuel fraction of over 33%. 25mm GAU-12 fires the same round as the GAU-22 on the F-35A, so it will be well supported for ammunition types and may even have guided versions in a few years. You could hang Hydra pods on the wing pylons with the option of using unguided rockets or guided APKWS II hydras at a later date. Alternatively, if you want more HE and less KE in your cannon rounds, you could swap the GAU-12 for an Aden 30mm (same round as Apache gunship cannon except with brass case). The 30x113mm contains 46g of HE per round as opposed to 30g for the 25x137mm GAU-12 round. For reference purposes, 40mm rifle grenades contain 32-48g HE.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]220584[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]220583[/ATTACH]

IOC – 25mm or 30mm internal cannon, 2×19-shot hydra pod on each wing and 2 Mk81s or 2 FAB-100s or 6-8 FAB-50s internally.

Future upgrades available – APKWS II for hydra pod, GBU-39/53/58 for internal bays and Brimstone for internal bays and wing pylons.