Re: Russian SU-3X Flanker Thread: Videos, Pictures, News, Views
I've long felt many people are too hasty to write off older aircraft designs, especially as overall performance figure haven't really altered that much in decades (mach 2 fighters have been around since the fifties, and the current generation aren't noticeably quicker). 'STEALTH!' I hear you cry, and yes it does make a huge difference, but there are already chinks in that armour. It doesn't make an aircraft invisible to radar, just a lot harder to detect. Who knows how many years before some 'counter-stealth' technology (probably a computer processor that can pick out a supersonic 'golf ball' from raw radar data) is developed and deployed and the western air forces are back to square one.
In this light I can understand the logic of continuing with older but perfectly serviceable designs. I only wish we'd hung on to a few classics of our own, say an F-4 Phantom with AESA radar or a Buccaneer with the latest avionics (pick your own favourites here!). After all, it's the missiles and guided weapons that an aircraft carries which actually go 'in harms way' these days, rather than the aircraft itself, which is why the fifties vintage B-52 still qualifies as a modern frontline strike aircraft.
I've long felt many people are too hasty to write off older aircraft designs, especially as overall performance figure haven't really altered that much in decades (mach 2 fighters have been around since the fifties, and the current generation aren't noticeably quicker). 'STEALTH!' I hear you cry, and yes it does make a huge difference, but there are already chinks in that armour. It doesn't make an aircraft invisible to radar, just a lot harder to detect. Who knows how many years before some 'counter-stealth' technology (probably a computer processor that can pick out a supersonic 'golf ball' from raw radar data) is developed and deployed and the western air forces are back to square one.
In this light I can understand the logic of continuing with older but perfectly serviceable designs. I only wish we'd hung on to a few classics of our own, say an F-4 Phantom with AESA radar or a Buccaneer with the latest avionics (pick your own favourites here!). After all, it's the missiles and guided weapons that an aircraft carries which actually go 'in harms way' these days, rather than the aircraft itself, which is why the fifties vintage B-52 still qualifies as a modern frontline strike aircraft.
