The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
More Books by James Dunnigan
|
Dirty Little Secrets
F-35 Versus European Competition
by Harold C. Hutchison
July 24, 2006
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
The F-35 (recently named the Lightning II)
is due to enter service soon. While the F-22 is widely seen as the
ultimate air-to-air machine, the F-35 is described as a multi-role
aircraft. How does the F-35 compare in the air-to-air mission against
likely competitors like the French Rafale, the Swedish Gripen, and the
multi-national Eurofighter?
The Rafale, Gripen, and Eurofighter are all in service or expected
to enter service in 2006. All of them boast some of the best
electronics suites ever to appear in combat aircraft. All have top
speeds approaching 2,000 kilometers an hour. All three aircraft carry
excellent beyond-visual-range missiles (like the Mica, AMRAAM, and
Meteor). All are highly maneuverable. But will they be better than the
F-35 in a fight?
The answer, surprisingly, is probably not. The F-35 has one big
advantage over these three fighters from Europe. Its radar signature is
very small – as is the case with the F-117 and F-22. Given that its
speed is comparable to the European jets, and its AESA radar is at
least as good as the European systems, this "invisibility" is a
decisive advantage. The best weapons in the world are useless if they
cannot see their targets.
The F-35 will be able to see the Rafale, Gripen, and Eurofighter
long before it can be seen itself. The first rule of air combat may be
"speed is life", but the second rule is "lose the sight, lose the
fight". In the 21st century, sight includes radar. It is very likely
that the only warning the F-35 may give of its presence will be when
its radar has locked on to one of the European fighters. By that point,
the F-35 is already close to launching its AMRAAMs.
This is probably the major reason for the United States Air Force's
future dominance of the air. Even its second-best fighter will probably
be able to best the front-line designs of other western nations in a
"paper" fight based on specifications and capabilities. When the level
of training American pilots get is added to the mix, the F-35's
advantage becomes staggering. One other factor to consider is that the
United States Air Force plans to have 1,763 F-35s on inventory (the
Marine Corps and Navy variants would add another 780 F-35s to the mix).
If the Rafale is built to a planned force level of 292, and the Saudi
order for the Eurofighter goes through, the combined Gripen, Rafale,
and Eurofighter production runs will total 1,262, meaning there will be
two F-35s for every one of the advanced European fighters
|
|
