F22 Super & AIM260
- Thread starter Shadow Reaper
- Start date
Awesome vid, thanks for sharing.
I've always wondered something about the external fuel tanks on fighters. Why not add something that either lets them be dropped & launched like a missile that explodes in proximity to the incoming threat, or have a detonator that self destructs the container while it's falling away to both destroy the tank as well as its fuel before it lands or to act like a delayed mega flare to distract any potential incoming IR missiles? I'm not knocking the external fuel tanks, just saying that they've always seemed like they could've had an alternate use instead of just being dumped.
I've always wondered something about the external fuel tanks on fighters. Why not add something that either lets them be dropped & launched like a missile that explodes in proximity to the incoming threat, or have a detonator that self destructs the container while it's falling away to both destroy the tank as well as its fuel before it lands or to act like a delayed mega flare to distract any potential incoming IR missiles? I'm not knocking the external fuel tanks, just saying that they've always seemed like they could've had an alternate use instead of just being dumped.
I've wondered the same thing, but came to the conclusion that it would've been too much trouble for little gain. Having to add fuse, detonator and integrate it's use into many plane systems as multiple types of planes use the same generalized tanks... lots of money. But if you make a specialized tank for a special plane, than everythings on the table.
Haven't had time to watch he vid yet.
I'm glad the F22 is getting another lease on life. It's still far ahead of anything else in the field (except for the whale F23), and it's still the best looking fighter jet ever imo. I had a metal YF22 toy (with working landing gear) since it became public. Still have it around here somehwere, unless my kids threw it off the balcony lol
AIM260 I don't know much about yet but if it can pull off the speed and range increase over the old amraam it's gonna be a real pain in any adversaries butt, well before they realize it. It's the way to go, with air combat becoming all BVR and stealth based.
I don’t think the AIM260 is faster. It’s longer range. There is a rumor about a hypersonic missile that fits inside the F22. That’s astonishing.
But ackschually wikipedia says 260 is mach5 and amraam is only mach4!
Yeah I dunno really, but double the range of a regular AMRAAM (according to some sources at least) is already a huge advantage. Then what we really have no clue about publicly is the capability of it's own tracking system and maneuvering limits, but with having a stealth platform to provide it with guidance to target, it's got the potential to be a really brutal silent killer, despite it not being hypersonic. Enemy planes taking off a 100+miles on the other side of the border, poof, gone, without being any the wiser.
If the recent ongoing war has thought us anything, it's that inside visual range combat is over, MANPADs and SAMs owns the airspace, and you either launch outside of their range or you're a goner. This is why I'm more interested in this missile rather than the plane itself.
Ignoring any real reasoning, I just love the shape of F22, the F117, and the A10. They are just so cool, I don't care how obsolete they may be lol
BTW I wish the F19, the "stealth plane" that was the fakenews/cover for the real F117, was actually real. I had a plastic model of it since I can remember. We built it with my dad and always had it in my room. It's a very wrong but very cool design. The DOS game with the same name was also great, played that a ton, even though I didn't know what I was doing back then.
I don’t think the A10 is obsolete. It just got a new wing last year. There is a lot of pressure from lobbyists from Lockheed Martin to use all three versions of the F35 for close air support, but no one thinks the F35 can replace the A10. It carries many times the missiles and the tank-busting GAU-8 can kill dozens of tanks. I think it has something like 1,100 rounds. Also, the cockpit of the A10 is armored. That’s not something you’ll ever see in an F35. Besides, the Lightning II was designed to go much faster and a human pilot can’t hit the target at speeds much faster than the A10.
I once had a sit down with an A10 pilot who flew in the first Gulf War, and asked him what he wanted in a replacement. His only suggestion was that if the plane could turn tighter, it could spend more time over the target. Putting thrust vectoring on more efficient engines might just get another fifty years out of those airframes. The TF34s on those planes were first put in service over half century ago and the plane deserves another upgrade.
I once had a sit down with an A10 pilot who flew in the first Gulf War, and asked him what he wanted in a replacement. His only suggestion was that if the plane could turn tighter, it could spend more time over the target. Putting thrust vectoring on more efficient engines might just get another fifty years out of those airframes. The TF34s on those planes were first put in service over half century ago and the plane deserves another upgrade.
Might need to crack open my piggy bank to get my very own. Might be about $16 B short though. Dagnabbit!!!