Forum: F-16 versus XYZ

asianviper wrote:

Just how good are russian air to air missiles in general?? How do they compare in general to american missile technology?

I believe that you can have all the range in the world but if the electronics and seeker heads are not upto the job you will always lose against an opponent with a shorter range missile with better hardware inside it.
Does the Block 52 have anything comparable to the IRST on the SU30?

While I cannot provide any evidence at this time to back-up my opinion, there is some stuff that I have seen posted on the net that seems to point to a lack of performance for the R-77. The main problem being high-drag and as a result, lower than expected kinematic performance. There were some alledgedly fired in anger in Africa with no success.

I would think that ithe R77 would be quite manueverable at shorter ranges but with a short NEZ. I'm no expert and that is just my opinion. I'm also really not so sure (perhaps mistakenly so) about its ability to guide to a distant target. How good is its data-link capability? What about the batteries and seeker head? I have read that they are sourcing some of the same TI chips that US defense contractors use Rolling Eyes

but I'm sure you realize the total package is greater than the sum of its parts....

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yakuza wrote:

asianviper wrote:

Does the Block 52 have anything comparable to the IRST on the SU30?

the Sniper is more accurate and has more range,and can track on A2A..

Im one of those part time enthusiasts but I thought the sniper was purely an A2G pod...the Rafale,Su and EF all have built in IRST but thiers was tailored specifically for A2A though it can be used A2G.. however the sniper was specifically built as a targeting pod wasnt it??
Coming back to the topic. Ive had quite a few discussions with pilots who will actually might have to face the MKI in actual combat Wink

and they were more concerned with its BVR capability, when I inquired about WVR and furballs they seemed confident that the TVC (unless used by an experienced fella) had little effect in a dogfight..albiet they did express concerns about the off boresight missles but apparently tactics exist to counter even that.

From LM PDF

Quote:

• Air-to-air target detection and tracking

Interesting.. so it can give the viper or any other compatible jet optical tracking along with targeting.

is the internal IRST on the Blk 60 comparable to the SNIPER?

I dont think so,Sniper is the latest and most sophisticated Pods till now,it´s also bigger than any internal IRST which are smaller,so it´s more acurate and sees at very long range,most internal IRSTs are in the 25mi class,Sniper sees at distances of up to 86 naut. mi

quoting Aviationweek 2004

Quote:

At one point the pilot climbed to about 30,000 ft. MSL, selected a navigation steerpoint and noted that the Sniper pod was aimed at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In IR black-hot, 2X zoom, area track mode, aircraft 86 naut. mi. away were visible as white spots taking off from LAX runways. Switching to TV mode produced a murky image, our view obscured by smog. Small clouds between us and the airport occasionally forced me to break lock and select "cursor zero," which pointed the pod at the lat-long coordinates for LAX and brought the airport back into view

Quote:

*Tracking another F-16, first with our radar, then handing off to the Sniper XR. Griffiths had some difficulty locating the other fighter in IR white-hot/wide FOV, but finally locked the point-tracker onto the bright-white engine tailpipe. Switching from IR tracking to TV tracking caused the system to break-lock--an anomaly that will be corrected as part of several air-to-air enhancements planned for the next Sniper software update. It also will give the pod a multi-target tracking capability. Griffiths subsequently locked-onto a Boeing 737 commercial transport at 27 naut. mi. The airframe type was easily determined, but we couldn't read the airline name in either IR or TV modes.

cheers

Forum: F-16 versus XYZ

F16 Block 52 versus a Sukhoi 30 MKI