Forum: Technology

Quote:

Well, it wouldn't work on any of our fighters due to the fact that none of them have a full 360 degree radar coverage, so they would never be able to lock a target at their 6 o'clock. If aircraft like the F-16, F-15, etc. were able to use "aerial mines" though, they would have to be unguided, and would very likely miss their target. But hey, it was a cool idea anyway though.

You don't need 360 deg. radar coverage. What you need is: 1) datalink with a transmission rate big enough (Link 16) that will tell you what's behind; F 16 C/D, F 18 A/B/C/D/E/F and F 15 A/B/C/D/E have this kind of datalink (MIDS)
2) a missile agile enough having also LOAL (lock on after launch) capabilty. The Sidewinder 9x and Python 5 will fulfill both these conditions.

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Believe me, the idea has been tested already; missiles and guns.

No fighter pilot would ever want to admit someone could ever get behind him - only bombers (targets) have rear firing weapons. (But they've even been removed from the BUFF's too)

The biggest problem isn't just having somebody behind you, it's knowing that he's there. If any pilot worth a shi! knows that somebody is behind him, he'll be able to defeat the enemy's WEZ and turn for a shot from an off-boresight missile like the -9X. Most guys that get shot down have no idea it's coming. Case in point - two Israeli F-15's come out of the sun (a trick that's worked since WWI) against a pair of Mig-29s with Archers, IRST, and all the new bells and whistles and blew them out of the sky with a pair of heaters (probably Python, not sure though) before the Migs even knew they were in danger. The Migs could have outmaneuvered the F-15s if they had known they were there and quickly gotten to a WEZ with their Archers (assuming they were well-trained pilots, a big assumption, I know). Maybe Sukhoi is on to something with their smaller, rear-facing rader like on some of the Flanker series A/C.

Forum: Technology

An idea: rear-facing missiles