Forum: F-16 versus XYZ

Where the SH falls short in the A2A thing is having enough speed to control how it wants to enter or leave a fight. Something an F-14, F-15, Rafale, and a SU-3x won't have trouble doing. Unless the intercept is nose on, its going to have trouble doing an intercept. It is SLOW and draggy. Having a nice sensor suite and a lot of weapons isn't all that great if you have trouble controlling your opponent. Granted, hardly a big deal given todays diminished A2A threat.

The point being if a carrier ever has to unexpectedly face an orgainized SU-3x threat in the future, the SH doesn't have the speed to control how it wants to engange or disengage.What ever it can do in the future, WVR doesn't mean much when everyone does helmet/heater combos. Without that wonder weapon, a new Viper will eat it alive. Not to mention that a Viper force vs. this thing also has a bit more speed and can also choose to engage on its own terms.

Check me here but it sound like you're describing a p/w ratio issue. No? I thought the new motors had more cajones than the original F404s? With the increased wing area and gross weight it probably has the turn rate of a barn door, even with a relatively light load, unless the FLCS (to coin a Viper-ism) has a magic line of code that compensates.

Original 404's put out aprox 16K lbs at peak power with full AB. The Newer 414's that were built on the same design put out 22K lbs at full AB. So we went from 36K combined thrust to 44K which actually gave it an even better T:W ratio then the original plane. And no it wont turn inside an F-16 but it can fly up to 50 degrees nose up and still be controllable, out accelerate the Viper, Out Climb the Viper, and out roll the viper. So again as long as the pilot isnt crazy enough to get into a turn fight with a much smaller plane the SH does have advantages to play on.

Elp seems to have a problem with a plane that peaks out at Mach 1.8 instead of Mach 2. Honestly who makes an intercept about 700 knots. You name me a time either plane has ever engaged somebody at anywhere near Mach 1.5 let alond Mach 2. And all intercepts will be head on against a Su-3X threat when they are attacking the carrier, where the hell else they gonna come from unless they figure out how to swim.

And all intercepts will be head on against a Su-3X threat when they are attacking the carrier,

Thought Tom-cant's top speed was around M2.5 vs M1.8 for the Whorenets?

Also remember the Hornet unlike the Eagle/Tomcat ect wasnt designed with variable intakes in order to save weight and cost, thats one of the Reasons it cant get into the Mach 2 range, the power is there though.

I think it's a wonderful airplane, but you have to understand it's a compromise design. It's evolutionary, not revolutionary. From a flying quality standpoint, it has to be one the easiest planes in the world to fly. I could probably take a guy off the street and in 30 hours have him solo in the thing. It’s designed to be easy to fly because operating the complex radar and weapon systems is a huge challenge. From a tactical perspective, it was designed as a trash hauler…it wasn't designed to be a "hypersonic cruiser" air superiority aircraft. There were a lot of politics at play in its development…the AFX was shot down, the Super Tomcat got shot down, and as a fall back they went with this robust improvement of the existing F/A-18. For the US Navy flying off a carrier with this airplane, it's going to be the most reliable and safest airplane they've probably ever flown, and it will carry the "mail" for a long time.

Not trying to argue (I understand principles behind inlet design) but the F-16's fixed intake gives it M2.05 speed and the inlet is not the limiting factor.

Willard tried on one of the helmets and was impressed by the high-tech display projected on the visor, which shows information about nearby aircraft or ground targets.