Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

Guysmiley wrote:

PDEs and pulse jets are the same type of engine. In a PDE the flow is supersonic (and a shockwave functions as the 'shutters'), but the concept isn't rocket science... well, ok so it is Very Happy

The biggest difference is the "D" in P-D-E.

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snypa777 wrote:

PDE theory is not new, just difficult to make it work.

Actually, it might be in service for some time already... on the infamous "Aurora" aircraft, which supposedly has PDWE propulsion (donuts on a rope contrail) http://wave.prohosting.com/aurora85/

That VFDR missile looks like it's got a similar box size to AIM-120C, which means they might be able to pack 6 into the Raptor.

BTW, does anybody know anything about the "gel fuel" missile that was being researched at one time as an alternative to ramjets?

I'd read once where a developement of AMRAAM (maybe -C9?) might have gel fuel. Gel fuel isn't really the be all and end all though. Better ISP than solid propellant but then you have to haul the gear to pump the fuel to the nozzle and tankage so while it might be a little better than a wash overall compared to solid propellant it still has an inferior ISP than a ramjet.

Dammerung wrote:

Aren't the Russians also working on a Ramjet R-77? (R-77M I think...)

Yes, the Russians developed a R-77 variant with a ramjet engine. More or less a competitor to the AIM-54C Phoenix Missile. It like the Phoenix Missile has been retired. They both had the same limitation IFF!

Now in a hot conflict anything that approaches a carrier, is dead. There will be no 09/11 against a USN carrier. This gave the F-14/Phoenix combination an advantage that most fighters do not enjoy. Now the F-22 and how the USAF plans to use it is separate than the rest of the aerial combat aircraft.

Adrian

hope some engineer(Chinese), hasn't sold the plans to this new missile to everyone already?

Good thing for the F-22 is that on a high altitude-high speed attack... it's AMRAAM shot will have more energy and fly farther than AMRAAM launched from another platform. Just remember though, that the farther you shoot the more you miss. Be interesting if the salesmanship keeps up with real performance on new tech BVR long range shots on the test range. Surprised

Elite 1K Joined: May 26, 2005 - 08:39 PM Posts: 1496

That gave me the image of a guy wearing an ugly tweed sport coat with slicked back hair standing in a lot full of BVR missiles. LMAO

"Now, whatcha really need is this here AIM-7A. They don't make em like this anymore. Pk? Oh yeah, it's got plenty of that!"

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

New BVR missile: This would give Raptor more punch