What would aerial combat of stealth fighters look like?
I read somewhere that stealth planes have tiny radar cross sections, can they be detected by good radars like AEW&C aircraft anyway and can missiles keep a radar lock?
Or would they end up close enough that dogfighting and heatseeking missiles would become relevant again?
>>64066165 (OP)>What would aerial combat of stealth fighters look likeBVR engagements.
>stealth planes have tiny radar cross sections, can they be detected by good radars like AEW&C aircraft anyway and can missiles keep a radar lock?depends on the aircraft and the missile, but usually only really close.
>would they end up close enoughNo, for that to happen it would mean that both sides have perfectly stealthty aicrafts and shitty radars/missiles.
For a dogfight to happen between 2 truly stealth aircrafts it means that both sides fucked up so many things that it's encroaches the impossible.
Only real scenario would be some regional spat like Greece and Turkey in the future where both sides agree to not shoot each others and prefer to do mock dogfights to show the other who has the biggest micropenis.
Also, Implessive!
>>64066165 (OP)IRST can pick out a stealth aircraft from a good distance, 50-300 kilometers depending on the system. A good one can two way days uplink with a missile and guide it to the general area where a stealth aircraft is expected to be.
The missile if it's a good one like an AMRAAM-D will have no trouble finding the aircraft from that point and it's up to luck then.
>>64066165 (OP)Whoever has better sensors, stealth, and/or positioning will fire first, simply through ambushing or brute force of statistics. The one who fires first wins.
>>64066245There might be dogfights. The F/A 18 and F-15EX can both scrap if necessary.
The Eagle II/Super Hornet/Flanker H matchup is still possible.
>Stealth planes have a tiny radar cross section
Stealth fighters planes that have been optimized to reduce the amount of radiation they emit : radio waves that bounce back from radars or infrared light from the engines. They are possible to detect using radars, just more difficult. Think of it as trying to film a tiny light in the dark from far away : if you can't see it, use a better camera or get closer. Radar detection also depends on many factors such as weather, terrain, angle of aspect of the target, configuration of the aircraft (opening the bay doors significantly increases radar cross section). Keep also in mind that radar detection also uses algorithms to recognize known objects, and that once your aircraft radar signature is known to enemy intelligence, they will adapt their algorithms to enhance their detection capabilities against that specific aircraft. That's why the whole "golf ball radar cross section" is bullshit because it doesn't mean a thing in reality.
>can missiles keep a radar lock ?
Using a radar in the air is the equivalent of lighting up a Christmas tree in the middle of the night, so any radar-based tech is off the table if you want to use stealth to your advantage. In order to avoid or delay detection, you need to use passive sensors that do not emit radiations, so you're limited to IR and optical sensors. The most likely scenario would be BVR engagement using IR or optical guidance missiles. As I said, the missiles used would probably not use radar, but radar-guided missiles absolutely can be locked on stealth planes if they detect it. Keeping lock would then be a matter of countermeasures, evasive maneuvers and limitations of the missile itself in the given situations.
There is also the possibility of using datalink from AWACS, ground radars or drones to provide radar detection and guidance data to planes that can fire from closer range while remaining undetected.
>>64066165 (OP)>Or would they end up close enough that dogfighting and heatseeking missiles would become relevant again?Highly unlikely.
https://csbaonline.org/uploads/documents/Air-to-Air-Report-.pdf
>>64066307thx for the high effort reply, interesting stuff
