Danternoust wrote:The Manticoran Empire wrote:Actually that is EXACTLY what armor is for aircraft. Actually look up the armor scheme for planes in World War 2 and you will see that the armor is limited to the fuel tanks and the pilot's seat. The rest of the aircraft is effectively unarmored.
I see, I see. Wet wings are bad.
Well World War II fighters also tended to put their guns in the wings.
To perhaps return a discussion over the viability of the SR.177 (something with similar performance characteristics to simplify explanation) as an air defence fighter (except maybe not using a rocket engine), my IADS would require a response time of 16 minutes to respond to enemy high altitude supersonic bombers.
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/foxhoun ... spy-plane/
In those 16 minutes, a supersonic bomber can travel about 5-6 kilometers. However, that requires an aircraft that can REACH those altitudes or SAMs with sufficient capability to reach those altitudes. As such, it would be far more efficient to use MiG-31s or similar Aircraft as opposed to an abortive mixed propulsion aircraft from the 1950s.
I think orienting towards low altitude, but long range missile dogfighting is ideal for the "lo" fighter, and the high fighter must be able to dogfight, mainly because the transition from supersonic to subsonic must be handled carefully because the exterior is apparently 800 degrees centigrade.
The "Low" Fighter is supposed to be a simpler, cheaper aircraft while the "High" fighter is the complex, expensive fighter. An example is the F-15, designed to fire complex radar guided missiles, and the F-16, primarily armed with simple heat seeking missiles.
I would assume this is the same for western aircraft, temperature problems and the like, which eats up much of the flight time presumably for simply loitering over a friendly airfield.
Not really. If you are loitering over your air field, that is because you are waiting for the rest of the squadron to take off. In terms of actual acceleration, the primary risk is less to do with temperature, at least on the pilot's end. Any supersonic aircraft is designed with the stresses of supersonic flight in mind. Moving from subsonic to supersonic and supersonic to subsonic is a process that most fighter pilots will do a thousand times and can be as simple as throwing your plane into a loop or popping the speed brakes.
Perhaps I am coming to a solution before understanding the problem.
For Danternoust's unique needs for current aircraft, essentially there has to be:
Let's go over these one by one.
-A low-cost short range interceptor to confirm and engage hostile targets. With JATO, will be capable of launching from a modified missile launcher, which often must be capable of handling thirty tonne loads to begin with.
Well you don't need a manned interceptor for this. A drone or a radar will work just fine. In terms of launching it, build something like a MiG or an F-16. They climb quickly and are fast enough to dogfight while being cheap.
-A high-cost quasi-stealth supersonic interceptor (generation 3.5).
Gen 3.5 isn't really going to have stealth interceptors. If you want Stealth, F-22 is all you can get. If you want something else, I would recommend MiG-31, F-14, or F-15.
-A carrier-capable STOL stealth fighter for expeditionary and semi-prepared runway purposes, plus downgraded variant where the reinforcements for catapult takeoff is removed for improved range.
F-35B or F-35C is pretty much all that is available in that case. Other options are the F/A-18 and F-14.
-CAS aircraft capable of taking off from a carrier but not landing on a carrier for expeditionary purposes.
Why launch from a carrier if it can't return? That defeats the whole purpose of putting it on a carrier.
-Downgraded CAS aircraft for training and reconnaissance. Reduced armor, engines incapable of war emergency power / afterburning.
Most CAS aircraft are either prop driven or are subsonic jet fighters. Personally, if you want a low cost CAS aircraft, I'd go with the Super Tucano.
Maybe I could just use a JATO powered Ye-8 for the first requirement.
Given the technical issues with the Ye-8, it would be next to useless in any role.
Does any aircraft like the MiG-41 exist in NS? Long-range air superiority fighters?
Some probably do. The MiG-41 is currently in the development phase in Russia and, given how the Pak Fa went, I'm not optimistic about its chances. However, long range air superiority fighters are probably pretty common on NS.