Since we’re kind of rubbing up against it here, stealth was one prong of the attack on SAM losses, the other was a change in Wild Weasel tactics. What happened between ODS in 1991 and OIF in 2003 (aside from swapping Bushes) is the poor performance of HARM missiles, and the doctrine of soft-kills.

Having recently learned that the Silent Eagle probably has a RCS comparable to the F-117 from head-on, (not from below though) as in same-altitude BVR, and that the Strike Eagle from which it was derived does most of its missions at low level, it seems pretty clear what the Israelis would intend to do with theirs -…

There should be a silver dollar hanging by a thread, to indicate it’s RCS.

Wild Weasel cat-nip. Dan Hampton’s book “Viper Pilot” details how hundreds, perhaps thousands of these were destroyed in OIF in 2003 by the F16-CJ Wild Weasels. At any rate, Saddam had thousands of SA3s in ODS and never shot down an F117, so happy hunting, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

This is the perfect place to mention that the best guess I have seen as to the RCS of the Silent Eagle is one equal to that of the F-117A

I read something 25 years ago or so that the idea for “The Impossible Diamond” came from a Russian paper discussing an impossible to fabricate diamond shape that someone in the Skunk Works figured out WAS possible to fabricate.

Wait, I’m confused, I thought the proper procedure when a fishing boat approaches is to fire on it - or is that just a Russian thing?

This was used to extract special operations guys in Vietnam. HALO drop in, and this for extraction. What could go wrong? Living the dream!

It would be very lopsided in the US’s favor. In BVR the Russian types would get slaughtered. They have massive RCS’s because of bad design features like a giant down-sloping crew “barrel”, square engine intakes an uncanted vertical stabilizers and their radars are dramatically inferior to our AESA radars. In short,…

Since Job #1 would be jamming the telemetry to control a UCAV, except in uncontested air-space, this isn’t going to happen until AI can beat human performance in aerial combat AND SAM evasion. I doubt you’ll see that in your lifetime Tyler. It’s a good goal, but teaching machines to think in flexible ways has turned…

So going from 325 drones to 400 drones is “Massive”? Well, finally, we know what Massive means on FA- 23%

Maybe we could salve their angst by pointing out that only the name of the company is American, since G/E does so many collaborations, and sources so many parts from Europe, it’s really more a NATO engine.

But, but, I NEVER G-Dub’s optional war blunder, or Vietnam, another war our leaders lied their way into, AND I admire French engineering, and think the USN is living in a fool’s paradise.

Btw, as I have detailed elsewhere here on FA, I am quite a fan of the Rafale, but think it would benefit hugely from a pair of G/E engines from the SuperHornet. They only weigh 2x500lbs more, and add 2x5k thrust. It would really put the Rafale over the top imho.

LOL, probably so. The French have long preferred Robusta coffee so I was going out of my way to be authentic, but yes, it’s horrible coffee so that would follow.

So Starbucks, Robusta French Roast, and Earl Grey respectively?

Yes, in the same way that someone who kills a would-be home invader is on a higher moral high-ground than the thug that was there to murder he and is family and steal everything of value.

ANSWER: Magnetic mines and magnetic anomaly detectors.

There is a HUGE difference between making a mistake and intentionally targeting, or by intent, using weapons incapable of discriminating between military and civilian targets.