Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanjuro
Supercruise is nothing new- the Lightning (English Electric, not P38) had that in the 60s. The Typhoon's loss of stealth when carrying stores is a tradeoff- no stealthy platform can carry nearly as many weapons as an aircraft with external weapon mounts. Furthermore, a stealthy aircraft suffers both stealth and performance losses when it opens its armaments bays.
Where the Typhoon's stealthy credentials are real, however, is in practical application. Admittedly, the F22 is far stealthier- but assuming the Typhoon has, at a conservative estimate, 50% of the radar signature of the F16, that means that to cover a given area an opponent has to deploy 4 times as many radars to counter it. While 50% may not seem much of a leap over the previous generation of fighter, it is a huge step when an entire radar net has to be rebuilt, and new doctrines developed for its use.
The Typhoon's other strength is as a weapons system. From the start, it was designed to be easier to use than previous generations. Individual Russian radars and missiles may be technically superior, but I suspect the Typhoon's level of system integration is some years ahead of any potential opponent.
|
Concorde and the Tu-144 supersonic passenger jets were also capable of supersonic speeds without using afterburners, but the point is that the F-22’s PW F119 is the only engine specifically designed to do so, while the F-35’s PW F135 & GE/RR F136 were derived from the F119 and have higher power outputs than the F119 and should be able to do so even though they weren’t designed to do so. The Typhoon is not the only modern combat aircraft that claims to be able to supercruise, the Rafale and Gripen claim it as well and the Sukhoi PAK FA can certainly supercruise.
The Typhoon’s Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans are rated at 13,500 lbf dry and 20,000 lbf reheated at sea level, which is comparable to later variants of the F/A-18. Eurofighter claim the engine has a supercruise capability, but its duration has not been disclosed. The EJ200 is of the same technological generation as later F-15, F-16 and F-18 variants, and it’s hard to believe that it can achieve the same performance levels of the F-22. In dry combat configuration at 50% internal fuel the Typhoon delivers sea level dry thrust/weight ratio of 0.82:1, and reheated thrust/weight ratio of 1.22:1 with a wing loading of 60.8 lb/ft2, which is in the class as the F-15C and Su-27SK. The Typhoon is optimised for transonic manoeuvre and supersonic dash performance, which is what it was originally designed for in the first place; supersonic BVR interception and close in combat at transonic speeds. A dry Typhoon with 50% internal fuel and 6-8 AAMs is firmly in the class of the F100-PW-229 powered F-15E on dry thrust, and about 15% behind the F-15E on reheat. The Typhoon falls behind the F-15E when its operating radius is stretched and additional external fuel is being carried. However flight control software refinements could have led to some improvements since the mid-1990’s.
The Typhoon lacks many of the established techniques used for stealth performance found on US aircraft, and unless radar scattering techniques have been developed that nobody yet knows about the Typhoon is unlikely to have a reduced forward sector RCS significantly better than later F-18’s, F-16’s or the Rafale. However the Typhoon does carry a lot impressive technology.
The cockpit incorporates a lot of state of the art technology, including holographic HUD, 3 colour MFDs, HOTAS controls, and pilot voice input selection modes, while pilot visor projected binocular NVG imagery, FLIR/IRS&T imagery are being developed which is very competitive against all American and Russian aircraft. The Typhoon also uses a quadruply redundant digital flight control system intended to provide carefree handling, an advancement over many other fighters and probably necessary given the inherently unstable aerodynamic configuration.
The Typhoon’s avionic package includes the ECR-90 pulse-Doppler multimode radar, derived from the Blue Vixen on the Harrier FRS.2. Eurofighter claim twice the output power of the F/A-18's APG-65/73 series and twice the detection range of the F-16's APG-68, as well as a detection range advantage over the F-15's APG-63/70 series. The AMSAR upgrade to the ECR-90 is in the same class as the APG-68 ABR and APG-73 RUG III. The ECR-90 is supplemented by two very impressive passive sensors; The Pilkington Optronics PIRATE mid-wave IRS&T/FLIR and a DASS with ESM integration that can be used as a passive targeting tool in engagements, in addition to a MAWS, a forward sector Laser Warning Receiver, DECM and an optical fibre towed decoy.
The Typhoon's primary weapon in BVR combat will be the Meteor, a ramjet powered AAM. The Meteor is credited with an 80 NM engagement range against a closing target, has it is claimed to have three to six times the kinematic performance of current air-air missiles of its type and it is claimed to outrange the Russian Vympel R-77M ramjet Adder in addition to AIM-120B AMRAAM and AIM-132. For strike operations it can carry a wide range of weapons. The primary British weapon will be the Storm Shadow cruise missile. Variants of the Paveway laser guided bomb may be also be carried, as well as a TIALD FLIR/laser pod occupying one forward AAM well. For close-in tank busting, the millimetric wave Brimstone will be used. Overall its a very capable aircraft that does exactly what it was designed to do, but outside of its optimum combat range its probably inferior to the latest variants of the F-15 and Flanker simply because they are both bigger aircraft with more powerful engines and its not in the same class as the F-22.