On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 15:50:14 +0100, ess (phil
hunt) wrote:

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 01:48:52 -0600, Scott Ferrin wrote:
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:09:46 +0100, ess (phil
hunt) wrote:

They'd be well advised not to fire on a Typhoon either, since it's
better than anything the USN is likely to have for some time (and I
think the F-35C falls in that category).

Well it's good to dream but I'd say wait until the F-35C is flying
before making that judgement. That big wing, 56k lbs thrust (so says
RR)

Who's RR? The figure I've seen for thrust is 35 klbf (15900 kgf),
giving F-35 a

I've never seen 35 anywhere. I've seen 40 a lot but that F119 in the
X-32 put out nearly that DRY.



AESA,

What's this?

360 degree IRST,

My understanding is Eurofighter has an IRST too.

Eurofighter's has a MUCH smaller field of view. The X-35 will be able
to look in front, behind and below it. Basically all around.


stealth, -9X,

The AIM-9X will have a shorter range than the Meteor (I'm assuming
that Singapore would buy it, it seems quite logical if they are
going for an air superiority fighter). So the Typhoons would be able
to get the first shot in (not only that, since they are faster than
the F-35

An assumption yet to be proven.




, they have the ability to decide at what range the
engagement takes place). If the engagement does get to close range,
the Typhoon has (according to figures I've seen) a better thrust to
weight ratio and lower wing loading.


Depends. There is talk of putting the big navy wing on the land
version if someone wants it. That plus the uncertainty of how
powerful the engine will be makes this all speculation.



F-35 has thrust vectoring, but
late models of the Typhoon might too. Typhoon is dynamically
unstable, which should increase its maneouvrability.

You have to keep stealth in mind. The Typhoon likely wouldn't get to
USE it's superior manueverability (assuming it will have it).



(BTW, is it right that the F-35's weapons bay is too small to fit in
some weapons like ASRAAM? My understanding is ASRAAM has a larger
diameter than AIM-9X, giving it potential for greater
range/acceleration).


From what I've read the internal bays don't use rails like you'd use
for a -9X or ASRAAM. It's AMRAMM only. BTW there's serious talk of
putting LASER weaponry on F-35s at some point but whether or not THAT
little goodie would ever get exported is anyone's guess. Personally I
think it would be a bad decision.