"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 18:06:01 -0500, "Paul F Austin"
wrote:

The F-22 is certainly the
fastest airplane in the world with anything more than a tank full of
cannon
ammunition and possibly a pair of wing-tip missiles.

Surprising to encounter such a statement from someone who usually is
fact based. Do we forget the missile bays?

If the point is "air dominance fighter" and the speeds are set with "a
tank full of cannon ammunition" and a half dozen IR and radar guided
missiles, oriented by a data-sharing system of three-dimensional
sensor integration, what more do you seek?

Ed, sorry if I expressed myself badly. That's entirely my point. The F-22
makes its maximum Mach number (for what that's worth tactically) will a
suite of six AAMs. The comparable numbers for Typhoon, Su-37 or just about
any aircraft built since the F-106 are for a clean airplane. I'm willing to
speculate that they can make M2.5+ with an AAM on each wingtip and a tank of
cannon shells but certainly not with all the hardpoints filled.

In any case, history has shown that the utility of the maximum Mach number
is *severely limited* if the persistence is measured in handsfull of
minutes. That's the whole reason for sizing the airflow and dry thrust of
the F-22 to power Mach 1.7ish flight for 30 minutes or so and the reason we
talk about "supercruise".

Inter-aircraft data sharing is going to revolutionize AA combat (for
everyone except the Swedes, who've used it for about forty years). With an
LO airframe and integration with the Rivet Joint a few hundred miles back,
not to speak of overhead assets, fighters will have the conspicuity of
submarines combined with -somewhat better- mobility.