PL-17 is more of a capability gap for the USAF because the PL-15 is a lot closer to the 120D’s range and probably is at the very least being matched by the 260’s performance. The Navy has AIM-174B but Air Force does not.
And anyways, as far as payload goes the flankers might be the absolute worst modern combat aircraft considering their weight and size
It’s still possible to make a big missile capable against manuevering targets
Yes, it can shoot down a fighter, but the question is though, how hard is it defeat at long range?
Especially being that fast, is it able to turn well enough?
I dont know the details, but if it was an older aircraft or the missile was in the RWR blind spot, then the pilot may have had no warning. How it would fair against a Typhoon, Rafale, F-35, etc is a different question entirely.
iirc that mainly comes from them being designed to have a high combat radius
wouldnt the CFT on F-15’s make up for this?
i mean 8,000kg is closer to a super hornet, F-16, or typhoon
CFTs affect your flight performance tho, not as much as drop tanks but still
su-27 is able to take 9,000 kg of fuel
i dont have a exact number for the su-35 but i know that they made space for an extra internal fuel tank
and it is able to take drop tanks like the Su-34 (mainly meant to ferry the planes tho iirc)
if we belive the statement made by ROSOBORONEXPORT it has a combat radius of 1800km
F-15E has 10,000kg with CFT (and strike eagles almost always operate with CFT)
from what i could find Su-35 has better range though
seems like the engines on the F-15E need alot more fuel
Not actually that surprising. Russia is huge, makes sense that range was a key strength/design requirement. Though I do wonder at what alt and speed that is required to achieve that range
maybe, but combat radius figures on a strike eagle could be different because its expected to be carrying at least some a2g
if i cant find combat range i usually just divide ferry range by 3 for a conservative estimate
yeah they really would need that range to do patrols or even perform offensive actions from airbases deeper in Russia (flanker is a cold war jet after all)
i mean most of the jets that are actively used are and that is ignoring all the 3rd gens that are still in service
do note that the AIM-54 was also designed to hunt Bombers and not fighters
and its one of the easiest missile to defeat kinematically ingame
still quite potent
well tbf it should be a lot more manueverable
Yeah, but Id apply the same logic though to R-37.
Yes. R-37 is a threat, even at greater ranges than the Aim-120D or Meteor could be fired at, but both the Aim-120D and Meteor are far far more dangerous weapons when they get within range
It should, but in theory only at shorter ranges. if its pulling more Gs at longer ranges then its also bleeding more energy
i doubt it would be pulling many g at long range until it gets much closer to target
The likely “justification” for it comes from this defection flight of a MiG-25P that landed in Japan.