I dont really understand your point.
I said images/videos of it being FIRED forward on ANY plane.
I never stated that it doesn’t fire up/down.
I merely stated that BOP also has the ability to fire forwards.
Can you tell by the pictures alone that the internal BOP isn’t angled forwards? It does not have to be 90° forward, it can just as well be at an angle.
And as previously stated, since the pilot can choose which way to fire flares, showing videos of it firing up and down does not exclude forwards.
Secondly, I asked separately about the ESTL pod BOP firing direction, not the internal BOP.
Well I can see the orientation of the dispensers on the Gripen from photos.
The BOL-500/700 and CRL all fire rearward.
BOP-G on the fuselage are mounted facing up and down.
BOL739/2 on the outboard pylons are rear firing.
The ESTL is mounted like a missile on either the wing tips or LAU-7 rails. The tip doesn’t have a dispenser visible. It has a downward firing BOP-G dispenser and a rear firing BOL rail. So nothing forward firing there.
Nothing stopping someone building these into an airframe to fire forward. I suspect when they say its forward firing they likely mean it has the pressure needed to fire the flare/chaff out into the airstream. Rather than they all fire forward.
Forward firing countermeasures are very effective. The issue is with fixed wing especially, you fly into your own countermeasures. Sucking flare or chaff into your engine is less than ideal.
okay :)
on the ESTL at least, BOP can be seen angled forward and down at a around 45 degree angle compared to nose. i don’t know if it has to be 100% straight forward for it to be called forward firing but i would personally argue that 45 degrees (or there around) is at least not down.
I swapped because I was getting annoyed that TWS would perhaps fixate on a target to the extreme left or right and I had no way of getting it to swap to a target it could see outside of its FOV. There are times when I want to just lock it looking in one direction
But having a HOTAS with a free control from my left thumb on my throttle does help too
Im doing that since i can remember tbh. I was annoyed the radar was jumping not on what i wanted so i switched it and now i cant use cycling. Manual sellection and antenna elevation are now natural for me.
You just need a lot more radar control options (yes we need more)
The ability to toggle the radar following the target left and right (so when disabled, even with cyclic target selection, it wouldnt move the radar unless turned on)
The ability to toggle on and off relative vertical control
The ability to always be able to control the vertical angle of the radar (look down and look up could be sooooo much better)
