yeah its kinda hard to find out what config the serial su57 are, there arent many pics on serial su57 but a hell lot on its prototypes
regarding the side radars for su57e, i think people are saying that because the static model T50KNS didnt had the different colored radomes on the side, and it was linked as su57e
People tend to forget “variable ramps” are a thing, usually in bvr scenario even without afterburners in supercruise, these variable inlets will be down
You can see the the ramps hide the engine (the stuff below is the radar blocker NOT the engine)
still from few angles the engines can be visible like yf23, but the thing is there is also the radar blocker in it which does a excellent job in deflecting the radar waves
instead of using the daddy lockheed principle of completely using serpentine intakes to hide engines, they took a practical (by practical i mean which doesnt add a hell lot of weight) but a slightly worse (not game breaking as people say it to be)
The inlets are coated with RAM and is designed to make the radar waves do MULTIPLE reflections through these RAM coated surfaces which makes it drastically harder to detect.
the “ball IRST” isnt much of a problem because it turns back when not in use exposing a thick RAM coating behind it. not the best solution but still works.
there were images floating around of a render of su57 with a faceted IRST but i couldnt verify if it was just a fan made render or from sukhoi
heard this so many times, NO. its made to be aerodynamic, and similar structures like these (for eg. the inlet guide vanes) “obstruct” the airflow, but they rather help to streamline airflow more
this isnt comparable to F117 either which is a completely different story, not to mention its grills were way more dense, the airframe was horrible in aerodynamic aspect, couldnt use afterburners, its engine from rear was literally blocked from behind using a chunk of a airframe
also regarding the variable ramps, its used in multiple aircraft to achieve higher supersonic speeds, like for eg in f14 and f15
Perhaps they just don’t want the edges on a faceted design blocking parts of the FOV. It’s surely not about building the thing itself, since TP23/26 were faceted designs already on the M23.
its like… a jet thats nearly 30 years old, vs a jet that was just put into service in 2020 isn’t going to AGE… thats why i laugh at most people who make threads like this. The entire post is comedic gold.
the major comedic thing is how people completely derail the topic by bringing in stuff “economy” and “tank failures” and the weirdest thing of all “nuh uh f22 is air superiority/multirole”
Personally, I don’t interpret the words “Is it not clear to you?” in a response to a question, “What are you rambling about?” as cope, but you do you 🙏🏽😁
I might @ him so he can kindly explain to you as well! @TheArcticFoxxo