I really need to visit the vtol test plates at dunsfold while they are still there (its also the top gear test track)
not bad for a mid cold war design I agree
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A cool thing I can always dream about is a supersonic Harrier 3
just go into a dive and it will just about do it.
Yeah, I agree that their designs are also quite interesting.
But even though that Yakovlev guys throw their best on their VTOL plan
Flaws in Forger and Freestyle make them look like a ‘Cheap Christmas gift which I can buy at a street vendor’
:|
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Fair it actually could quite easily break the sound barrier even with weapons stores.
All that was needed to make them supersonic in level flight was a redesigned intake.
They were also hopelessly out matched by the Harrier lol.
As well as not as pretty.
And those supersonics can lob their AMRAAMs from further and higher. Remaining safe from the Harriers’. They can also evade them much more easily.
And to expand on this, just for funsies:
The F-16s were carefully placed right in the Harrier’s combat envelope. The objective was to dogfight the enemy well within visual range, using a supersonic aircraft against a subsonic one. This is giving the harrier a HUGE advantage.
Besides, DACT isn’t always a great analog of capabilities:
Here is a 2 on 2 between the (then) brand new F-16s and the aging F-106s. The Delta Dart, however good it was, had no such advantages here - it wasn’t a subsonic and didn’t have a huge maneuvering advantage at low speeds, there was no fancy HUD, no FBW, worse missiles, worse radar, lower TWR - you name it.
Yet they managed a 3-0 win for an interceptor nearing 30 years old, with pilots that had no experience with each other’s aircraft - a huge difference from the previous DACT retelling.
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Read what @Morvran posted from the book Sea Harrier Over the Falklands.
The F-15s came in at 30,000 feet plus and had full access to AIM-7
Yes, and they closed in against an aircraft they were unfamiliar against, getting into heatseeker range instead of completely denying them the ability to do anything and staying far and high.
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Ok and do what, run away?
They couldn’t do much from up there.
The Harriers can defeat AIM7 down low leaving the F-15 no other choice.
The same outcome happened even after several fights.
Actually, the FA2s ability to loiter quite happily at 30k ft and its decent climb rate, often meant it could outstick most other fighters in engagements as they usually operated at lower Alts like 20k ft.
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That’s also true the Harrier has jet airliner levels of cruising altitude vs turbojets that need to use reheat or use a lot of fuel.
Often meaning that encounters would likely result in Harriers with around a 10,000 foot altitude advantage.
He doesn’t disclose exactly how he defeated the F-15’s radar even when it is much superior to any F-4 he could have flown. If it was a pre-7M variant (he claims 7E but I don’t recall the F-15 ever using them) then all you’d have to do is fly below the attacker aircraft to avoid them.
If they were simulating 7Es then it’s a moot point as that Sparrow variant would have been out of service by then.
With the 7M, the seeker is completely new and there’s no avoiding it. Especially not in a subsonic.
Subsonic.
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There are many ways to defeat it.
this was pilot error from not knowing the harrier. on an even playing field there’s no way a harrier wins out
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while thats a setback its not the be all end all. harrier is still a phenomenal aircraft if not limited in BVR and high altitude scenario
In terms of what?
Like close in low level dogfighting?
Or just if they had an overall battle.
Again, most aircraft of the 1990s where the FA2 saw its prime, did not have the ability to supercruise like later aircraft such as the Typhoon. To sit at supersonic speeds for extended amounts of time providing CAP/air policing was not viable for most aircraft, so most probably would be both sub-sonic and at a lower alt. (it’s RAF “supersonic” counter part in the Tornado F3, was almost always out sticked by the FA2)
Combine with the overwhelming advnatage Blue Vixen Provided. The FA2 proved to be one of the best fleet defence assets of the 1990s and proved itself in Bosnia.
So the FA2s Sub-sonic nature wasnt necessary as massive of a handicap as it first appears.
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By not going in for a dogfight and lobbing missiles from safe range. the harrier only wins in the style of 1v1 duels we do with our mates in custom matches or if they catch the F15 flight off guard entirely. if they know of each others presence from a long distance an F15 wins
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A core part of the FRS1 vs F-15 dogfights was that the NAS801 pilots had experience both using and defending Against the Aim-7 from their time as FG1 pilots. So they knew how to defend against Aim-7s and this resulted in the F-15s being forced into closer ranged combat.
Should also be noted the FRS1s had a notable disadvantage in not having either their radar or proper HUDs installed and so were entirely dependent on ground based radar controllers to vector them onto the fight
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