U.S. Air Force Said Poised to Award Bomber Contract Tuesday

a reply to: BigTrain
a capacity of stealth with very high altitude over the most of SAM capacity sometimes could serve more than speed , may be it would be the key to survive in a very hostile territory, and a BVR AA defense can be a very good capacity too.

originally posted by: BigTrain
how exactly do you get out of there going 650 MPH?

Well, it really depends on the geometry of the interception: How close the MiG's are, and in what direction, etc My guess is you'd want to keep yourself out of that engagement envelope, which is probably not terribly difficult to do assuming you have some sort of idea where the "standby" MiGs are hanging out these days

Even relatively "slow" speeds like 650mph can create some pretty impressive interception problems. In many circumstances more than going fast because you are pretty quickly "getting out of there".


At Mach 2+ (which I assume is the alternative you are advocating) how much time/distance is spent travelling toward the threat before sufficiently slowing, turning and then finally, accelerating and trying to put distance between you and the threat? Hint: more than you think, and more than might be healthy.

Additionally it will be able to defend itself via beyond visual range using air-to-air missiles.

a reply to: intelgurl

This is accurate. I wanted to write a post of this but I'm still working on the details. The issue is lighting up the bombers targeting radar over hostile airspace is suicide. I've heard independently they've figured out an interesting way around this.

originally posted by: Barnalby
a reply to: intelgurl

"A radical departure from the typical" - I'm guessing the Lockheed bird

"The other was exactly what you'd expect" - sounds like Northrop's cranked kite on steroids.

Given all the emphasis on stealthy loitering and battlefield management, this sounds a lot like it's the de facto J-STARS/E-3 replacement.

Perhaps depends on what's loaded in the payload bay. One battle management JSTARS, two bombers + 3 UCAV's in a package?

Once you've made a long-range stealth carrier of mass, why does it have to be limited to bombing?

a reply to: aholic

There are three ways around it, all three of which are on the aircraft.

Stupid question time !! Have any of the prototypes left US mainland soil ? If so would it of likely visited any UK bases? I haven't spent much time on ATS recently so falling behind on a lot of things .. Just reading the last few pages of this thread has got me excited

Another silly question.. When will the new LRSB been unveiled to public eyes (rough time frame)

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

Yes to your first question. Scotland I believe.

We won't get to see the real deal in the open for at least another year. "According to the Pentagon", the thing hadn't been built yet.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: aholic

There are three ways around it, all three of which are on the aircraft.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Cheers Sam thanks for putting up with my silly questions ahh I'm moving to Scotland when I can I live that place do much better than south England ... One day I'll be in the right place at the right time n maybe get to see something out the ordinary

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

The US DoD and UK MoD loves it up there too.

a reply to: Sammamishman
Without going too off topic but I spent a week rough camping in the highlands of the Cairngorm Nation Park which is almost central Scotland .. Love the place so beautiful I'm definitely retiring there. No matter where you are in the hills and mountains your be sure to get buzzed by some sort of aircraft or heli on a training mission. Nothing beats beautiful scenery and low flying aircraft zipping about. And after what you just said.. Yeah I'm moving there

I'll shush now and let the thread carry on

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker
a reply to: Sammamishman
Without going too off topic but I spent a week rough camping in the highlands of the Cairngorm Nation Park which is almost central Scotland .. Love the place so beautiful I'm definitely retiring there. No matter where you are in the hills and mountains your be sure to get buzzed by some sort of aircraft or heli on a training mission. Nothing beats beautiful scenery and low flying aircraft zipping about. And after what you just said.. Yeah I'm moving there

I'll shush now and let the thread carry on

Try around the Tain area. Tornado's used to do low level practice around the beach and golf course area, and I mean LOW LEVEL! Not sure if they still do it now as it's been a few years since I was there.

Whether this question can be answered .. The new LRSB what sort of runway length would it require ?

Madmick: thanks for the heads up I'll bare that in mind for my next trip up there

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

It's just my guess but if it is a flying wing similar to the B-2 and is roughly 2/3rds the size and payload of a B-2 then I think 2/3rds the take off distance as the B-2 would be a safe estimate. It will depend on the power to weight ratio of the new power plants too

a reply to: Sammamishman

Will the winning "technology demonstrator" end up at Udvar-Hazy, with the loser going to Wright-Pat, like they did for the F-35?

a reply to: Barnalby

Probably not. There may be other uses for the loser. Don't count on seeing it any time soon.

a reply to: Barnalby

I concur with Zaph. The looser will be too good/mature/mind boggling of a platform to not utilize somewhere else. That does mean we will probably never get to see it though.

a reply to: Zaphod58

So Wright-Pat gets the winner, then?

And yeah I get that this will probably be the ATF all over again, with the "loser" going on to it's own bright future of sorts. What that entails, I'd imagine would be a product of whatever sort of advantage the LockMart bird had in terms of flight envelope/performance...

a reply to: Barnalby

What is the rumor about the YF-23? I thought both airframes were accounted for and sadly rotting in at least one case.

a reply to: anzha

So the rumor goes that the YF-23 evolved into the FB-23.