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johnnyjetpilot
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Outwardly canted fins, internal weapons. Story and photos here:
Boeing says the coatings could contibute to an equivalent amount of front-aspect stealth as that offered by Lockheed's F-35. This includes reducing radar returns from sharp edges on the aircraft, including antennae.
More sources with video, pic's and info:johnnyjetpilot said:Outwardly canted fins, internal weapons. Story and photos here:
Trident said:What about the nozzles... LOAN?
AeroFranz said:Beat me to the punchline ;D
interesting, not sure how much can be done to turn the -15 into a truly stealthy platform. I guess Boeing thinks they can still get a useful RCS reduction.
Boeing says the coatings could contibute to an equivalent amount of front-aspect stealth as that offered by Lockheed's F-35. This includes reducing radar returns from sharp edges on the aircraft, including antennae.
Ahem....either the F-35 people don't know what they're doing, or Boeing has got some serious super-duper coatings.
donnage99 said:they talking about frontal RCS, not rear or side, bottom, etc. Just frontal. It just gives you an advantage in term of stealth against a head on engagement with an enemy of the same generation.
CFE said:It's possible but not probable. If missiles were housed in shapes similar to the existing F-16E/F CFT's, they'd have to be launched prett darn close to the upper surface of the plane. If a missile hangs up, it's going to be a pretty bad day for the pilot when the missile comes crashing down. Then again, the EE Lightning and Sepecat Jaguar carried AAM's above the wing, so I wouldn't rule it out.
fightingirish said:CFE said:It's possible but not probable. If missiles were housed in shapes similar to the existing F-16E/F CFT's, they'd have to be launched prett darn close to the upper surface of the plane. If a missile hangs up, it's going to be a pretty bad day for the pilot when the missile comes crashing down. Then again, the EE Lightning and Sepecat Jaguar carried AAM's above the wing, so I wouldn't rule it out.
Yes, but those missiles were launched on the rails. The AIM-120 falls first and then the motor starts.
lantinian said:However the biggest surprise to me was when they began the work on the new project - LAST SEPTEMBER. That's less than half a year ago. Now, that is some fast quality engineering.
Lantinian, I'd be curious to know exactly how much effort went into this at this point. Frankly, all the mods that we have seen are 'cosmetic' and fairly obvious, and most of the people on this forum could have come up with them in one brainstorming session had they been asked how to cut the RCS of an F-15.
ST. LOUIS, March 17, 2009 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today in St. Louis unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration designed to meet the future needs of international customers.
"The F-15 Silent Eagle is designed to meet our international customers' anticipated need for cost-effective stealth technologies, as well as for large and diverse weapons payloads," said Mark Bass, F-15 Program vice president for Boeing. "The innovative Silent Eagle is a balanced, affordable approach designed to meet future survivability needs."
Improvements in stealth include coatings and treatments on the aircraft. With the added advantage of redesigned conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) that allow for internal weapons carriage, the Silent Eagle becomes a very attractive fighter for Boeing's international customers.
Depending on the specific mission, the customer can use the CFTs that are designed for internal carriage or change back to the traditional CFTs for optimum fuel capacity and external weapons carriage. The Silent Eagle will be able to internally carry air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-9 and AIM-120 and air-to-ground weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The standard weapons load used on current versions of the F-15 is available with the traditional CFTs installed.
The aircraft's canted vertical tails improve aerodynamic efficiency, provide lift, and reduce airframe weight. Another aerodynamic improvement is the Digital Flight Control System, which improves the aircraft's reliability and reduces airframe weight.
Survivability improvements include a BAES Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) working in concert with the Raytheon Advanced Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar.
Boeing has completed a conceptual prototype of the CFT internal-carriage concept, and plans to flight-test a prototype by the first quarter of 2010, including a live missile launch.
The design, development, and test of this internal carriage system are available as a collaborative project with an international aerospace partner.
AeroJadeXG said:Anyone also notice that the cockpit still has metal hoops, and leaves the pilot's head in view? I know it sounds crazy, but those metal rings in the canopy and the pilot's head are both big radar targets. Both can be coated in RAM, I suppose, but it was a big enough deal that the F-22 went to a lot of trouble removing those bands. There's one in the JSF as well, and I'm unaware of the details behind it, but it appears to be very different from what is seen in previous generation fighters. (it's a fairly thick band of something, which suggests, at least to me, that it may well not be metal)
Indeed... and i can imagine a Big frontal engine radar return as well.
Sundog said:Indeed... and i can imagine a Big frontal engine radar return as well.
I don't expect a big frontal engine return, as fan blockers that hide the engine face have been publicly known since the 90's.
sferrin said:No radar blockers in the intake.
I didn't know that all AF and army aircrafts have radar absorbant paints ??? Where did you get this info?Desert Dawn said:It must be noted that all USAF and Army aircrafts (including old types) are already coated with radar absorbant paint.
how much fuel will f-15SE carry internally?
Boeing says that the aircraft loses most of the 1500 US gal of fuel in the CFTs, but that other changes - some fuel in the new CFTs and a more compact EW suite from BAE Systems - restore some 550 US gal.
The Mach 2.5 speed of the Strike Eagle is maintained, but the cost is about 180-200 nautical miles of range capability because of the reduce fuel in the conformal tanks, says Brad Jones, program manger for F-15 future programs.