Sardaukar
Posts: 9847
Joined: 11/28/2001 From: Finland/Israel Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DWReese A few days ago, someone brought up the topic of Stealth. I have never paid any attention to any of the ratings established by CMANO, and have always taken them as being an absolute. I still do. I have no knowledge of anything pertaining to this, and CMANO's estimates are way better than anything that I could ever come up with, so the story ends there. That being said, I started looking at the various RCS ratings for some of the Stealthy planes and, if I read things correctly (and I don't know if I am), a NEGATIVE number in the two RADAR sections (A-D and E-M) indicates a stealthier plane. I concluded this because all of the "known" stealthy A/C have NEGATIVE NUMBERS, so it must be true. Again, I have no issue with any of the numbers, so I may be off base. Here is my question......All of the similar planes within a specific model always seem to have the same RCS Signature. That would make sense. The F-16 CM Blk 50 has a RCS (A-D) at 3.4, and a RCS of 2.1 in the E-M category. But, there is a special version of this plane (perhaps it's a hypothetical unit) that has a much lower RCS. This unit (DB #4612) is also a a F-16 CM Blk 50, but has something written to the side that indicates "have Glass RCS." The RCS for this particular plane is at -18.8 and -28.7, respectively. Obviously, this is almost at "stealthy" as the F-22, the F-35, and the B-2. It is even more stealthy than China's J-20.......Does this plane actually exist? Is this something that will be re-fitted for all of the F-16 CM Blk 50 planes? Or, is this just something that is fantasy? It is listed as in service in 2017 in the DB, with no indication of it being hypothetical, so I assume that it is real. If so, this is a huge change. So, does anyone have any knowledge about this plane's actual existence? Thanks in advance. Doug It is this: https://theaviationist.com/2012/08/30/have-glass/ All the U.S. “Wild Weasel” F-16s are being given a new paint job similar to the one of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It is called “Have Glass 5th generation” as it represents the evolution of the standard Have Glass program that saw all the F-16s receiving a two-tone grey color scheme made with a special radar-absorbing paint capable to reduce the aircraft Radar Cross Section: in fact, “Vipers” are covered with RAM (Radar Absorbent Material) made of microscopic metal grains that can degrade the radar signature of the aircraft. For the moment, the JSF-like paint job will be applied to the F-16CM (formerly CJ) Block 50 Fighting Falcon aircraft that can carry a variety of air-to-air and air-to-surface ordnance, including HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles) and precision-guided munitions. Their role is to enter the enemy territory ahead of the strike package to take care of the enemy air defenses: radars and fixed and mobile SAM (Surface to Air Missiles) batteries. Therefore, the units that will fly with the F-16CMs in the new color scheme will be those tasked with SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) missions: the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem (Germany), the 35th FW at Misawa (Japan), the 20th FW at Shaw Air Force Base, the 169th FW at McEntire Joint National Guard Base (SC), and 148th FW at Duluth International Airport, (MN). Whilst two aircraft in the U.S. flew the Have Glass 4 paint job for test purposes (98-0004 and 98-0005 flying with the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron from Eglin AFB) the first aircraft spotted in the new livery is a Minnesota ANG F-16CM, 91-0391, that is currently deployed at Kandahar, Afghanistan. The F-35 will replace the F-16CM in the SEAD role in the future.
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"To meaningless French Idealism, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality...we answer with German Realism, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery" -Prince von Bülov, 1870-
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