JA Boomer

Well...the F-35 can't carry the AIM-9X internally, so in order to achieve the off-boresight capability, you have to sling Sidewinder's on the rails, somewhat defeating their stealth abilities. Pick your poison in this case...unless it is British F-35 which will be able to mount the ASRAAM internally.

One of my concerns with a potential CF-35 is than they will not be able to carry enough (or in the case of the AIM-9 the right missiles) for the job without loosing their stealth capabilties.

Zinja

But the SU-35, mig 29 & mig-35 can feature in that least, dont you think ?

Anywhere, i have a rather perculiar question: What does the F-35 do with 40000lb of thrust in one engine really? I saw a clip of the F-35 take off in full after burner, boy! Watching it taking off from the run way it looked like the frame was going to disintergrate into pieces. There was just too much raw power.

Jimmy

I'd be very surprised if the Sidewinder never finds its way into an F-35 weapons bay.

JA Boomer

You would have to put it on the door mount where the AIM-120 mount is currently I think. The door swings open either to fire the missile or to drop the weapon on the other station in the weapons bay while the AIM-120 is out of the way. It would have to be there to accomodate the AIM-9X's seeker, in the same way the Raptor's side weapon bays use trapeze mounts to give the Sidewinder a look before firing.

Now correct me if I am wrong...but does the AIM-9X need to aquire its target before leaving its launch aircraft? For some reason I believe that to be true, but that doesn't make sense for a missile with off-boresight capability because in an off-boresight shoot, the Sidewinder will not have aquired the target pre-shot. Could someone pleas straighen me out!?

I'm sure it is possible to integrate the AIM-9X into the weaposn bay as well, but even if they do, that a stealthy loadout of 2 AIM-9X and 2 AIM-120 correct? which is not all to great.

gunnut

Maybe there's a way to design a stealthy carrier pod that hangs under the wing of the F-35 which can carry 1 or 2 A2A missiles. The pod can be designed so that the sidewinder can see out from a window.

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JA Boomer

Quite frankly, I am surprised the various US service branches and other involved militaries have let the F-35 to through detailed design knowing the AIM-9X can not be carried internally, and knowing the F-35 can only haul 4 x AIM-120 on a stealthy mission.

I realize air combat is not its primary mission, but I would have guessed a stealthy loadout would have consisted of 2 x 2000lb bombs, 2 x AIM-120, and 2 x AIM-9X, so at least in an air combat role it would be able to mount 4 x AIM-120 and 2 x AIM-9X.

I realize the US forces don't really care, but for instance Canada, where the CF-35 will be performing air-to-air missions, will have to comprimize the stealthy aspects of the design in order to load more than 4 missiles. I'm sure the plane still has a reduce radar return compared to 4th generation fighters even when carrying a few external missiles...but it is almost looking to make more sense to purchase Eurofighters for the role. I really don't know how stealthy a CF-35 will be, will it not likely have to carry external fuel tanks as well as missiles on several mission profiles?

omeko3

Am I wrong, but I always thought the aim 9x could lock on after launch, thus the fact that it was in the bay would not matter. By the way when has canada's military mattered? The US would be behind you in any conflict they were in, yes?

JA Boomer

NICE, maybe it matters to the men and woman who proudly serve in the Canadian Forces? Maybe it matters that we as a country have the capability to properly defend our airspace? Maybe it matters that we have the capability to support the US and other allies in operations as we have done effectively in the past? Maybe we should have the capabilty to take care of business when the US does not see the need to 'do it for us'?

omeko3

I agree that they matter, just as much as any one person in any military matters, I was just pressing a point of the alligance between the US and Canada.

JA Boomer

True, it is nice to be close allies with the largest and most capable military force in the world. Meaning that we have instant back-up in almost every situation where we need it, but that does not mean we should not have a capable fighter force of our own. Also, shouldn't the US want us to have our own fighter force, they shouldn't feel the need to babysit us.

We will never have a large military like the US, but we should at least maintain a capable force to perform the few most basic mission assigned to the Canadian Forces, and I belive the defense of Canadian airspace is one of these missions.

omeko3

But, I know that that we will never speak of the competency between our countries pilots, we must recognize that the aerospace industry did sadly die in Canada.

gunnut

It mattered when our fighters were all grounded and needed Canadians to cover our ass.

citanon

Well, a google search for (AIM 9X Internal Carriage F35) turned up 626 pages. On the other hand, a search for (alien UFO) turned up 530,000 pages and a search for (bigfoot) turned up 12,300,000. This means, of course, that we are 1000 time more likely to see an alien ufo and 20,000 times more likely to see a bigfoot than internal carriage of the AIM 9X by the F35 in our lifetime.

On the other hand, Britain seems intent on internally mounting ASRAAM. Is there any work on letting AMRAAM function in WVR air combat?

JA Boomer

I don't get it? Sure, our aerospace industry is not what it used to be, what does that have to do with anything in this thread?

Tin Man

9X has always had a LOAL capability. The USAF has elected not to use the missile in this way. Too dangerous for wingmen et al. It could easily be cued by the F-35`s sensor suite or radar.
Additionally, on the F-22 front, 9x is not an urgent requirement right now. Other needed systems have priority.

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