Phalanx

Well, I believe that the Valkyrie 2 would look better with the SAP on if the wings were swept out since they are retracted so inward that they overlap the fuselage when the SAP is on.Other than that, I like it either with or with out the SAP.

Shin, quick question, did U.S Today mention anything about the dogfighting exercises taking place at "Red Flag" Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada because that's the only known place in the U.S where they conduct air combat exercises with pilots from around the globe. If it did, I would have assumed that the U.S should have the home field advantage against the Indians and their Su-30MK1.

What also helps make the Flanker including all of it's variants able dogfighters and the Mig-29 and Mig-33 as well is their special helmet mounted targeting system(I think German, Russian, adnUkrainian variants are the only one's that have this) in which the pilot just has to jerk his head in the position of the enemy fighter just to achieve a lock on opposed to American and European(I think) aircraft that require the pilot to line up the nose of their aircraft just to obtain a solid lock on. Sure I'll admit Russia has superior fighters but they don't have suitable multi-role capabilities just like American and European fighters. The only Russian fighter that has this is the Su-34 Platypus which serves as a fighter/bomber as well as the Su-30MKII Zhuravlik. The Flankers and Fulcrum have may have a more sleeker look to them but in terms of design, there's not much variation since they are just mere updates of original models. (It's aslo worth noting that the Su-33 is my favorite Flanker variant) The Su-47 is Russia's first sewpt forward three surface wing design and boasts far more maneuvaribilty than the Raptor I think that it strongly has something to do with it having lateral 3-d thrust vectoring nozzles opposed to the Raptor's 2-D vertical vectoring. I also believe that MIG-1.44 may be a complementing fighter to the Su-47 since it boasts identical capabilities. I aslo believe that the mysterious MIG-37 Ferret may not enter service at all. European fighters don't have much of a fear factor in terms of design but the only fighter that I'm feeling is the Rafale since it looks more sleeker than EFA2000 Eurofighter Typhoon. As for Sweden's JAS-39 Gripen, I'm not fond of it's design and I wish that the Saab Viggen was updated with avionics to compete against comtemporary fighters but I think that the plane is long retired from service.

Thanx for pointing that out Knight26. I must admit, when it comes to me making suggestions or recommendations for modifications of aircraft, I don't consider the downsides to doing so since I honestly take U.S military technology for granted. I just assume that since we have superior technology, I feel that we can make just about anything possible with todays aircraft. Also, about the AV-8B and JSF, because they only have a sufficeint amount of fuel that allows them to hover for about 90 seconds, that pretty much epitiomizes why they are lightweight and short according to British Aerospace with their Harrier in which they originally intended to make it fighter size but it's heavy weight didn't produce powerful thrust for hovering so they made it lighter with a shorter wingspan. However, I do feel that stealth aircraft should havethis capability because the Harrier and the JSF are perfect examples of what all fighter aircraft should do because not all fighters should be limited to just flying. Since aircraft can fly in general like birds and winged insects, I agree that aircraft should be able to mimic the flying abiliteis of birds and winged insects to hover as well. I know that this not feasible and there are extreme downsides to this but this was according to an expert aerospace historian that I saw on Top 10 Fighters on the Military channel.

I've lurked around MW since November of 2002. Joined the MW forum one month ago.

Hey, check this out about the Fighter/Bomber variant of the F-22 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/sys...craft/fb-22.htm I remember seeing this about 2 years ago when I first visited this site for jet pics and judging by the looks of it, the may be a very able medium bomber. It kinda reminds me of the V/B-22 Jagd Vogel VF that SK created in terms of it's design.

You know what, to make the new age stealth fighters more versatile in terms of combat roles, I think that it would be best if the F-22, and the YF-23 be given the ability to hover instead of having have just the XF-35 be the only one to do so. Despite the fact that the F-22 is just an air superior fighter and the YF-23 would probably be a long range strike fighter/bomber if were to enter service, I think that it probably would be a good idea for them to have hover capabilites in the event that if it needs to be deployed and theres no runway or airstrip in anyform, whether it be a highway or drag racing track to take off from, the F-22 or YF-23 would be able to be deployed immediately like the AV-8B and the JSF can with their STOVAL or VTOL capabilites. Also, since the X-35 JSF is supposed to be used by the U.S ARMY, NAVY, MARINES and the British Royal AF, I think that this capability with the F-22 and YF-23 would perfectly complement the X-35 JSF as a suitable reinforcement for it or perhaps I may be wrong.

Funny that you guys should bring up the DH 98 Mosquito because aerospace historian experts say that this was actually the first STEALTH plane ever because it's airframe was made of wood and since it had no radar cross section as a result of this, I t was optimized for both day and night bombing raids. P.S. I saw this information on a show called Top 10 Bombers on the Military channel.

Now that I think about it Nied, you're right because the VA-14 has laser cannons in place of where the missle launcher's are on the VF-14 which makes it optimized for various attacks. Also due to the VF's lighter size that makes it more maneuverable than the VF-14 which is optimized for heavy assault and bombing missions, so the run down is this: VA-14: Lightweight Fighter/Attacker/Bomber Zentraedi Version VF-14: Heavyweight Heavy Duty Fighter/Bomber Standard U.N Spacy Version

G Kuroryuu, I rememeber seeing an episode of Firepower on the Military channel and they showed a squadron of 5 F-15's that decided to go up against two F-22's to see if the F-15's could tangle with them in air combat but they all got served. I also agree that the YF-23 looks far better than the F-22 because of it's innovative sci-fi UFO like design, but the reason why it didn't win the competition against the F-22 was because of one thing; it didn't fire a missle. How retarded is that?

I just thought about the designs of the VF-14 Hunter and the VA-14 Vampire and that made me wonder as to if the VA-14 can be called an atmospheric variant and the VF-14 be called a space variant.? I'm fully aware of the fact that the VA-14 is a Zentraedi version of the original VF-14, both variants have transatmospheric capabilities, and that SK never officialy declared one or the other as being atmospheric or space optimized, but I have reasonable doubt to believe that the VA-14 can be considered an atmospheric variant based on it's design aesthetics compared to the VF-14. What's your thoughts on this?

This question is for Knight 26 and Skull leader. Since you guys are fighter pilots do you guys know if the YF-23 is going to enter service anytime soon with the F-22? It would be a shame to see N.Grummans stealth masterpiece go to waste with no use in service.

Don't get me wrong Phyrox, I like Gundam but not the others that came out after Gundam Wing because for some reason IMHO, these Gundam series lost all their spunk with their redundant plot's. I actually like the original U.C Gundam series as well as G Gundam but like I said before, I'm not fond of the Gundam series that came out after G Wing for the same reasons why a vast majority of people stopped watching Power Rangers, they kept on coming out with a new and sh*ttier version of the series rough every year. No offense and disrespect to anyone but I was just being honest.

You know what, frack all of those Gundam series. I think G Gundam was the greatest and unique series of all time because it had a tournament fight theme to it and there was action guaranteed on every episode unlike in those other series where there's all talk and no action in some of those episodes.

Is it me or does SK look a little Arabic or Middle Eastern in that pic?

Wow Roy I didn't know he was that tall. I just assumed that he was around 5'11 which is my height. I never met him up close and personal but I do know that he's 46 years old.

Thanks Kalvasflam, I plan on being an aerospace engineerer and I'm working to get my degree in that field. I think that you should get a career in the aerospace industry since Gaijin recommended that to me when I started my chiildish topic about Japan should start making fighter's based off the designs in anime. Also Kalvas, you said that the last time bomber planes had gun turrets was back during WW2, it turns out that the B-58 Hustler was actually the last bomber to have turrets. It was actually a cannon with a flexible nozzle mounted on the back but Boeing got rid of it because the aircraft flies too fast for the bullets to hit any pursuing fighters. The factor that contributed to all those bombers being shot down during WW2 was the fact that their size and lack of manuverablity was what made them easy targets and prone to getting shot down. I think that adding a rear mounted mini-missle system to the design of the B-2 would be rational since they have greater range than machine gun rounds as well as that idea Nied had about an advanced ECM system. Or evn better, if technologically feasible, add mini vernier jets along the hull of the aircraft to give the B-2 decent maneuverabilty to dogfight.

I agree Seto for the same reasons but my reasons for liking it is because it reminds me of my favorite modern day fighter of all time the F-14 and it's airframe design has a radical, sci-fiish. innovative look to it that pretty much paints a vivid portrait and gives us all a good idea of how fighter planes in the late 21st century should look. In addition to that, what makes this fighter so unique is the fact that this is the only Macross VF redesigned based off an original variant to have a highly futuristic aiframe to it and the fact that it has it's own distinct FAST pack known as the SAP system. I also agree Seto, I'm not all that fond of Gundam either after Gundam W. The whole gundam series went down hill after that. The only Gundam series I liked was G Gundam because it wasn't like the rest of the Gundam series that were about colony wars and it was more action packed than all the others and the action was guaranteed to every episode. Unlike some of those series where some of the episodes are all talk and no action, that's why I feel that G Gundam was unique from the other Gundam series

Well David I mean you no disrespect but I didn't say anything about B-2's being stealthy enough that missles can't home in on it, but I was just strictly saying that I think that it may be a good idea to have some sort of effective defense method just to be even more safe in the somewhat likelyhood event that you just so happened to be detected or the stealth fails so that you can be ready to defend yourself while trying to evade enemy radar and hostiles. I know that 99.9% of the time, stealth planes successfully complete their mission without being shot down with the exception of that one F-117 that went down over Kosovo but like I said before, it would be best to have some defensive weapons just to be even more safe and give the pilots peace of mind.

No offense and disrespect Zinjo but Seto Kaiba politely asked that this mini VF/Gundam comparison discussion end right away since he regrets bringing it up and doesn't want Gundam fans talking about how better Gundams are against VF's. So let's show some respect for Seto's demand OK?

Well here's my Macross Character drawings I actually submitted 2 weeks earlier but didn't get much feed back. I actually wanted to add some pics of my favorite VF, the VF-2SS into my charcter drawings as a collage but didn't have enough room to do so.

OK, Kalvasflam but if that was the problem, has the USAF ever considered adding some sort of defensive gun system to the airframe of the B-2 as a secondary defense if the aircraft is spotted visually and came under attack by a swarm of MIG's because I always thought that it would be a good idea for a bomber plane to have some sort of offensive/defensive countermeasure to protect itself in combat. I really wouldn't like to fly a military aircraft whether it be a fighter, bomber or cargo transporter without any weapons. Also IMHO, I feel that that's what all stealth bomber planes should have since WW2 bombers have gun turrets for protection against enemy planes.

So does that pretty much epitomize why the F-117 and B-2 engines are turbofans with vents so that it can reduce their heat signature? Also when you say that the B-2 is painted grey because it blends in at high altitudes, is it because of the small layer of RAM painted on the airframes surface, since I take it that RAM polymer is grey? If that was the case with the B-2, wouldn't it be logical to take some B-2's and paint some of them light blue for daytime surgical bombing runs, whitish grey, for rainy and snow environments during the day or that will that not work because the normal layers of colores paint will mess up the thin layer of RAM? I always assumed that the B-2 was painted greyish black because I believe that it was optimized soley for night time bombing campaign missions since 99.9% of the time, you hear about it completing night bombings.

Boxer, I think the poll information is a liitle confusing but now that I read it carefully, I prefer my mecha as Variable(than one) because it's more convieniently versatile to the pilot and it helps in all situations.

Dave, all of this makes me believe that stealth technology is still in it's primitive stages because there hasn't been any noticable advancement in stealth technology since all we have is RAM and the use of angled surfaces and geometrically shaped body parts to act as stealth capabilites. Also, when you say that heat is problem with stealth because their are instruments that can detect heat signatures, this makes me feel that USAF is working on technology that makes aircfraft stealthy in all aspects like you supposedly say, and I agree. I'm aware of the fact the USAF is working on making fighters immune to detection visually, audioally (don't know if thats a real word).