Message posted by Magoo on September 13, 2000 at 02:09:27 EST:
It could also work from above, if you were looking down at an aircraft but all you could see (theoretically) was the ground, i.e. a picture of the ground below the aircraft. BVR stands for Beyond Visual Range, i.e. 10+ NM distance. In Vietnam, one of the US's most potent air-to-air weapons of the time (the AIM-7E Sparrow AAM) was rendered basically useless because of restrictive rules of engagement (ROE). US pilots were required to close to Within Visual Range (WVR) to positively identify an aircraft visually, which meant they could only use the then notoriously unreliable AIM-9C/D Sidewinder, or their guns in close, usually against MiG-17s and MiG-21s which were more agile in close. This is why the F-4E model Phantom was produced, because pilots found they needed a gun badly in close which the earlier model Phantoms lacked. I doubt we will see a future conflict with such restrictive ROEs, as it is now possible to identify an aircraft type from BVR distances from its radar or heat signatures, or even from its flight profile. BVR fights with long range anti-air and anti-surface missiles, or GPS guided gliding bombs carried internally by LO (stealthy) platforms such as the F-22, JSF or (?) is the way of the future, and all non LO dogfighters will be obsolete against these platforms. There is still a market out there for your non LO F-16, MiG-29, Su-35 etc, but this is for nations that cannot afford the 'silver bullet' F-22, or perhaps to only to be brought out once the LO aircraft have won the air and achieved air-dominance, e.g. Gulf War! Magoo
In Reply to: Re: AREA 51 and fiber optic technology posted by Gary Sellani on September 13, 2000 at 01:17:09 EST:
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