Murph Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Yeah, that's true. There is no other option, unfortunately.... :( What he said. The Rafale is an extremely capable fighter. Regards, Murph Link to post Share on other sites
hatchet Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 BTW, I think the "Sidewinder only" policy for Germany was somewhat, err, cosmetic :P:) It certainly wasn't cosmetic. The F-4F Phantom in it's original form had no CWI on it's APQ-120 radar. It was physically incapable of providing a homing beam for a Sparrow missile. You could technically fit the F-4F with Sparrows, as the bays were there, but you could do nothing with them. F-104G had no CWI on it's NASAAR radar either, this only came along with the NASAAR R21-G in the Italian and Turkish F-104S which could use Sparrow. Thus, prior to the introduction of the F-4F ICE with APG-65 and AIM-120 in the early 90's the Luftwaffe had no air to air capability other than Sidewinder. I stand corrected then :( I had heard (read, whatever) that the F-4Fs were only officially incapable of guiding Sparrows. I knew about the Starfighter (hence the "S for Sparrow" on the F-104S). Heck, our Zippers usually flew interception with gun only! Link to post Share on other sites
Rhinotank Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Has Boeing been pimping the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to Japan, or Dassault with the Rafale? JASDF Test pilots flew the Rhino last week here at Lemoore in an evaluation for a future potiental buy. They had been in St. Louis earlier in the week taking the Mud Hen for a test drive. I conducted the debrief for them...then ran some 2V2 intercepts, In-Flight-Refueling, and a 1V0 profile. Tank Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 I understand Japan has narrowed it down to the F-15E, F/A-18E/F and Typhoon .... Unless the F-22 gets approval for export to them ... Gregg Link to post Share on other sites
Paolo Maglio Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 I understand Japan has narrowed it down to the F-15E, F/A-18E/F and Typhoon .... Unless the F-22 gets approval for export to them ... Gregg I still hope for Typhoon to win, but I bet the winner would be the F-15EJ, especially if they will got EASA radar. There is and excellent and extensive article on this competition on curren Air Force Monthly magazine. Paolo Link to post Share on other sites
Andre Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Heck, our Zippers usually flew interception with gun only! ...which makes sense when your only weapon is a pair of AIM-9B's in typical European weather. ;-) Cheers, Andre Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts