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Dude first of all i am not telling who will detect whom first.. i am just mentioning RCS is not a factor for 4++ gen fighters. Even if the RCS in clean config is less, the missiles loaded will shoot the RCS atleast more than 7 m2 depending on the loading.. so enemies no something is beeping on there radar monitor..
Second to identify it is an enemy, there is IFF and AWACS which will do the job.. so the chance for a friendly fire is very very low ... This you can relate it to Red flag
Of course it is, because the earlier you can detect your opponent, the earlier you can avioid beeing detected and get into position for the first shot! The RCS of a fighter is always highly debatable, but when 2 fighters that carries the same ammount of fuel tanks and missiles in A2A config, the one with a lower RCS in clean config should have an advantage don't you think? Also a fighter radar has only a limited field of view, so only in this field of view you are able to detect an enemy and the further you are at the outer areas of the FOV, the less capable will be the detection and a lower RCS will be even more of advantage.
Think about how many IAF fighters today has IFF and how many AWACS aircrafts IAF has, now add the vast area IAF has to protect and you will understand that friendly fire is very likely if IAF will not visually identify the target first. Red Flag was even one of the key reasons why IAF now upgrades it's fighters with IFF transponders, because they learned how limited you capabilities will be, when you have "something" (like you said) on your radar, but has no other possibility to identify it or link with the AWACS. Full AWACS and IFF capability will be part of the netcentric capabilities Indian forces are aiming to, but that will not be available in full fledge until 2020 possibly.
Even NATO with AWACS and common data links and IFF normally identify their targets first before shooting and the long range visual ID is one of the key advantages of Rafale with FSO btw!
How is that logic make sense? two with same fuel tank and same A2A missile will be mapped to cleaner RCS?.. buddy RCS increases multiple times when you put them under the wing and will not be equal to cleaner RCS.. if your's and enemy's fighter has cleaner config of 1 and 2 m2 RCS and if you put the missile under belly each will go to 9m2 to 8m2 RCS atleast.. so how do you map that back to 1, 2 m2 RCS .. it is well enough for the fighters to detect each other atleast 150 KM far apart... and how do you position yourself form such far distance? countries like Pakistan and China will come to know when a fighter is in Air atleast 200 KM of radius with there AWACS on Air.. so unless fighters dont have the capability to identify around 50 KM of radar range it make sense... because the moment you position yourself , in war if you have to fight you have to come within no escape zone to fire which makes your aircraft also visible to enemy's radarOf course it is, because the earlier you can detect your opponent, the earlier you can avioid beeing detected and get into position for the first shot! The RCS of a fighter is always highly debatable, but when 2 fighters that carries the same ammount of fuel tanks and missiles in A2A config, the one with a lower RCS in clean config should have an advantage don't you think? Also a fighter radar has only a limited field of view, so only in this field of view you are able to detect an enemy and the further you are at the outer areas of the FOV, the less capable will be the detection and a lower RCS will be even more of advantage.
Think about how many IAF fighters today has IFF and how many AWACS aircrafts IAF has, now add the vast area IAF has to protect and you will understand that friendly fire is very likely if IAF will not visually identify the target first. Red Flag was even one of the key reasons why IAF now upgrades it's fighters with IFF transponders, because they learned how limited you capabilities will be, when you have "something" (like you said) on your radar, but has no other possibility to identify it or link with the AWACS. Full AWACS and IFF capability will be part of the netcentric capabilities Indian forces are aiming to, but that will not be available in full fledge until 2020 possibly.
Even NATO with AWACS and common data links and IFF normally identify their targets first before shooting and the long range visual ID is one of the key advantages of Rafale with FSO btw!
and how do you position yourself form such far distance?
so unless fighters dont have the capability to identify around 50 KM of radar range it make sense
Thats why all the offender aircraft in IAF has been upgraded to have IFF..
in future AESA side arrays in Pak Fa / FGFA or Rafale will be a big improvement in the detection capability.
I was talking about not clean configuration.I guess the best AIM 120D and meteor will have a no escape zone within 60 KM for sure.. secondly the RCS you are talking is not a fixed one and it varies when you carry a weapon under the wings and belly... because the fins on missiles , the missile surface the pylons and the drop tanks will definitely increases RCS tremendously ...
and your claim is on clean configuration which does not apply when they carry a missile
First of all, I don't debate on RCS figures, because these are classified and all the forum talk about it are mainly estimations and not credible. You say a simple AAM will add the RCS so much, while way bigger cruise missiles are generally estimated with a RCS of 1m2 (see Beriev A50 or Saabs Erieye specs for example). Also it depends on many other factors too, FOV, jamming as 500 explained...
Secondly, lets say an MKI detects an enemy, but the from the side, so it's not in the FOV of the enemies radar. The MKI pilot will not shoot at maximum missile range or so, but will keep out of the enemies detection and close it to the no escape zone, identify the target visually or by AWACS for example and then will fire it's missiles.
You are highly mistaken if you think that all air combats will be head on engagements, or that only if a radar has a maximum range of several 100s of Km, that any enemy will be detected in that range too. Only with AWACS support, the fighters will get a full view of the surrounding air space, but limited to their own radars, they will have just a limited situational awareness. That's why AWACS, latest ESM capabilities like Rafale and EF offers, or in future AESA side arrays in Pak Fa / FGFA or Rafale will be a big improvement in the detection capability. The swashplate AESA of EF and Gripen is another example, it increases the field of view and give a fighter that is limited to it's radar alone, way more chances to detect and track targets, while the swashplate design itself is contradictory to the advantages of AESA, because you actually don't have to move the radar anymore, since the beam can be directed to different positions.
That's where IRST or optical systems helps. EF and Rafale for example can identify targets up to 40Km with IRST, while FSOs TV channel, especially the new one will increase this range even more. So identification within the no escape zone will be possible.
Wrong, the Migs are the first that will get them through the upgrade, same will happen with MKIs and M2Ks during their upgrades and most probably with LCA when it comes. Rafale has it already, but all this is not avalable from day one of the upgrade of course, it takes years just to upgrade the Migs and M2ks, even longer to upgrade 100 MKIs, not to forget that there are 100s of Mig 21, 27s or Jags are in the fleet, which haven't this capability.
Also your example of Jags beeing escorted by Mig 29s is even the best example why visual ID is important! A Mig that escorts a strike package and that will be attacked by enemy interceptors can't simply shoot at any dot that appears on it's radar. It has to distinguis between the Jags and F16s for example, how do you do it in the middle of a fight?
That's exactly what happened in Red Flag, where MKIs that acted as escorts, often killed fighters of their own team during air combats, because they couldn't distinguish the targets on the radar and with limited AWACS support.
IAF has the aim of building up a complete netcentric warfar capable fleet, but that will take a lot of time and efford. Visual ID will remain important for a long time and only we take paper specs of radars or missiles about maximum detection or missile ranges, doesn't mean that a realistic air combat would be done with these specs. Just search a bit for the ranges where the US fighters used their Amraams during the Iraq wars for example and that allthough they had AWACS, long range fighter radars and missiles, as well as jamming capabilities. There are many factors that changes things in air combats and that has to be taken to account!