Iraq was (very) well-equipped for conventional warfare back in 1991,
but US was packing numerous surprises of its own which became apparent during the course of war; Vietnam was a fantastic teacher.
Imagine yourself as a 'distant observer' with
limited knowledge of latest developments up to 1991... Pakistan's then COAS Mirza Aslam Beg was
betting on Iraq as well [before the war started]. Go figure.
Source: Air Force Magazine (1996)
MiG-25, MiG-29 and Mirage F1 were much like Su-3x variants and Rafale of modern times.
Iraqi defenses were obviously ALERT and expecting an attack from US-led forces at any point in time [after] the buildup around its borders, and the deadline issued to Iraq for withdrawal from Kuwait had expired. However, F-117 aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles took them by surprise - they had virtually no experience and exposure to these platforms up to this point in time. Anybody who believe that Iraqi defenses were able to track movements of these airborne assets in real-time, is LYING. With nothing significant turning up on radar screens, Iraqi defenses had no choice but to spray their airspace with AA fire in all directions in the hopes of knocking down potential intruders - but this didn't work.
Footage of an F-117 disabling potential targets in the Al Taqqadum airbase near Fallujah during the initial days of the Gulf War in 1991:
Do you think a conventional aircraft could pull this off in its place at that point in time?
Lot of juicy information in this link:
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/how-stealth-was-baptized-by-fire-in-desert-storm-25-yea-1753796745
"At 2:51 a.m. on the morning of January 17, 1991, Major Greg Feest dropped the first bomb of Operation Desert Storm as part of the first ten aircraft to raid key strategic sites around Baghdad. Two more waves of F-117s would follow on the 17th.
Even though estimates for combat losses were as high as five percent, all the jets returned after their sorties that first night. Stealth had passed with flying colors.
The F-117 was one of only three weapons that were cleared to strike targets in downtown Baghdad, the other two being a limited number of classified AGM-86C cruise missiles launched from B-52s under operation Secret Squirrel, and throngs of BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from Navy ships. For just representing two and a half percent of the fixed wing combat force, the F-117s attacked 31 percent of the targets on the opening night of Desert Storm."
Bro, I live in a cave or something?
FYI:
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/pakistani-icbm.599177/page-12#post-11365664
Years-worth of information compiled for all members in a single post. You can thank me later.
VLO (Very Low Observable) design philosophy CHANGES EVERYTHING in relation to war-fighting - EVERYTHING.
To give you some perspective:-
The aforementioned diagrams showcase the sheer effectiveness of VLO design (very low RCS values)
in isolation.
Now, VLO is just a part of the equation; F-35 is a cutting-edge war-fighting machine on the whole.
Respective detection range of each sensor system is NOT TO SCALE.
Now, F-35 offers FUSED VIEW of the
battlefield to its pilot; information provided by every onboard sensor system is COMBINED and PROCESSED by the F-35's mission computer
simultaneously for its pilot in one-go, and updates are non-stop/fluid.
Watch this video:
F-35's passive sensor network (EOTS + DAS + RWR) is so advanced that it is providing a VISUAL PICTURE of those rockets being launched into space, and tracking their motion in real-time along the way. And F-35's AESA radar system was providing WEAPON LOCK TRACKS on each rocket all along - cutting-edge SENSOR FUSION capabilities.
The pilot just needs to press the button and watch potential targets going up in flames.
SEE FIRST ; SHOOT FIRST ; KILL FIRST
Very low infrared event - no aircraft will be able to pick on this development from substantial distances. And when that AMRAAM will close-in for the kill, the aircraft on the receiving end will provide a MISSILE LOCK WARNING to the pilot, but it might be too late by then. Consider the latest AIM-120
D for instance, its seeker will be 'active' for only
<6 seconds prior to impact. This is extremely short 'reaction time' for the target aircraft, and even its DRFM jammer, to do something about it.
Sweeping generalization, bro. AMRAAMs are much more maneuverable than any aircraft out there.
If being the KEY WORD, and this is 'assuming' that an F-35 did not took YOU OUT FIRST*.
*YOU cannot surprise F-35 in WVR situations from any angle.
"DAS accomplishes its unique task via a constellation of electro-optical cameras installed around the F-35, each staring in a separate direction. Then, a powerful computer processor "stitches" these video images together to create a continuous viewable video "sphere." When the DAS imagery is paired with an advanced helmet mounted display that is slaved to a spatial tracking system, the person wearing that helmet can look around and virtually "see" the environment around them relayed from the camera network, even in total darkness and, in some cases in otherwise blinding environmental conditions.
Because the DAS cameras are mounted around the outside of the vehicle, and the user is seated inside the vehicle while wearing a helmet mounted display with DAS's imagery being projected inside of it, the user can virtually "see through" the vehicle's structure as if it were never there in the first place. So if a F-35 pilot was flying at night, and his wingman disappeared below him, he could look down and see his wingman right through the floor of his jet.
Distributed Aperture technology does not only provide synthetic vision. When paired with high-speed computers loaded with the latest in image recognition and object tracking software, the system can provide missile launch detection and tracking, ground target tracking and recognition, infra-red search and track functions, and even ballistic missile tracking capabilities. When tied to high-end software and advanced computing hardware, the DAS system is very smart and very sensitive, and will only become more so as time goes on.
In the realm of air combat, a pilot flying an aircraft with DAS installed should almost always know where the enemy and friendlies are during a dogfight. The system really works as a smart optical search and tracker at longer ranges, notifying the pilot of interesting things it sees, both in the air and on the ground, and as a virtual "back-seater" born with x-ray vision during close-range combat."
FYI:
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-f-35-s-x-ray-vision-is-the-future-of-naval-and-all-1636711504
The sheer ignorance in regards to extraordinary war-fighting capabilities of F-35 continues to baffle me. Now that experts are pointing out the obvious, people are reacting in sheer ignorance.
The highlighted part in your statement is self-contradictory. Nevertheless, F-22A Raptor is the only bird in existence which can do something about F-35 in aerial combat.
Recommended:
https://www.f35.com/about/history
F-35
B = IOC = July 31, 2015
F-35
A = IOC = August 02, 2016
F-35
C = IOC = February 28,
2019
We are looking at THREE distinct variants of F-35 with distinct R&D schedules.
Even in the WEST, some people critic everything these days because they have nothing better to do.
