Can the PAK-FA stay undetected till 40 Kms or the F-22 be seen earlier is still under scrutiny. Running our mouth before knowing the full capability of both the aircrafts is just wishful thinking. That is what I meant to say.
Here is the problem for the Russians and the PAK...
They do not have an actual combat proven low radar observable platform to test their radar claims. We do: F-117.
To this day, the -117's RCS is still secret. We all heard what Ben Rich said about testing the -117: That it was a bird perching on the -117's model that enabled the test range radar to detect 'something'. The radar operator recorded that his radar picked up the model when he was actually seeing a bird. And birds are naturally low radar observable to start.
Birds, insects, flora, and assorted hydrometeors are called 'volumetric' targets, meaning there must a lot of them in a cluster, like a flock of birds, or a swarm of insect, or a tree in full bloom, in order for most radars to pick up a target. In a flock of birds, if one bird drop out of the flock, most likely it will not be detected and the flock's overall RCS is decreased by one member. Trees in winter when without leaves are often missed by the F-111's terrain following radar, making the bomber sometimes returning to base with scratches underside and sometimes even with small branches in the panel gaps.
So if the test range radar is sensitive to pick up one bird but not the F-117's model it was sitting atop, what does that tell us about the -117's RCS?
The Russians do not have a working/flying low radar observable target in the same class as the -117 in order to prove with reasonable confidence that their radars can detect an -117 class body. We do. So not only can the Raptor detect the PAK further than vice versa, we know how low radar observable bodies look like. In other words, we already can defeat 'stealth' while the rest of the world struggles to meet the 'stealth' standards we established.
F 22 lacks IRST and the PAK-FA has it.
Does not guarantee an advantange. People should not be gullible to believe that just because a car have a feature its competitor does not have, it automatically made it the superior. Even so, what make you think we cannot add on an IR sensor to the Raptor later?
F 22 has all aspect stealth and PAK FA stealth is mainly focused in the frontal aspect. The F 22 was designed in the 80s and the PAK-FA was designed in the 21st century.
By a lot people's reasoning, anything later is supposed to be better, right? So why is it so accepted that the PAK, which is designed later, is higher to the Raptor in radar observability? Should it not be much lower?
A lot of factors have to be considered before we can actually calculate anything.
Then why do so many people willing to make declarations?
And both of them have never fought as a system. Wars are fought as a system, An individual comparison of each weapon system will only give a flawed result.
The Raptor has. At Red Flag.
Red Flag may be 'just an exercise' to a lot of people seeking to sneer at the Americans, but the reality among professionals from the world's major air forces is that Red Flag, Top Gun, and Fighter Weapons School are just two things short of real combat: altitude limit (hard deck) and live weapons.
The Russians have nothing close to any of the three. Neither does your India. And neither does the Chinese, who have something called the 'Golden Shower' for their top fighter pilot.
Anyway...The Raptor 'killed' every opponent without the victim knowing where from. Red Flag is about combat integration from different systems into a coherent unit.