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JF-17 Thunder Block-II - A Beast in making.

dual ejector racks option is very much effective and potential for a true multi-role fighter like Thunder for AAMs and PGMs. Thunders must be integrated with all available stand-off weapons as can, PAF really needs the capabilities. no need much platforms, 3-5 attacking platforms can be nightmares if these were well integrated with all attaking-striking elements & components...
 
block-2 should be off and flying by the year-end.
 
Well here it says its 50% :


View attachment 137305
I think it's development cost mentioned here.

@Horus JF-17 jets are produced in Pakistan or only assembled in Pakistan !(Rumors) please clear me about this
"PAC Kamra is currently responsible for 58% of the production process and has the capacity to build 16 to 25 aircraft per yer.Other 42% of work is done in, or imported from China"
As mentioned by Combat Aircraft Monthly recently.
 
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No...We do not.

This...

jdam_gbu30.jpg


...Is an RCS nightmare.

Unless you enclose everything in a streamline container, it does not matter if your clean jet is 1m2 or even lower. A pair of Sidewinders may be tolerable, but also add on AIM-120s under each wing and the F-16 will be visible to most adversary radars under normal conditions.

We discussed a 'stealthy' version of the JF-17 before and it went nowhere. A clean JF-17 is just as useful as a clean F-16.
Another recent development being tested is streamlined enclosed weapons pod by Boeing and Norhrop for Advanced Super Hornet.The enclosed weapons pod is designed to allow the Super Hornet to reduce its RCS while carrying a meaningful munitions load. One pod is able to carry both six small diameter bombs and two advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAMs); or two 500 lb Paveways laser guided bombs and two AMRAAMs; or an equivalent load up to 2,600 lb (1,179 kg).
6681.jpg

Plus note the CFTs, which are also being developed for Typhoon too.
 
We discussed a 'stealthy' version of the JF-17 before and it went nowhere. A clean JF-17 is just as useful as a clean F-16.

Just based on the specs, videos, and design etc.

How would you rate JF-17 Thunder? How would rate it in comparison to earlier F-16 models?
 
Just based on the specs, videos, and design etc.

How would you rate JF-17 Thunder? How would rate it in comparison to earlier F-16 models?

Now, modern air combat is all about the Avionics, radar, and RCS, The JF-17 matches very well the F-16 block 40/42 , the JF-17 radar is good as F-16 block 40/42 radar, but when it comes to RCS, the F-16 block 40+ has an RCS of 1.2m^2 , but JF-17 has an RCS of about 3m^2.

So, the F-16 will have a slight edge over the JF-17 in detection range, the F-16 will detect the JF-17 before the JF-17 knows the F-16 is there, but it's just a slight difference, like, the F-16 will detect the JF-17 from like 70km but the JF-17 will detect the F-16 at a range of about 60km, and you have to know, the one that can detect his enemy first, is the one that can shoot his missiles first , which means better chance to take down the enemy. but as i said it's not a big difference and the JF-17 will detect the F-16 anyway because they will be travelling closer and closer to each others at a very high speed.
 
Now, modern air combat is all about the Avionics, radar, and RCS, The JF-17 matches very well the F-16 block 40/42 , the JF-17 radar is good as F-16 block 40/42 radar, but when it comes to RCS, the F-16 block 40+ has an RCS of 1.2m^2 , but JF-17 has an RCS of about 3m^2.

So, the F-16 will have a slight edge over the JF-17 in detection range, the F-16 will detect the JF-17 before the JF-17 knows the F-16 is there, but it's just a slight difference, like, the F-16 will detect the JF-17 from like 70km but the JF-17 will detect the F-16 at a range of about 60km, and you have to know, the one that can detect his enemy first, is the one that can shoot his missiles first , which means better chance to take down the enemy. but as i said it's not a big difference and the JF-17 will detect the F-16 anyway because they will be travelling closer and closer to each others at a very high speed.

Clean RCS of JF-17 must be equal to F-16s..no? They are similar size/design. Why F-16s has edge? Also, how do you know what plane has what RCS?

block-2 should be off and flying by the year-end.

How do you know?
 
Clean RCS of JF-17 must be equal to F-16s..no? They are similar size/design. Why F-16s has edge? Also, how do you know what plane has what RCS?

F-16 starting from block 30 got it's RCS reduced to 1.2m^2

Situation Awareness

And no, the JF-17 design is not similar to F-16, they have totally different air frames.

2. The F-16 has less RCS because the F-16 has different composite materials that help reduce the RCS, also the F-16 engine nozzles design help to shatter the radar signals . do you see these... mmm these circles all around the engine nozzles ? lol, that's it, it help reduce the rcs, because it shatters the radar signals, making the ground radar/enemy jets less able to receive the signals back, because they have been shattered everywhere away from the radars


images.jpg
 
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F-16 starting from block 30 got it's RCS reduced to 1.2m^2

Situation Awareness

And no, the JF-17 design is not similar to F-16, they have totally different air frames.

2. The F-16 has less RCS because the F-16 has different composite materials that help reduce the RCS, also the F-16 engine nozzles design help to shatter the radar signals . do you see these... mmm these circles all around the engine nozzles ? lol, that's it, it help reduce the rcs, because it shatters the radar signals, making the ground radar/enemy jets less able to receive the signals back, because they have been shattered everywhere away from the ground radar


View attachment 138216

What is your source of JF-17's RCS?
 
F-16 starting from block 30 got it's RCS reduced to 1.2m^2

Situation Awareness

And no, the JF-17 design is not similar to F-16, they have totally different air frames.

2. The F-16 has less RCS because the F-16 has different composite materials that help reduce the RCS, also the F-16 engine nozzles design help to shatter the radar signals . do you see these... mmm these circles all around the engine nozzles ? lol, that's it, it help reduce the rcs, because it shatters the radar signals, making the ground radar less able to receive the signals back, because they have been shattered everywhere away from the ground radar


View attachment 138216

Thank you.

If JF-17 block III can reach near F-16 block 52 by 2020, then it'll be a great thing!

Pakistan can deploy its JF-17 Thunders away from home as well...preferably in Middle-East, and Turkey.
 
F-16 starting from block 30 got it's RCS reduced to 1.2m^2

Situation Awareness

And no, the JF-17 design is not similar to F-16, they have totally different air frames.

2. The F-16 has less RCS because the F-16 has different composite materials that help reduce the RCS, also the F-16 engine nozzles design help to shatter the radar signals . do you see these... mmm these circles all around the engine nozzles ? lol, that's it, it help reduce the rcs, because it shatters the radar signals, making the ground radar/enemy jets less able to receive the signals back, because they have been shattered everywhere away from the radars


View attachment 138216

When you are referring to RCS, I hope you are aware that it is a subjective figure and not an exact measure. The front RCS of the JF-17 is lesser than that of the F-16 by odd benefit of the DSI intake in hiding the engine blades which ends up being a large contributor to frontal RCS. In addition, the logic that you have given is rather .. or very incorrect. First the F-16s usage of composite materials has NOTHING to do with RCS. The RCS of the aircraft was reduced under the Have Glass program which did not involve ANY composite materials at all. Rather the F-16 uses less than 5% composites and that too in its vertical and horizontal stabilizers in its airframes which makes me think what possible sources do you have(if any) for your claims.

Have Glass consists of two efforts to reduce the RCS. Have Glass I adds an indium-tin-oxide layer to the gold tinted cockpit canopy. This is reflective to radar frequencies but actually reduces the plane's visibility to radar. An ordinary canopy would let radar signals straight through where they would strike the many edges and corners inside and bounce back strongly to the source, the reflective layer dissipates these signals instead. Have Glass II includes the Pacer Mud radar signature reduction and the Pacer Gem infrared signature reduction. Pacer Mud applies RAM coating to the forward and side facing areas of the F-16. These materials comprise ferromagnetic particles, embedded in a high-dielectric-constant polymer base. The dielectric material slows down the wave and the ferromagnetic particles absorb the energy. These coatings are also designed in a way that the small reflection from the front face of the absorber is cancelled by a residual reflection from the structure beneath it..

The next claim you make about the Metal panels that cover the engine exhaust is also incorrect. The purpose of the "turkey feathers" was to smoothen the airflow over the convergent/divergent nozzles of the engine. It had little intended effect on RCS reduction. Rather the Low Observable Asymmetric Nozzle(LOAN) program was initiated to correct RCS deficiencies within the pre-existing nozzles which you spuriously claim to be useful for RCS reduction. This nozzle is now seen on the F-35 aircraft. @gambit

In some cases like the F-15, the exterior panels which you incorrectly claim for RCS reduction actually caused airflow issue at certain nozzle settings for the PW-100. So they were removed.
This is what the rear end of a F-16 with the exterior panels looks like
3550228392_db0bbe4078.jpg


and the F-15 without the panels.
F-15A_nozzle.jpg




Please read up before coming up with quasi-authoritative but generally falsely informed posts.
 
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well no wonder it was delayed, i knew the PAF would have a surprise for us
 
A RARE & BEAUTIFUL PIC OF THUNDER(Courtesy: Alan Warnes, AirForces Daily)
219151_0387.jpg

Resplendent in Pakistan’s national colour is JF-17 is 09-111 flown by the ‘Black Spiders’ at Peshawar. The JF-17 will play a big part in the PAF’s future strategy. AFD-Alan WarnesResplendent in Pakistan’s national colour is JF-17 is 09-111 flown by the ‘Black Spiders’ at Peshawar. The JF-17 will play a big part in the PAF’s future strategy. AFD-Alan Warnes
 
Just based on the specs, videos, and design etc.

How would you rate JF-17 Thunder? How would rate it in comparison to earlier F-16 models?
Just from public information alone, I would rate the JF-17 to be comparable to the F-16A/B series/blocs. But as post 111 pointed out, it is all about avionics to either extend the usable range of an aircraft's weapons or to enable the pilot the information he needs to place himself into a tactically advantageous position. If the avionics are good enough, there would be both improvements. So just from public information alone, the collaboration between Pakistan and China produced an excellent all-around fighter.

Now...To the popular and controversial subject of the radar cross section (RCS) value, this subject have been discussed before regarding the JF-17.

The F-111 was my first aircraft during my time in the USAF. Back in the 1980s, RCS was not a very well known topic, even inside the avionics community, let alone at the flightline level, and for the radar people who know the subject, it was relegated to the back burner on low heat, but more like no heat, on the priority stove. It was only with Lockheed with the super-duper secret F-117 program where RCS was always on high heat setting, does the RCS value of any aircraft, from the F-117 to the Goodyear blimp, was under study, and according to my sources back then, the RCS value for the Goodyear blimp was indeed a military secret for a while for the subject of study and controlling the RCS value of any aircraft.

Yes...The radar cross section (RCS) of this thing...

Goodyear Blimp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...Once served as a 'Top Secret' reference doc for the F-117 and later generation of US 'stealth' fighters. It was once secret in the sense that if anyone found out why the USAF and Lockheed was studying the radar behaviors off the fat body of the blimp, suspicion could and would lead to other investigations. Today, Goodyear would be glad to tell anyone of the blimp's RCS as a trivia, and people would be surprised.

MILITARY- AIRSHIPS (no blimps): WHY ARE AIRSHIPS LARGELY IMMUNE TO MISSILE ATTACK?
Airships can be constructed entirely out of materials that do not reflect radar, not just portions of the airframe like airplanes. The size of the airship allows these same materials to be shaped into planes and reflecting surfaces that are many times more effective than can be employed in an airplanes' small wing or fuselage area. Thus, the airship has even greater ability to avoid reflecting radar back to emitter, despite the increased size of the airship.
The physics do support the arguments that the blimp can have a lower RCS than the F-22 -- in all aspects.

Anyway...When I got reassigned to the F-16, I researched the RCS subject as a matter of personal interest than professional. The F-117 and F-16 were designed at roughly the same time frame, but the F-16 had a difference mission philosophy than the F-117. The F-16 was designed to be a pure 'knife fighter', simple as that, as in 'phone booth knife fighter'. Originally, the 'fighter mafia' in the Pentagon intended the F-16 to have no radar at all and that the F-16 pilot had to be shepherded by a larger companion, like an AWACS, to the fight and to fight in guns only. That is why General Dynamics designed the F-16 to have that outsize engine and vertical stabilator, two items that always get the first attention from anyone. The engine itself was nothing extraordinary but in a small airframe like the F-16, that combination became extraordinary. The large vertical stabilator was for high AoA situations.

The F-16's small size naturally gave it a lower RCS value than its companions in the US air forces. The reason why the one meter square value is accepted as the official unofficial threshold for 'stealth' is because for most radars in operation in the world, civilian and military, anything lower and that body is often lost in clutter, ground and air. In radar detection, NOTHING is invisible. The US never said so and the physics does not support that 'invisible' claim.

A clean F-16 is a borderline 'stealth' body and it was INCIDENTAL -- never intentional -- to its original design philosophy.

The F-117 is a 'stealth' body and it was intentional BECAUSE of its design philosophy.

Is 1m2 the true RCS value of a clean F-16 ? No, it is not, and neither the USAF nor I are going to say what it is, and we do not care if no one believes that public figure anyway. But base on personal experience, in the cockpit and in front of a radar scope looking for an F-16, I would advise people to use that 1m2 threshold for 'stealth'. If our competitors -- Russia and China -- accepts it, it should be good enough for the general public.

Dimensions and shaping wise, the JF-17 is very close to the F-16. So I would have no problems placing a clean JF-17 in the same borderline 'stealth' threshold region as a clean F-16. Can Pakistan devote resources to lower a clean JF-17 into the 'stealth' region ? Absolutely, but it will require so much work that Pakistan might as well embark on a true 'stealth' fighter program.

Modifications to an existing airframe are limited to the original design philosophy of that airframe. Hanging 'stealth' weapons pods off the wings are not modifications to the airframe but modifications to the ordnance themselves. You will dramatically reduce the ordnance's contributions to the fighter's total RCS, but the 'stealth' pod itself is still a contributor as long as it is exposed to radar bombardment. A lower contributor, yes, but still a contributor. Expand the fuselage to increase internal volume to carry weapons ? Then you will affect assorted aerodynamics effects that may require longer and stronger wings, larger rear horizontal stabilators, reprogramming the FLCS, and who knows what else. Might as well design a whole new fighter with low radar observability as high priority, like how the F-22 was originally designed.

In many ways, looking strictly from a sensor specialist perspective, I see the F-15 Silent Eagle as a gimmick. Am sure Boeing can make a lot of money off that project, but unless I see hard data from that body, which will never happen, am not sure if I am would be willing to spend my tax dollars on it. I am confident that the SE version will have a lower RCS value, but tactically speaking, if the reduction in detection range by the seeking radar, which is desirable for the attacker, does not give the attacker at least a 30-sec advantage, time for a pilot to reposition himself, then the RCS reduction is not worth it.

Thirty seconds are critical enough between a moving attacker and a fixed (ground) defense, but if the defense is another high speed mover in closing, I want every micro seconds of that 30-sec. Closing speed is combined approaching speed of both fighters, so a closing speed between me and my opponent will be Mach. If all I have is a 30-sec radar advantage, at Mach closing speed, I may have only a few seconds to reposition myself for a shot before he detects me and reposition himself for his shot.

Can Pakistan modify the JF-17 into a 'stealth' fighter to give its pilot that 30-sec radar advantage ? That is not a million dollars question but more like a few bils.
 
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