OP: Inspired Alert, PAF mirages vs USS Abraham Lincoln reenactment, DCS

[airomerix]

1. I'll admit I dont understand the underlying calculations of the radar horizon but even the visual horizon is 27 km for the conditions you gave.
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2. I think it is SUPER hard for an aircraft to fly at 10 m over seas especially depending on sea state. I think a more reasonable altitude is 40 m, which will result in a visual horizon of 39 km. A pilot who has flown mirages over the sea can better answer what altitude they can fly at over seas. @airomerix any idea?
3. Ships have over the horizon radars for early warning (albeit not targeting radars) so they can see where you are in general much further out even if you're flying low.
4. Aircraft patrols will see and target you muuuch further out than 40 km. Maybe the dated seeker of the AIM54 on the F14s was getting lost in the clutter from the ocean but I doubt modern missiles like the AIM120D will miss so often when launched from patrolling super hornets.

It is very much possible to fly the aircraft at extremely low altitudes such as 10 feet in this case. It is not 10 meters. Since pilots use altimeter and radio altimeter which reads the height in feet. So, any information on meters is irrelevant (unless you are operating in Chinese airspace)

Having said that, there are three primary variables that affect an aircraft's low level performance over sea, visibility, vapor pressure, and the pilot itself. If the pilot is skilled enough, he will pull off a sustained low-level flight at 5 feet above sea level if the other variables are favorable. In this exercise, the strike was very much calculated in the sense, that they maintained a level flight at 10 feet and popped up short of 5 NM of USS Enterprise and simulated an Exocet missile launch that sunk the ship. It is pertinent to note that the Mirages entered the area where there was no sonar tracking.

Now speaking of Mirage itself, it's called a Phatta. The lower it goes, the more stable it is.

Also, in order to calculate the horizon distance. There is a simple formula.

The square root of eye height x 1.17 = distance to the horizon in NMs

So for example, if mirage is flying at 20 feet above sea level, it can see at 5.23 NMs

Assuming an aircraft carrier has. a hight of lets say, 400 ft.

Its horizon distance is approx 23.4 NM according to this formula.

Adding both: 23.4 + 5.23 = 31.63

So flying a mirage at 20 feet can see 31.63 NM if visibility is very good with 0 vapor pressure at 20 feet screen height

 

[JamD]

It is very much possible to fly the aircraft at extremely low altitudes such as 10 feet in this case. It is not 10 meters. Since pilots use altimeter and radio altimeter which reads the height in feet. So, any information on meters is irrelevant (unless you are operating in Chinese airspace)

Having said that, there are three primary variables that affect an aircraft's low level performance over sea, visibility, vapor pressure, and the pilot itself. If the pilot is skilled enough, he will pull off a sustained low-level flight at 5 feet above sea level if the other variables are favorable. In this exercise, the strike was very much calculated in the sense, that they maintained a level flight at 10 feet and popped up short of 5 NM of USS Enterprise and simulated an Exocet missile launch that sunk the ship. It is pertinent to note that the Mirages entered the area where there was no sonar tracking.

Now speaking of Mirage itself, it's called a Phatta. The lower it goes, the more stable it is.

Also, in order to calculate the horizon distance. There is a simple formula.

The square root of eye height x 1.17 = distance to the horizon in NMs

So for example, if mirage is flying at 20 feet above sea level, it can see at 5.23 NMs

Assuming an aircraft carrier has. a hight of lets say, 400 ft.

Its horizon distance is approx 23.4 NM according to this formula.

Adding both: 23.4 + 5.23 = 31.63

So flying a mirage at 20 feet can see 31.63 NM if visibility is very good with 0 vapor pressure at 20 feet screen height

Thanks for the valuable insight! I stand corrected about the altitude a Mirage can achieve @Safriz.

What do you mean by no sonar tracking? Sonar can track and provide targeting for low-flying A/C?

 

[Gripen9]

It is very much possible to fly the aircraft at extremely low altitudes such as 10 feet in this case. It is not 10 meters. Since pilots use altimeter and radio altimeter which reads the height in feet. So, any information on meters is irrelevant (unless you are operating in Chinese airspace)

Having said that, there are three primary variables that affect an aircraft's low level performance over sea, visibility, vapor pressure, and the pilot itself. If the pilot is skilled enough, he will pull off a sustained low-level flight at 5 feet above sea level if the other variables are favorable. In this exercise, the strike was very much calculated in the sense, that they maintained a level flight at 10 feet and popped up short of 5 NM of USS Enterprise and simulated an Exocet missile launch that sunk the ship. It is pertinent to note that the Mirages entered the area where there was no sonar tracking.

Now speaking of Mirage itself, it's called a Phatta. The lower it goes, the more stable it is.

Also, in order to calculate the horizon distance. There is a simple formula.

The square root of eye height x 1.17 = distance to the horizon in NMs

So for example, if mirage is flying at 20 feet above sea level, it can see at 5.23 NMs

Assuming an aircraft carrier has. a hight of lets say, 400 ft.

Its horizon distance is approx 23.4 NM according to this formula.

Adding both: 23.4 + 5.23 = 31.63

So flying a mirage at 20 feet can see 31.63 NM if visibility is very good with 0 vapor pressure at 20 feet screen height

Do you think a single exocet can sink a 100000 ton warship?