Er, and you haven't noticed any new Russian AAM's in the last 20 years? You haven't considered that RCS directly correlates to the range at which an enemy can get a missile lock? Idiots have always said such things, it nearly cost britain dearly as we prepared for WW2 without an adequate alternative to the Luftwaffe. Today we can't suddenly make fighter production lines as was possible with prop planes, we need to plan IN ADVANCE.

 

European premiere for the Rafale: fire "over-the-shoulder" of a missile Mica

On 11 June, the Center for military air experience (EHIC) from Mont-de-Marsan conducted a European first, and perhaps even global.

Under a fire technical-operational evaluation (ETO), an air-air missile Mica, fired from a Rafale F2, managed to shoot a target located behind the aircraft and continuing shooter.


After paa 180 ° turn, the Mica has killed its target, a target plane C-22, located in the "6 o'clock" of the shooter.

This shot, by far the most complex of a series of devaluation, is testing a unique combination. It involves two aircrafts (shooter and illuminator) and a target aircraft C-22.

The C-22 is positioned behind the Rafale shooter.

It has no radar contact with the C-22.

The Rafale illuminator operating at several tens of kilometers Rafale shooter and maintains contact through a combination of his radar RBE2 and Link 16 (tactical data link).

The Rafale illuminator makes the designation of the target with its radar and transmits its position to the shooter by Gust L.16.

It uses the coordinates transmitted to wedge the inertial navigation Mica EM (electromagnetic Self) and makes the missile.

The Mica enters the area designated by the coordinates, opens his Self, engage the target and destroyed more than the range of missiles for air combat short-range type of Magic 2, which could threaten the Rafale shooter.

In a real battle, the aircraft would have been shot down before they can fire their own weapons.



SOURCE MBDA


The firing involves a unique combination of specific detection and transmission of the coordinates of the target by an airplane and shooting at 180 ° radar without direct contact by the aircraft in jeopardy.

These tests, carried out by the Air Force and the DGA, tactical validate the relevance of the entire weapon system, which combines the performance of radar RBE2, agility of Mica and capacity for exchange of information of Link 16.

From an operational point of view, this shot shows that the weapons system brings a revolution in aerial combat.

The RBE2 and L.16 allow a Rafale to fire on the prosecutor when it isn't "hung" or even "swept" by its own radar.

The agility and acceleration of Mica allows it to be fired at 180 degrees, turning the hunter into prey.

In addition to this spectacular performance, progress relative to predecessors of Mica are numerous.

The only Mica, in both IR and MS versions, replaces the missile interception Super 530 and the close combat missile R 550 Magic II.

The Mica has a range twice the Super 530: 80 km instead of 40 km.

The "no escape zone" is largely increased and optimized, thus the task of interception.

Thanks to its "Fire-and-forget" multicibles capability, the Mica is much more flexible than the Super 530 radar-guided semi-active which requires the aircraft to illuminate the target to guide the missile.

The Mica, combined with the tactical data link L. 16, opens up very promising prospect.

Scanning and the designation of the target could be made by an AWACS or ground detection system.

In these configurations, the area swept by the radar is much more extended and the aircraft could start shooting missiles with a total electromagnetic discretion using Mica IR.

The firing is the penultimate in a series of 12 tests under the ETO Mica on the Rafale and Mirage 2000-5.

The tests already carried out had authorized a formal operational Rafale and Mirage 2000-5 of the Mica EM in 2006 and Mica IR (infrared) in 2007.

The tests now are moving towards the implementation of the Rafale F3 standard will include, in particular, the nuclear missile ASMP-A missile anti-ship Exocet AM 39 and a capacity for recognition with the Reco NG pod.

Sub-Lieutenant Yohan Law, Research in CESA
link

SHOW us something else than technologies still being developed and never actually demonstrated in the USA. Thanks.