"I find myself on BW's side in this.  I would think that the Silent Eagle drops RCS some, but it's still going to be bigger on a radar scope than a F-22 or a F-35.  The F-15 was never designed to be stealthy.  The F-22/F-35 are.  It would be akin to coating a brick with radar-absorbing paint and declaring that "stealthy."  I'm not sold on active ECM either; those emissions can be detected, even if it is a pain in the ass to burn through all that jamming.  The Silent Eagle is at best a poor man's F-22; at worst it's a marketing ploy by Boeing. "

 

 

Oh there is no chance the F-15SE will be as stealthy as the F-22 or F-35, that much is a given, but that also isn't what bluewings was saying. 

 

He was trying to argue that even after receiving far more extensive modifications than the Rafale, including internal weapons carriage and some actual structural redesign,  the F-15SE will still have a larger RCS.  

 

Boeing wouldn't have even bothered developing a new version if that were the case.  As we have already discussed here numerous times, the Rafale is not a LO platform and has received only the most minimal RCS reduction work. 

 

Also, the provision of internal carriage tells you a lot about the intended RCS level of the F-15SE.  You don't bother with internal carriage on an aircraft unless you are planning on achieving some pretty darn low RCS numbers because it is just too much of a pain.(They are adding complexity, losing fuel/range, and reducing its carrying capacity dramatically in a stealthy configuration compared to external carriage.)  You only need to worry about the RCS of missiles hanging on the wings when the RCS of the rest of the aircraft is so small that even an exposed missile is a significant issue.

 

So while the F-15SE will not be as stealthy as the F-22 or F-35, it will still be far stealthier than any other 4th generation aircraft and will likely rival the stealth level of aircraft such as the PAK-FA.(At least from head-on.)

 

It would be a very good option for states looking for a true interceptor that can not get their hands on the F-22 and/or that want a greater level of domestic industrial involvement than is possible with the F-35 at this stage.

 

When compared to an F-35 the F-15SE will have a larger RCS, particularly outside of the frontal arc, a smaller internal carriage capacity, a higher price, and less advanced overall avionics; but it will have better speed, longer range, a state of the art internal jammer, and a larger and longer ranged radar. 

 

If you are looking at racing out, finding, and killing something a long way from home in a primarily head-on fight then the F-15SE will be a very competitive option. 

 

The emergence of the F-15SE may steal a few sales from the F-35 but commercially it is a much bigger threat to the EF and the SU-35, the premier interceptors on the export market today and much more of a direct competitor for the F-15SE than something like a Mig-35, Rafale, or Gripen.

 

""He (BW) was trying to argue that even after receiving far more extensive modifications than the Rafale, including internal weapons carriage and some actual structural redesign,  the F-15SE will still have a larger RCS. ""

 

You exaggerate grossly and you pull rabbits out of a hat . To start with , the F-15SE is a prototype , a modified Eagle .

Rafale has been designed from the blue print to have a low RCS . The aircraft doesn 't need "extensive modifications" ...

 

"You just proved that you don 't know what you are talking about . Tell me Rufus , what is the material used by Dassault on the vertical tail ? "

Honestly kid, you are really kind of sad when you get into this kind of thing... "My plane is special!  It plays by different rules! Just because it was obviously not laid-out as a LO aircraft doesn't mean it doesn't have magic powers!"

 

 

 

No, there is no downgraded export version of the F-35.  This has been addressed over and over again because some of the local trolls/fanboys just can't seem to accept the facts.  The F-35 was designed from the very start to be an export product and many of its parts and subsystems are actually sourced from overseas companies. (Not only that but there will likely be at least one overseas assembly line with Italy being the most likely option.)  The only difference between a US F-35 and a foreign one will be a few US specific commo systems and probably some software. 

 

 

 

 

absolutely hysterical,  again we get the all aspect claims of sig mgt on the rafale - and now we're trying to claim that an all radiating single skeg in the vertical position is now made out of goop and is able to rewrite aerodynamics and signature return issues in the world of physics.

again.  have a look at the six of a Rafale and tell us all how a disruptive heat sink design that is totally unsympathetic to the aircraft deals with sig mgt in the rear hemisphere, how it deals with heat (when its a heat sink in itself) and how all those disruptive surfaces don't turn into the signal equivalent of a tennis raquet.

trolling indeed.  this is the same person who had to be reminded 5 years ago about sig return issues on poor panelling, tried the same bull 6 months ago, had to be publicly corrected, admitted that they didn't know even though the same citation from a radar engineer was used - and yet still trots out merde like this to pretend that an aircraft has a special all aspect sig mgt capability which cannot be achieved with that bloody great heat sink and shroud sitting above its engine pipe and between the airframe and the skeg.

how about getting your own education lifted before criticising others?