Shooting down US ‘stealth’ jets not that hard, expert warns

[lovuian]

https://www.rt.com/usa/333663-f35-f22-radar-missiles/

The Pentagon's pricey fifth-generation jets are a lot easier to shoot down than previously believed, warns a US defense expert. Relatively simple modifications to existing radar and missile technology could sweep the F-22s and F-35s right out of the sky.

Defense and industry officials alike have shrugged off reports that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can’t hold its own in dogfights against older-generation airplanes, figuring that the jet ‒ whose lifetime cost is now estimated at $1.5 trillion and counting ‒ may be stealthy enough to avoid ever getting into a proper scrap. That may not be the case for very long, according to Dave Majumdar, defense editor at National Interest magazine.


1.5 trillion dollars .....unbelievable!

[6chars]

1. got a source other than rt.com?

[Amishman]

2. yeah if it comes from RT about the US military, it has zero credibility

total russian propaganda rag

[JHB]

3. With RT it's usually better to trace it back to their sources...

For this article it's The National Interest:
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/revealed-how-kill-f-35-joint-strike-fighter-15296?platform=hootsuite'

Revealed: How to Kill a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
The United States has poured ten of billions of dollars into developing fifth-generation stealth fighters such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. However, relatively simple signal processing enhancements, combined with a missile with a large warhead and its own terminal guidance system, could potentially allow low-frequency radars and such weapons systems to target and fire on the latest generation U.S. aircraft.

It is a well-known fact within Pentagon and industry circles that low-frequency radars operating in the VHF and UHF bands can detect and track low-observable aircraft. It has generally been held that such radars can’t guide a missile onto a target—i.e. generate a “weapons quality” track. But that is not exactly correct—there are ways to get around the problem according to some experts.

Traditionally, guiding weapons with low frequency radars has been limited by two factors. One factor is the width of the radar beam, while the second is the width of the radar pulse—but both limitations can be overcome with signal processing.