One of the best Typhoon shots

Peter Kemp wrote:

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:49:24 GMT, "Tom Schoene"
wrote:

"John Cook" wrote in message

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:20:30 -0400, Peter Kemp
wrote:

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 23:18:26 +1000, John Cook
wrote:

take a look at
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/374892/M/

Great photo - but what's that on the port side pylon? Looks almost
like a wingless TALD.

Its the Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) pod it contains a Laser
Warning Receiver, among several other systems!!.

See http://www.eurofighter.starstreak.ne.../defences.html

for full details


John, I think he's asking about the gizmo in the pylon inbaord of the
wingtip, not the DASS pod at the tip itself.

Spot on Tom.

My guess is that it's an instrumentation pod of some sort, possibly for
AMCI, or maybe for flight testing.

The tail looks vaguely like it may have an outlet, not an exhaust -
possibly a towed decoy of some kind - thought my memory, fuzzy thing
that it is, is telling me a towed decoy is part of the standard fitted
DASS.

The link that John provided states that the towed decoy is carried in the
starboard wingtip pod. The tail fins make the store in question look like
some kind of AAM captive carry dummy store to give appropriate drag, lift,
weight and balance for training, and the pylon and shoe appear to be those
for an AAM. The apparent diameter of the store makes me think it's an
ASRAAM dummy, although the fins are more representative of an AIM-9 or
clone. OTOH, I have no idea what the small venturi (for want of a better
term), on the underside of the "missile" body between the fins, is for.

Guy

Looks like a Smokewinder to me - was this shot taken at an airshow, by
any chance?

These are usually seen on the wingtip pylons of F-16s during demos,
but since the Typhoon has DAAS pods there, the outboard underwing
pylons are the obvious next best choice.

My guess is that the small intake at the rear feeds whatever makes the
smoke.

Note that there are no antennas, markings, control surfaces, etc.
Definitely not a weapon or operational store.

As an aside, how in the world can Eurofighter make any front aspect LO
claims for this plane! Unless the whole thing is made out of RAM, it's
got more right angles and bumps than an F-4! The wingroot (gun port
fairing?) is hideous!

Nice HUD, though. Too bad HUDs are obsolete (see F-35).

Typhoon seems like a nice plane, but I think the Rafale is much better
looking. Would love to see a real, unbiased (fat chance) comparison
of the two. Not that that will win any fights...except at airshows,
maybe.

Fights on!

Kirk
Old F-4 WSO

Great photo - but what's that on the port side pylon? Looks almost like a wingless TALD.

"Kirk Stant" wrote in message
om...
snipped
As an aside, how in the world can Eurofighter make any front aspect LO
claims for this plane! Unless the whole thing is made out of RAM, it's
got more right angles and bumps than an F-4! The wingroot (gun port
fairing?) is hideous!

I suppose they make claims at least partly based on data.

Nice HUD, though. Too bad HUDs are obsolete (see F-35).

Not yet. The Typhoon is in service (just). The F-22 is not yet in service
but it also has a HUD. Eventually HMD's may be good enough to do everything
you need a HUD for, but not yet. The JSF program has had to take some gutsy
risks with technology to keep the aircraft affordable. We'll see whether
this one pays off.

Typhoon seems like a nice plane, but I think the Rafale is much better
looking. Would love to see a real, unbiased (fat chance) comparison
of the two

I have. The Typhoon scored much higher.

Not that that will win any fights...except at airshows,
maybe.

To some extent it depends who it's (I suppose you still mean the Typhoon?)
fighting. It's brand-new, late and still has a lot of capability to be
cleared, but fundamentally it's better than the in-service competition.
Let's talk again when (if?) the F-22 gets into service.

Fights on!
Goodness, is that the time! Rabbit!

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 19:29:49 +0100, NoHoverStop wrote:
"Kirk Stant" wrote in message

Nice HUD, though. Too bad HUDs are obsolete (see F-35).

Not yet. The Typhoon is in service (just). The F-22 is not yet in service
but it also has a HUD. Eventually HMD's may be good enough to do everything
you need a HUD for, but not yet. The JSF program has had to take some gutsy
risks with technology to keep the aircraft affordable. We'll see whether
this one pays off.

Why is a HMD better than a HUD?

Would love to see a real, unbiased (fat chance) comparison
of the two

I have. The Typhoon scored much higher.

Is this the DERA study?


Not that that will win any fights...except at airshows,
maybe.

To some extent it depends who it's (I suppose you still mean the Typhoon?)
fighting. It's brand-new, late and still has a lot of capability to be
cleared, but fundamentally it's better than the in-service competition.
Let's talk again when (if?) the F-22 gets into service.

So, if the Typhoon is used in combat, what's the most likely
adversary?

--
Phil
"If only sarcasm could overturn bureaucracies"
-- NTK, commenting on www.cabalamat.org/weblog/art_29.html

"NoHoverStop" wrote in message

I suppose they make claims at least partly based on data.

Hmmm, marketing data perhaps. Or maybe euro physics are different...


Not yet. The Typhoon is in service (just). The F-22 is not yet in service
but it also has a HUD. Eventually HMD's may be good enough to do everything
you need a HUD for, but not yet. The JSF program has had to take some gutsy
risks with technology to keep the aircraft affordable. We'll see whether
this one pays off.


In service? In a line squadron flown by line pilots? The F-22s being
flown at Edwards and Nellis could be considered "in service (just)"!
Of course, the Rafale is definitely "in service", and has flown
"combat" missions in support of ops in Afghanistan, I believe.

I have. The Typhoon scored much higher.


I've probably seen the same reports. I'm not convinced. It may be a
little better in a knife fight (better T/W) but avionics? Not sure -
and nobody knife fights anymore. It will be interesting to see how
the two develop. Will it be Mirage III vs Lightning again?

To some extent it depends who it's (I suppose you still mean the Typhoon?)
fighting. It's brand-new, late and still has a lot of capability to be
cleared, but fundamentally it's better than the in-service competition.
Let's talk again when (if?) the F-22 gets into service.

Fundamentally? No, the F-22 and F-35s are "fundamentally" better. The
Typhoon may be incrementally better, but in a fight against Gripens or
Rafales, it would be the whole combat environment that would determine
the winner, in my opinion. Let me fight at night in an F-15E with a
full up AWACS environment with JTIDS, against a stand-alone Typhoon,
and I'm comfortable who would win.

Still, its a nice fighter, I would love to fly it, and I'm glad it's
mainly on our side (not sure about the German ones...).

Kirk