But with the Allison it was a rather lackluster performer at altitude above about 15,000 feet. The two stage supercharged Merlin allowed it to perform very well up to at least 25,000 feet or more.
I know. But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was saying that the P-51 wasn't designed as an attack and recon aircraft and developed into a fighter, but that it was always designed to be a fighter.
I think the P-51D was eventually routed to ground attack missions 'cause there was no Luftwaffe to shoot at by late 1944; most units were converted to the type and supply of bomber escort eventually surpassed demand considering the increasingly reducing fighter opposition.
Having them stay aground instead of blasting any targets of opportunity to help the infantry wasn't a sound strategy for military planners, although from what you can read, Mustang pilots weren't quite happy with the increased risk of engaging an enemy with lots of automatic weapons to defend it. Seems like quite a few veterans were lost to **** ground fire in the last months of the war doing a job other planes were apparently more suitable to do.
Seems like the evolution of the high-payload modern ground attack aircraft went from the solid-nose B-25 to the A/B-26 to the Warthog. Hope when they eventually retire it, due to its historical relevancy at least a couple of examples are kept flying by private institutions such as the CAF or so.
I was just going to mention the solid nose B-25 and how it reminded me of the A-10. It had about eight 50 cals. in the nose or a 75MM howitzer. It was very effective against shipping.
High output, long wave length radar can detect "stealth" things well enough to make it not so useful. So... Use a WWII era radar and you can see a F117, B2, F22, etc.
The F117 that was shot down... Think about it. You can't shoot down a plane unless you (or your equipment) can see it.
“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” – Will Rogers
That shoot-down occurred when the bomb-bay was open. The Achilles heel of all stealth aircraft. Plus it turns out that NATO's op plans had been compromised. The Yugoslavs knew where the F-117s were coming in.
As far as the radars go, they're not too precise. They're fine if you're in the approach area, but as far as "searching" goes they can be off by 1 km or more. That'll make for inefficient targeting unless you're running it alongside high frequency radar with a good computer system. Plus the high output is more visible to radar detection, which will make detection of the emitter somewhat easier especially since it seems you need a large setup to do so.
Is current stealth detectable? Possibly, but right now only by high dollar militaries. The thing is, current stealth is leaps and bounds beyond the B-2 and F-117. How detectable the F-22 and F-35 are remains to be seen. But the technology has to have some utility, otherwise China, Russia, India, Sweden, and Iran wouldn't be pouring the money in to developing them.
I doubt you'll ever get a stealthy attack platform a la the A-10, but for that plane it really doesn't matter. The A-10 will just take out the radars...
High output, long wave length radar can detect "stealth" things well enough to make it not so useful. So... Use a WWII era radar and you can see a F117, B2, F22, etc.
The F117 that was shot down... Think about it. You can't shoot down a plane unless you (or your equipment) can see it.
F-117's and any stealth aircraft with bomb bay doors lose some of their stealth characteristics when the doors are opened.
Yes they did shoot one down and did modify their radar for longer wave transmissions and it did work.
But, you left off an important part of the equation, due to OPSEC lapses, they knew in advance which way to look and about when to look that way.
This greatly simplified their solution by not having to do a 360 degree scan.
Replies
Having them stay aground instead of blasting any targets of opportunity to help the infantry wasn't a sound strategy for military planners, although from what you can read, Mustang pilots weren't quite happy with the increased risk of engaging an enemy with lots of automatic weapons to defend it. Seems like quite a few veterans were lost to **** ground fire in the last months of the war doing a job other planes were apparently more suitable to do.
Seems like the evolution of the high-payload modern ground attack aircraft went from the solid-nose B-25 to the A/B-26 to the Warthog. Hope when they eventually retire it, due to its historical relevancy at least a couple of examples are kept flying by private institutions such as the CAF or so.
High output, long wave length radar can detect "stealth" things well enough to make it not so useful. So... Use a WWII era radar and you can see a F117, B2, F22, etc.
The F117 that was shot down... Think about it. You can't shoot down a plane unless you (or your equipment) can see it.
As far as the radars go, they're not too precise. They're fine if you're in the approach area, but as far as "searching" goes they can be off by 1 km or more. That'll make for inefficient targeting unless you're running it alongside high frequency radar with a good computer system. Plus the high output is more visible to radar detection, which will make detection of the emitter somewhat easier especially since it seems you need a large setup to do so.
Is current stealth detectable? Possibly, but right now only by high dollar militaries. The thing is, current stealth is leaps and bounds beyond the B-2 and F-117. How detectable the F-22 and F-35 are remains to be seen. But the technology has to have some utility, otherwise China, Russia, India, Sweden, and Iran wouldn't be pouring the money in to developing them.
I doubt you'll ever get a stealthy attack platform a la the A-10, but for that plane it really doesn't matter. The A-10 will just take out the radars...
Yes they did shoot one down and did modify their radar for longer wave transmissions and it did work.
But, you left off an important part of the equation, due to OPSEC lapses, they knew in advance which way to look and about when to look that way.
This greatly simplified their solution by not having to do a 360 degree scan.