For air superiority missions, 6 BVRs + 2 WVRs are an ideal fit for both VLO and legacy jets.
If AMCA's IWB can be widened & Astr-2 AAMs staggered then similar to F-22, 6 Astr-2 AAMs can fit.
In A-G only mode, it may allow total 16 SAAW bombs.
Actual mission pack is almost always 2+2+2 at the max during combat mission that is if you have 2 different range bvr systems available like Rus su35 sporting R77 and R37 during active combat otherwise its 2 + 2 ie in our case, 2 astras and 2 asraams. Pack more and only the lifetime of the missile will reduce facing the rigorous flight hours. Now its upto the forces sop depending on resource. IWB can definitely enable to carry more so its a matter of taking the risk of reducing the limited service life of a high end device.
Thanks to increase of sophisticated anti-BVR missile defense like towed-decoy jammers(like X-Guard), expendable jammers(like BriteCloud), GaN based ECM et al, more missiles need to be carried to achieve air dominance. That is why even a strike optimized jet like F-35 will carry 6 AMRAAMs/JATMs via a sidekick in Block-4 version.
All other VLO jets are also optimized to carry 6 missiles internally. We can't lag behind others in this criteria.
> In wartime if 2 or 3 of the 4 AAMs miss their targets then AMCA will have to flee much sooner
. The enemy will also use all the evading tactics, countermeasures & try to stay out of NEZ (No Escape Zone) of missile.- 4 BVR-AAMs & no CCM, very bad config IMO.
- 2 BVR-AAMs + 2 CCMs, not sufficient IMO during active war if more AAMs miss their targets.
> Many people globally think this way -- Economics also matter to military, can't make burning precious fossil fuel look like joy ride, can't use transport jet engines with high BPR (By Pass Ratio), so stealth jet must have decent payload in stealth mode also.
- Stealth AAMs were studied but not made.
- Stealth pylons have not been implemented yet.
- A thick wing BWB (Blended Wing Body) fighter has not been developed or even demonstrated to carry more weapons internally, something like following:
- Stealthy pods if implemented will hinder agility & cannot be dropped into enemy's hands.
- F-18 SH with same F-414 engines, it has variety of options. It can carry 4+ AAMs easily, not even fully using beast mode.
So obviously IMO 4 AAMs combo is insufficient for a medium stealth jet, it should carry 6 AAMs..> There is no global standard for fighter jet design that how much % should be fuel, internal load, external load, etc. It would depend on agreement b/w Air-Force & maker whether they settle for light/medium/heavy jet & their standard & max loadout would be different as i showed above in table. F-22 follows 6+2, Su-57 follows 4+2, J-20 could be upgraded to 6+2.
> For AMCA there is no point in talking about a big AAM like R-37.
> Given any size of IWB, everybody would try to fit in longest range BVR-AAM. Why mix 2 different range BVR-AAM together?
> How exactly will missile lifetime reduce facing rigorous flight hours, sitting inside the IWB? And how much life will be reduced?
There is a perpendicular bottom view CAD available for Astr-1 in IWB of AMCA
And there is one for Meteor or Astr-3 SFDR but angled, not clear.
If someone has a perpendicular bottom view for Astr-2 or Meteor/Astr-3 SFDR then kindly share, Thanks.
And there is one for Meteor or Astr-3 SFDR but angled, not clear.
If someone has a perpendicular bottom view for Astr-2 or Meteor/Astr-3 SFDR then kindly share, Thanks.
Most AMCA weapons will be carried on drones. AMCA only has to carry some AAMs and lighter weapons like 500 kg bombs and SAAW class weapons for SEAD/DEAD and air combat. Greater payloads and more AAMs will come via Ghatak and FUFA.
SPOILER/SARCASM:
AMCA pilot used 4 SAAW bombs & 2 Astr-2 AAMs against the aggressors in stealth mode. Now empty he calls Ghatak & FUFA with AI pilots.
"hey guys Ghatak-2 & FUFA-3, listen, i used my SAAW bombs, 1 of my AAMs hit an enemy fighter & other one missed the target, now i'm empty & this enemy jet is chasing me. Come at once & protect me. Don't make me look bad using so less weapons, ok?
Ghtak-2 AI: AMCA-1, same lame excuse every time. Does a soldier platoon leader talk like this? I'm boomerang shaped, i can't dash or dogfight like you.
FUFA-3 AI: Listen AMCA-1, If your engineers don't upgrade you then next time i'll go & bomb them, understood?
AMCA pilot used 4 SAAW bombs & 2 Astr-2 AAMs against the aggressors in stealth mode. Now empty he calls Ghatak & FUFA with AI pilots.
"hey guys Ghatak-2 & FUFA-3, listen, i used my SAAW bombs, 1 of my AAMs hit an enemy fighter & other one missed the target, now i'm empty & this enemy jet is chasing me. Come at once & protect me. Don't make me look bad using so less weapons, ok?
Ghtak-2 AI: AMCA-1, same lame excuse every time. Does a soldier platoon leader talk like this? I'm boomerang shaped, i can't dash or dogfight like you.
FUFA-3 AI: Listen AMCA-1, If your engineers don't upgrade you then next time i'll go & bomb them, understood?
AMCA 1:10 scale model also to be shown in the upcoming expo, readiness of the design seem somewhat lesser than mk2 mwf which looks way more complete than amca.
The images are poor quality, blurred. It seems to be fan work of artist Kuntal Biswas,
In persuit of improvements, there might be some good news.
The unofficial tweet might be true. I lately got an infographic showing AMCA's IWB dimensions to be 4.2m long, 2.2m wide, 0.75m height.
The dimension is not mentioned in many other posters.
The Astr-1,2,3 AAMs have same length 3.84m. But unfortunately due to big fins of Astr-1, even staggering doesn't help to fit 3 AAMs/bay, total of 6.
But the Astr-2 with shorter fins can easily fit with staggering.
Bcoz of limited info coming out gradually, the older CADs couldn't show the actual weapons capacity. If we superimpose the actual IWB dimensions to match with Astr-1,2 AAMs then we can see the difference.
In latest CAD by artist Kuntal Biswas, the IWB seems to have been widened, although a bottom view with exact dimensions & capacity is not available yet. The below pic is 2.5 months old now but nobody posted.
Perhaps we all can do small party, i mean wherever we are living.
More good news to come gradually.
In persuit of improvements, there might be some good news.
The unofficial tweet might be true. I lately got an infographic showing AMCA's IWB dimensions to be 4.2m long, 2.2m wide, 0.75m height.
The dimension is not mentioned in many other posters.
View attachment 38918
The Astr-1,2,3 AAMs have same length 3.84m. But unfortunately due to big fins of Astr-1, even staggering doesn't help to fit 3 AAMs/bay, total of 6.
But the Astr-2 with shorter fins can easily fit with staggering.
Bcoz of limited info coming out gradually, the older CADs couldn't show the actual weapons capacity. If we superimpose the actual IWB dimensions to match with Astr-1,2 AAMs then we can see the difference.
View attachment 38916
View attachment 38917
In latest CAD by artist Kuntal Biswas, the IWB seems to have been widened, although a bottom view with exact dimensions & capacity is not available yet. The below pic is 2.5 months old now but nobody posted.
View attachment 38919
Perhaps we all can do small party, i mean wherever we are living.
More good news to come gradually.
Fitting Ramjet missiles is a challenge bcoz of their long intakes, it becomes difficult to stagger them.
There is an early render by artist Kuntal Biswas of 2 Astr-3 SFDR /bay, total 4 AAMs, but pic is angled, the bay is short with big gap in between.
He has also made multiple CADs of Astr-3 SFDR BUT with different fin & ramjet intake dimensions.
The 3rd one is the only one with bottom view so if we resize it with IWB then still it will be a TIGHT UNSAFE fit of 3 staggered AAMs/bay.
And if we consider 3 staggered Meteors (AAM CAD by artist "AkelaFreedom") then although it is 6" shorter but its intakes & fins seem to be wider & overflows out of bay.
Editing in MS Paint, Photoshop, etc can produce inaccurate errors.
It is best accurate if the artists themselves produce this kind of images. But most of them don't.
News channels & elsewhere people are talking abot MRFA & only 2 final candidates - Su-57 Vs F-35.
While F-35 would be the most tempting honey trap so far, the Su-57 is under fire too not seen as proper full 5gen stealth. There are many things which can be learnt from current 5gen jets. Some of us are also concerned that it may impact AMCA program. The following is a brief comparison. The "possible" features have to be TIMELY implemented expecially when global tech evolution is at 6gen R&D level.
While F-35 would be the most tempting honey trap so far, the Su-57 is under fire too not seen as proper full 5gen stealth. There are many things which can be learnt from current 5gen jets. Some of us are also concerned that it may impact AMCA program. The following is a brief comparison. The "possible" features have to be TIMELY implemented expecially when global tech evolution is at 6gen R&D level.
Speaking of rear-facing radars, it has never been confirmed if the Sukhoi 30/34/35 family has one. Chinese Flankers have 2X MAWS antenna on their tail stings. Surely, that would interfere with a rear-facing radar, if they had one. That brings into question another capability this series of fighters are claimed to have: rear-ward firing CCMs. But that's a whole different discussion.
Apparently, Su-57 has a EW antenna in the tail sting as seen in this image.
Su-57 is way more advance than what the world knows(except people who keep a close watch). The latest AL-51F engines have now flat-nozzles along with forward/rear radar-blocker. An evolved Su-57 is literally a 5.5 gen jet. Sooner or later, IAF will come aboard.
We left the FGFA program because they were not willing to share critical technology with us, Russia only wanted money from us. If we had not joined the FGFA program the AMCa would have been in the prototype stage
In persuit of improvements, there might be some good news.
The unofficial tweet might be true. I lately got an infographic showing AMCA's IWB dimensions to be 4.2m long, 2.2m wide, 0.75m height.
The dimension is not mentioned in many other posters.
View attachment 38918
The Astr-1,2,3 AAMs have same length 3.84m. But unfortunately due to big fins of Astr-1, even staggering doesn't help to fit 3 AAMs/bay, total of 6.
But the Astr-2 with shorter fins can easily fit with staggering.
Bcoz of limited info coming out gradually, the older CADs couldn't show the actual weapons capacity. If we superimpose the actual IWB dimensions to match with Astr-1,2 AAMs then we can see the difference.
View attachment 38916
View attachment 38917
In latest CAD by artist Kuntal Biswas, the IWB seems to have been widened, although a bottom view with exact dimensions & capacity is not available yet. The below pic is 2.5 months old now but nobody posted.
View attachment 38919
Perhaps we all can do small party, i mean wherever we are living.
More good news to come gradually.
If those dimensions are accurate, then it's a lot bigger than the F-22's bays, so 6 AAMs can be carried quite easily.
This would mean a standard A2A loadout of 4 BVR + 2 WVR.