But what about the sides? Is F-22 just as effective from the sides. The answer to that may surprise some. But it is just as effective from the sides too.
Unfortunately the story is not so rosy for PakFa. The side of the aircraft is just not what was expected from a stealth aircraft. The engines are a party spoiler here and will take away all the stealth advantage in an engagement. The rcs from the side may be as high as 1 square meter from certain angles. The engines are supposed to be replaced in the future, but there are no plans to alter the shape of the engine ducts. So I'd assume this is the final shape and this is a cause of worry for us Indians.
The rear of an aircraft is where the fun lies. That's because these days aircraft are equipped with IR search and tracking systems and it is just not possible to hide the IR signature of jet fuel being burnt at such high rates. A stealth aircraft might be invisible to the radar at long distances, but it can not escape the IR seeker.
And the Americans have thought about it already. The F-22's engine nozzles are shaped in such a way that not only does it reduce the chances of radar detection but also allow mixing of cold air from the surroundings, which cools the exhaust air. This nozzle design is so effective that it reduces the IR signature by as much as 30-40.
The Russians unfortunately haven't thought about the IR signature AT ALL. The nozzles are the same nozzles used on the AL-31F engines. This is rather surprising since the PakFa will be housing an IRST system, whereas F-22 lacks the same. The Russians intend to detect the F-22 from its IR signature but they haven't done anything AT ALL about their own IR signature.
So its a no brainer now. The F-22 beats the Russian stealth plane hands down. But since its in development stages, I wouldn't announce a winner yet and let the final plane surface. It is only then that I would conclude. Till then, Sayonara!
Q)Jagjit , I've been wondering.Russia said it plans to make a 1000 of these aircraft, 200-250 which will be operated by us, while the rest could most likely be operated by countries which are not allied to the US. Would they really field 180-190 F-22s, while the other Air forces operate more T-50s? And I don't think the JSF can fare against these aircraft. What are the Americans doing, one would expect a revival of the F-22 program. I say this bcoz, the only country other than Russia and India, most likely to buy these birds is none other than China. Our pilots could go up against Chinese PAK FAs.
Your question is valid. Russia does plan a 1000 of these birds, but, a huge BUT, who are the possible potential customers for such aircraft??
The european countries wn't go for Russian planes, they are all i n with the JSF. China won't be sold these planes because of India's concerns. Pak is a no go.
Q)letting pak-fa sale to china would be a diplomatic "failure" for india. India would never allow China to get their hands on PakFa. Also China knows now that Russia won't sell them any more hardware, because of China's dirty copying strategy. So its, started its own development and is already developing an alternative to PakFa.
Q)i find fundamentally wrong here you are comparing a prototype aircraft with an aircraft which is in service.
PakFa is in its final development stages. Don't expect major changes now. In fact don't expect any changes now except for the engines, installation of radar and RAM coatings now. It has been made clear by Putin that they are happy with the current prototypes and this will be the final design. They expect to induct in before 2015. It wouldn't have been possible if it still had to undergo major changes.