paj@gec-mrc.co.uk (paj) (10/15/90)
From: paj <paj@gec-mrc.co.uk> I saw this manouver done on the Soviet Su-27 Flanker on TV during the Farnborough Airshow. Does it have any practical use, or is it just a neat display exercise (like the Harrier's bow)? I imagine that it would cause rapid deceleration (causing the bogie to fly past into your sights) and might hide the engine well enough to lose any heat-seekers. Even exhaust-seeking IR missiles might nip past under the tail since the exhaust jet no longer has the plane beyond it. Paul.
bxr307@csc.anu.oz.au (10/16/90)
From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz.au In article <1990Oct15.033716.12587@cbnews.att.com>, paj@gec-mrc.co.uk (paj) writes: > From: paj <paj@gec-mrc.co.uk> > > I saw this manouver done on the Soviet Su-27 Flanker on TV during the > Farnborough Airshow. Does it have any practical use, or is it just a > neat display exercise (like the Harrier's bow)? > > I imagine that it would cause rapid deceleration (causing the bogie to > fly past into your sights) and might hide the engine well enough to > lose any heat-seekers. Even exhaust-seeking IR missiles might nip > past under the tail since the exhaust jet no longer has the plane > beyond it. In a article in a copy of last years "Flight" magazine in an interview Pougachev said that when he invented the manouvre he did so not out of some tactical consideration but as a demonstration of the the aircraft's ability. Since then various journalists have decided that it might have some tactical value. Personally I think any pilot who was trying something that fancy deserves to be hit by an all-angle heat seeker! I somehow doubt that it actually has any tactical value whatsoever. Even if used against a Doppler Radar as has been suggested by some journalists, the aircraft would reappear again after the manouvre was finished, when it started moving again. Its pretty but not much use. Brian Ross