Stefan Viljoen schrieb:

> Makes sense. As far as I know the US military is one of THE most prolific
> users of the EM spectrum in the world. He's probably got his radar on or in
> a specific mode - I've read that the "ground tracking" mode on the Hughes /
> Westinghouse (?) "APG" sets US Navy F-18s (among others) use tend to do
> this. Apparently the F-22 (or is it the F-35?) have a "burn 'em down" mode
> on their radars - they are powerful enough to fry the electronics in an
> enemy plane with a single sweep, instead of shooting it down with a
> missile.

Heh, that's cool... they'll never see it coming... they'd better be sure 
to not "burn down" their friendlies though. And enemy fighter jets may 
be hardened against EM radiation. At least I'd expect the newest US 
fighter jets to be.

I guess it'll bee the F-22 though, which in terms of performance as a 
fighter jet seems to be superior to the F-35 (except at being a 
comparatively inexpensive "bread and butter" fighter, which is what the 
F-35 was designed to be). I guess there's a reason why the F-35 is on 
offer to allies, while the F-22 is not.


> I remember when Victor Belenko defected with his MiG in the 80's, USAF
> engineers were amazed to find that it used valves for its radar and
> electronics (valveotronics), instead of transistors. After they had
> finished beating themselves on the chest with their pride in American
> advancement and technology, some wise soul pointed out that the MiG would
> keep flying after being through the EMP of a nuclear explosion, AND its
> radar would be working - while USAF F-16s and F-15s would be falling like
> leaves because their digital flight controls would be melted, and their
> radars would be dead.

Hm, are they sure about that? Valve tubes are delicate things, too, 
aren't they? Give the EMP any place to couple in, and the voltages might 
kill the cathodes, I'd guess.

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