Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
There is one problem with a fast stealthy aircraft that you touched on, heat. But if the system that fires a missile can't detect you on radar and you can fly as fast as the missile, what does it matter?
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It doesn't matter for the aircraft much. It matters for the ordnance. No one wants bombs cooking off in the bomb bay or shortly after they get kicked out the doors. There are obvious ways to keep that from happening, but even "just" at Mach 2 heat is a real issue. Another issue with dropping stuff at that speed is what the bomb/missile/rocket/cruise missile does when its control surfaces suddenly have a freestream thats supersonic flowing over them, you don't want things going BACK towards the airplane.
Stealth stuff is very vulnerable when the bomb bays are open. The F-22 doors are wicked quick and kick stuff out pretty fast and close up the doors. If your the radar op you could blink and miss the blip on the screen. Stealth or otherwise, exposing the innards of the airplane = bad. The ridiculous work that goes into shielding turbofan blades from radar AND trying to make an effective intake it really really impressive.