fighterhobby

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and have never even flown a plane, but read about military a lot so I'll use this forum just to ask basic questions from time to time. I apologize if the questions sound sci-fi/hollywood like but its just my lack of experience.

Here is one question I have: A fighter pilot has radar so all enemy fighter planes around the pilot should be available. Is it possible that a fighter pilot can lose sight of and not know where an enemy plane is? If so, how could that be, since the radar should pick up the enemy plane all the time? This contradiction struck me watching the history dogfights series where Vietnam era pilots would lose sight of Migs but it seemed to me the Migs would always be on radar and should never go missing or not be seen.

Hilltopper89

First, not all planes have radar (reference the A-10 (no radar) or the SU-25 (external radar)). Second, radar cannot see behind you. Third, all radars are not created equal. Radars in the Vietnam era are a shadow of today's incarnations.

mynameisjim

I would imagine you would only use radar in certain cases? For example can the enemy pinpoint you by tracking your own radar signature?

Adlerdriver

In addition to not being able to see behind you, they also have a finite vertical view (modern fighter radars less so than the Vietnam era radars you mentioned). The vertical look on most radars is controlled by the pilot and may be set too high or low allowing another aircraft that is outside that vertical window to go undetected or get lost after initially being found.

That depends on the enemy aircraft and what it's equipped with. In the days before true stealth fighters, your presence was hardly a secret to a reasonably equipped enemy force. Fighters may have been able to get a general idea of which quadrant you might be approaching from and a very general idea of your range if they picked up your radar in search or definitely if you locked them up (assuming they were equipped with some form of radar warning system - fighter version of a fuzz buster). I would hardly give those systems the ability to "pinpoint" your location. A larger surveillance type aircraft with dedicated systems for electronic detection might be able to get much more information about you and your location and pass that on to their fighters. Even if they do that, the fighters still have to find you with their weapons systems to be able to do something with that information.

A fighter pilot's level of concern over being detected depends on who he's fighting. I may not care if I'm detected against a lesser equipped adversary with missiles that can't shoot as far I mine.

These days, the landscape of the fight has changes with the advent of stealth. Not being detected can be a huge advantage and radars and fighters are designed to minimize that.

tomgoodman

Even if the enemy can do that, he must beware: the fighter that is radiating from just out of range may not be the "shooter". That guy could be lurking close by, silently getting what he needs via data link.