ORIGINAL: Wiz33
So we use whatever open source info available:
This is for the F-35 but we can infer that the F-22 would only do better:
This is from Air Force magazine.
The F-35, while not technically a "supercruising" aircraft, can maintain Mach 1.2 for a dash of 150 miles without using fuel-gulping afterburners.
"Mach 1.2 is a good speed for you, according to the pilots," O’Bryan said.
The high speed also allows the F-35 to impart more energy to a weapon such as a bomb or missile, meaning the aircraft will be able to "throw" such munitions farther than they could go on their own energy alone.
There is a major extension of the fighter’s range if speed is kept around Mach .9, O’Bryan went on, but he asserted that F-35 transonic performance is exceptional and goes "through the [Mach 1] number fairly easily." The transonic area is "where you really operate."
Thanks for the info [8D] There is quite a lot of info available on these planes already so no need to spy. And physical laws still apply, even for 5th gen fighters, which makes guessimating the missing stats possible as well.
I'm a bit curious what the difference is between the info you posted and what I wrote above. Mach 1.0 at 36k ft is ca 570kt so a Mach 0.9 cruise speed is 515-ish knots. In other words what we're discussing here is the 35kt difference, i.e. whether the cruise speed of the F-35 should be 480kt or 515kt?
Since most modern fighters have a 480kt cruise speed in the Command database it would make things easier for the player (and the AI!) to organize strike packages using identical cruise speeds. Something I feel is more important than those 35kt, as per our two decades long experience with Harpoon.
And we do not know if the cruise speed is _exactly_ Mach 0.9. It could be Mach 0.87 which is 495kt, a 15kt difference.
Anyway guys let me know what you think. The good thing about Command is that nothing in carved in stone and we can make whatever changes we want when it makes sense to do so [8D]
In combat configuration, the F-35’s range exceeds that of fourth generation fighters by 25 percent. These are Air Force figures, O’Bryan noted. "We’re comparing [the F-35] to [the] ‘best of’ fourth gen" fighters. The F-35 "compares favorably in any area of the envelope," he asserted.
Other source say that It can hit Mach .9 at 80% throttle.
Yeah that's 'cruise'. Supersonic at 100% throttle is 'supercruise'. Which is also the case in the Command database.
One thing that most people is confused about is that only modern planes can cruise above Mach 1 without afterburner but that is not true. While the F-22 is the first that can supercruise at above Mach 1.5 without burner. Planes as old as the British Lightning II can go above Mach 1 on dry thrust also. In fact. The french Rafale can go over Mach 1 with external stores on dry thrust.
Yes operating at 100% throttle will have a impact on operational range as it has been stated that a 100 mile dash at supercruise will result in a 150nm range reduction on the F-22. But if the F-35 can do Mach .9 at 80% throttle and was meant to fly at that speed most of the time. The F-22 should be able to do the same or better.
Basically. The game as it currently stands makes all modern aircraft cruise at the same speed which is just not true for the 5th generation aircraft with no external stores.
F-15C in clean config with newer engines can supercruise at Mach 1.1 as well. Rafale and Eurofighter supposedly has a Mach 1.3 supercruise (also in Command!), F-14B/D supposedly Mach 1.05-ish clean also. Once you start adding stores things change dramatically though.
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