Who can explain these radar detection ranges?

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Blast33
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Who can explain these radar detection ranges?

Post by Blast33 »

These should be radar detection ranges of a MiG-23MLD according to the poster on bksy. It is possible that it is something else (another radar) because the MiG-23MLD radar will not see even a large bomber at almost 100 km.
As comparison this is the MiG-23MLD performance in CMO:

F-15 (RCS 7.6m2) 30.7 Nm
F-16 (RCS 4.1m2 25.0 Nm
Kfir C2 (RCS 4.2m2 25.3 Nm
MiG-23MLD 29.2 Nm
F-4E 27.6 Nm
Looking at the types of aircraft this must be done from Egypt or Syria 8-)

The outliers are the F-15A which detection range is so much higher than the rest. And secondly the F-4 which is a large aircraft, but the detection range is the lowest and decreases a lot at lower altitudes.
My question is, how are these two outliers possible?
bafkreiae6mzgiqauq26mby6xbj6inqvzcigtlufk2e2tcuowosnkih2hqe.jpg
bafkreiae6mzgiqauq26mby6xbj6inqvzcigtlufk2e2tcuowosnkih2hqe.jpg (70.18 KiB) Viewed 317 times


Source: https://bsky.app/profile/baa43a3ahy.bsk ... xz56dpts2d and https://bsky.app/profile/baa43a3ahy.bsk ... xzbvtwgc2d
Last edited by Blast33 on Thu Jan 01, 2026 10:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nikel
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Re: Who can explain these radar detection ranges?

Post by Nikel »

Perplexity AI analysis of the pic:


The picture is a missile‑launch envelope chart showing the **maximum firing distances** for several air‑to‑air missiles against a non‑maneuvering target.

## Axes and layout
- The vertical axis in the middle is target altitude $$H$$ in kilometers (0–20 km).
- The bottom left horizontal axis is rear‑aspect distance $$D_z$$ in kilometers (target flying away).
- The bottom right horizontal axis is head‑on distance $$D_p$$ in kilometers (target approaching).

## Missile types
The curves are labeled with missile designations:
- AIM‑7F and AIM‑7E‑2 (American Sparrow radar‑guided missiles).
- R‑23R (Soviet radar‑guided missile, NATO AA‑7 Apex).

## Meaning of the curves
- Each curve shows, for a given altitude, how far from the shooter the missile can be launched and still reach a non‑maneuvering target.
- Left‑side curves (using $$D_z$$) show shorter effective ranges when chasing a target from behind.
- Right‑side curves (using $$D_p$$) show longer effective ranges in a head‑on engagement, especially at higher altitudes, because closure speed is higher and the missile needs to fly less relative distance.

## Caption text
The Czech caption reads “MAXIMÁLNÍ DÁLKY ODPALU RAKET NA NEMANÉVRUJÍCÍ CÍL,” which means “Maximum firing ranges of missiles at a non‑maneuvering target.”
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Blast33
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Re: Who can explain these radar detection ranges?

Post by Blast33 »

My mistake Nikel, I placed the wrong table. :?

The current one is about the detection ranges.
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blu3s
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Re: Who can explain these radar detection ranges?

Post by blu3s »

The X axis says something about Target RCS is 3m2, so it looks like each fighter detection ranges against this hypo target at different altitudes, and not the detection range of each fighter
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Blast33
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Re: Who can explain these radar detection ranges?

Post by Blast33 »

Of course, this would make sense, with the powerfull radar of the F-15 vs. the old F-4 radar.
I translated it but the quarter did not drop, tnx blu3s
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