wastedfly wrote:Reality is already here for steerable bullets. Germans have them on their ships already. Dropping RPG's out of the sky from tanks. Reality is already here for IR to see 20miles in good weather and 10+ in putrid weather. Reality dictates high speed is dead due to IR detection.
Reality should indicate a semi-turreted GUN on aircraft. Turret gun on aircraft will dictate low speed highly maneuverable aircraft or transonic aircraft.
Long live the B-52? The 21st century fighter
20 miles range? That´s nothing today.
The Typhoon´s PIRATE IRST system can detect a fightersized target at 90km when showing no particularly hot parts. 145km when engine exhausts are visible. In between of those if the target is moving faster than something like 350-450 knots depending on conditions (as then all leading edges and points on the plane starts to heat up enough from just the windspeed to become visible).
The Skyward-G on Gripen NG, also from Selex ES, is one notch better still(essentially a further development of the PIRATE), although its biggest advantage is sensor cooperability and a datalink that works(ie unlike that of the F-35, where connecting more than two planes apparently results in a rapid increase of sensor ghosts) rather than just the IR. It also lowers the speedrange needed for friction heat to be enough, to 300-400 knots.
The problem with using B-52s as "fighters", is that they are sucktastic when it comes to evasion. And evasion today is often more than half a fighter´s chance to avoid a missile.
The B-52 relies mostly on its very powerful jammers, but against modern AAMs, it´s getting less and less effective.
And that kind of huge target means an enemy fighter can kill it from 150-350km.
So, NOT a good idea i think...