Originally Posted by superfrozo
A little bird told me that the Pig can only supercruise in a shallow dive, and yes - it does require A/B to intially get it 'over the hump'.
Sorry to blow up that urban legend.
Then again, the Oz Pigs only had the P109, with a measly 12,000lbs per side dry. The F-models may (should?) have been able to make a much better go of it.
The hybrid P108s have a bit more grunt though - around 14.5K dry if I recall correctly. Certainly the F model's 16.5K would get it close, although once you start hanging stores off them, obviously it would be that much harder.
I guess when discussing supercruise, it only really becomes a relevant capability if it can be done with a useful warload, e.g. F-22's all-internal AAMs/JDAMs, and I understand the Typhoon can carry a couple of AAMs (but not jugs?) and still bust through.
Cheers
Magoo