Engines,
Interesting point about MADL's data rate. When I heard a (very rare) brief on Swedish fighter datalinks in 2003, a key point was that the system was designed to minimize the volume of data. (The speaker used the analogy of identical twins who understand one another almost without speaking.)
CM - I don't know how well MUOS is expected to work at high latitudes, being geosynchronous. Conformal antennas don't make life easier (envision standing in an open manhole with your eyes just below pavement level - you can't see the other side of the street). The B-2 was supposed to get a system with two big conformal antennas, one on each side of the dorsal hump, but it was cancelled. The last I heard, Saab was going to put DRS' Face III (which uses Iridium) on Gripen.
And Ken - There are multiple video-capable HMDs on the market (BAE Striker, Elbit Targo, Thales Scorpion to name but three) that are simpler and less costly than HMDS, which was designed using older technology for very specific requirements. And your citing of the F-35's "stellar" performance in "every other part of the dogfight regime" is of course completely unsupported by data. As far as most of the world is concerned, it's marketing puffery.
Last edited by LowObservable; 13th Jul 2015 at 14:04.