Originally Posted by
Just This Once...
Everyone appears to accept that without effective low-observable characteristics the core aircraft would not be a particularly capable platform.
But surely the need for three different models from one common airframe, combined with the requirement for LO, is what dictated the design of the core aircraft? I mean, if LM had been asked to design a strike fighter that exceeded the performance of all current generation aircraft plus a few on the drawing board, but without the need for a common airframe with LO characteristics, I doubt it would look even remotely like the F-35 does, and would be more of a 'hot ship'? And, as you allude to, with radar and detection techniques constantly evolving and improving in the detection of LO aircraft, maybe the LO clock is actually on it's final countdown? Maybe the future of manned or unmanned aircraft will be relaxed LO, but with far greater emphasis placed on ECM?
-RP