What is Your Favorite Modern Fighter Jet

[Flanker.94]

The Typhoon doesn't have thrust vectoring but they are working on it.

[Cobra2]

I didn't think so 

[Raptor]

Welcome to the forum, Flanker. Come to think of it, there SHOULD be thrust vectoring for the Typhoons. Imagine what they could do...

[Gripen]

or it could make the Typhoon worse. Planes with thrust vectoring are designed to have it, the typhoon wasnt. itd take a lot of redeisn work to fix any problems a TV Typhoon might or more likly will have

[Raptor]

Agree with that, but didn't they overcome similar problems with the F-16's "over-manueverability" with a computer?

[Gripen]

ah, was the problem fixed on the F-16 before or after they were built and put into service?

[Raptor]

Actually, it wasn't a problem. The F-16, F/A-18, and the Flanker series are all inherently unstable aircraft. So, they used this to an advantage by fixing the really big oversensitivity problems with a computer. Why do you think you have a super-manueverable fighter like the F-16, being the heavy beast it is. Or even the Gripen?

[Gripen]

you didnt answer me

[Raptor]

Before. But as i said, it wasn't really a problem...

[valkyrian]

I'd vote for Flanker, and i am glad to see that the Mighty Cat goes nose to nose with the Flanker....

[Raptor]

The Cat and the Flanker? Huh. No contest. Cat wins any day. 

[valkyrian]

Well, the Crane (russian nickname for the flanker) and the cat, share the same fuselage configuration, but the cat has that swing wing advantage which make it very maneuvrable. But the crane has this combination of neutral stability plus LERX which enables it to do some magic tricks.

If it was to select one of them for a supersonic dogfight, i'd take the F-14 with the glove vanes (7 g's at M=2!). But subsonically, the crane has an advantage (let alone that is 2 tonnes lighter!)