Super Sonic Radio-Spectrum Airfoils

A combat fighter is tasked, given sufficient combat persistence, to: search, locate, target, interrogate (IFF), coordinate, maneuver and employ weapons - against other aerial objects.

This is a vastly different mission than that of bomber, strike, observation or reconnaissance, which are free to exploit ‘avoidance’ - at all costs.
If the primary targeting/engagement sensor uses the same radio electromagnetic spectrum that a fighter platform is designed to conceal/defeat - could this not incur inherent aerial object (target) detect issue(s) under some/all/specific operational conditions?

The mechanics of ones own radar return signals passing freely (being transmitted then being received) back and forth through the nose of a radio-spectrum-defeating barrier, (stealth) opposed to an aerodynamic defeating barrier, (a traditional conical nose shape) – is an engineering problem that should not be understated?

According to publicly available information, the F-117 did not possess or employ a radar. The B2 uses synthetic-aperture-class radar for ground detail. By the USAF Association own assertions, the AIM-120 engagement ranges seem to fall well within the detect range envelope, of modern (non radio spectrum) infrared search and track (IRST) systems?

Air-to-air missile ranges have historically been ‘extended’ by the launch aircraft accelerating into a supersonic ‘dash’ - to give launch weapons more energy at weapon release - in effect - to push.

Sustained supersonic flight generates aerodynamic airframe heating due to atmospheric friction (like NASA Space Shuttle during reentry). An aircraft must be designed to operate and function under very high temperatures. Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird could fly continuously at Mach 3.1 while portions of its airframe radiated temperatures of ~ 315°C (600°F) - at altitude.

Both the Lockheed F-117 and Northrop B2, are subsonic platforms with non-afterburning, (non-reheat) engines.
To date there has been no responses (built in any known quantities similar) to F-117, B2 or F-22? Wind of an F-117 Nighthawk program must have been known by international intelligence agencies by say - the end of the Ronald Reagan’s first term?

Fighter aircraft with internal weapons that cannot expose (articulate its missiles) to the airstream, to provide unobstructed fields-of-view for missile seeker heads – may have disadvantages in the modern-future: IRST/DRFM/helmet-sighting, air-combat arena?
Remember, even if they see you – they still have to hit you.

The use of plasma technologies have been discussed and possibly tested now for several years. The inherent problem here is, by inducing a high-energy plasma to control opponent radar mechanics; the plasma itself creates it own host of electromagnetic (EM) emissions.

Whether other nations can/will actually develop and deploy a F-22 class aircraft, time will tell.


for more about future weapon technology go to : http://www.futurefirepower.com/category/aircraft

CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY

Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and work together to establish common standards and recommended practices for civil aviation through that agency.

Civil aviation includes two major categories:

Scheduled air transport, including all passenger and cargo flights operating on regularly-scheduled routes; and
General aviation (GA), including all other civil flights, private or commercial
Although scheduled air transport is the larger operation in terms of passenger numbers, GA is larger in the number of flights (and flight hours, in the U.S.[1]) In the U.S., GA carries 166 million passengers each year,[2] more than any individual airline, though less than all the airlines combined.

Most countries also make a regulatory distinction based on whether aircraft are flown for hire:

Commercial aviation includes most or all flying done for hire, from sightseeing in a small plane to charter flights to a hunting lodge to scheduled service on airlines; and
Private aviation includes pilots flying for their own purposes (recreation, business meetings, etc.) without receiving any kind of remuneration.
All scheduled air transport is commercial, but general aviation can be either commercial or private. Normally, the pilot, aircraft, and operator must all be authorized to perform commercial operations through separate commercial licensing, registration, and operation certificates.


[edit] Civil aviation authorities
The Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention) was originally established in 1944: it states that signatories should collectively work to harmonize and standardize the use of airspace for safety, efficiency and regularity of air transport.[3] All the States signatory to the Chicago Convention, now 188, are obliged to implement the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) of the Convention.

Each signatory country has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) (such as the FAA in the United States) to oversee the following areas of civil aviation:

Personnel Licensing — regulating the basic training and issuance of licenses and certificates.

Flight Operations — carrying out safety oversight of commercial operators.

Airworthiness — issuing certificates of registration and certificates of airworthiness to civil aircraft, and overseeing the safety of maintenance organizations.

Aerodromes — designing and constructing aerodrome facilities.

Air Traffic Services — managing the traffic inside of a country's airspace.