That is pretty amazing! I never knew they had an additional radar in the leading edge flaps on these jets! What a place to put them! But I don't understand the practicality and I'm sure it's because of my lack of knowledge of why, being that the aircraft has the very potent IRBIS-E radar in the radome already and as far as I know, the leading edge flaps are almost always deployed on this and most aircraft, from the second they start goosing the throttle at takeoff until they land, the slats are almost all the time deployed downwards and so not only does it become an issue of why is it needed with the IRBIS-E, but how well does it function being pointed in the direction of the slats in relation to the aircraft's position. It's a cool idea, for sure, just difficult to understand how well it works.
There was always the assumption that there was the additional, rear-facing radar in the stinger of the aircraft but that turned out not to be true since the drag-chute occupies that space on most the SU models. Then there were suggestions that either the PAK-FA or the Chinese J-20 has side-mounted radars which would make more sense but even that, I'm not sure of the validity of the information.
We'll be able to tell if and when we get a close-up shot of the slats and be able to see the panel lines in them. That would be a pretty huge indication.
That MFD screen looks great. And it also looks like it's not a touch screen despite it being a multi-function display, it still appears to have cuing buttons along the edges so that's a good thing. I don't think touch screens are good for fighter pilots TBH. It's just my personal opinion which literally mean nothing lol. But if you think about it, with all those Gs and speed and moving around, I would want a button to push that is solid and is in place and not sensitive etc. Although it seems like the pilot can cue in several functions from the buttons on the stick, according to the rest of the article. Some really cool information in there.
Also fascinating is the one thing that doesn't seem to have changed since the MiG-15 and that is the brake lever on the front of the stick. That brake lever was on the MiG-15, MiG-21 and all the others in between and I think even in all the MiG-29 versions where the pilot would use it prior to take off. Pull the lever all the way into the stick and hold it in place, push the throttle to military power until engine(s) is/are revving and at full power then let go of that lever and the aircraft shoots off from still position to off and running.
This is the better of the pics on that site to see that lever on the bottom front of the joystick. They have made them a bit smaller than they used to be, but they're still there even on this latest and greatest of jets.
And a pretty interesting element they also mention which we've been talking about extensively in the last 2 pages or so, and with our Indian friends.
The pilot has two VHF/UHF encrypted radio communications systems and a jam-resistant military data link system between squadron aircraft and between the aircraft and ground control. The navigation system is based on a digital map display with a strapdown inertial navigation system and global positioning system.
Question is, can this system be integrated in whatever the EAF is using or does that mean the Russian aircraft will have to operate on their own data links separate from the rest of the fleet? You would think they would have an all-inclusive data links system but it gets a bit complicated when you have a lot of systems operating within that data link, such as the radars and the seekers on the missiles and weapons etc.
