Thank you Dear Leader. But the days of 73 when Israel didnt field F-15s and 16 were different. Much simpler times. Or are they still relevant even in todays scenario?
Also JF-17's RCS is touted as to be very small, do you think this hold advantage for us? And any ideas regarding MKI's signature size?
You cannot accurately guess the signature of any aircraft just out of the blue. However, what is important to understand that size does matter when aircraft without much in the way of RCS shaping and especially with external weapons are concerned. Regardless of how much you reduce the RCS of the aircraft, It will come to a point where the RCS of the weapons will exceed or equal that of the entire aircraft and that will still show up at a distance. Additionally, compared to the MKI which is a HUGE airplane the JF-17 is a fairly small fighter. So the MKI will definitely have a much larger RCS as compared to the JF-17 and a higher chance of being detected.
When it comes down to radar ranges and missile engagement the following is a helpful remark by the member of this forum Gambit
Whatever | Page 2987
You need to look at the closing speed versus effective detection distance difference. You can have a 100 km detection difference but if both fighters approaches each other at Mach 1+, the fighter with the better radar will bring himself into detection range of the other fighter anyway while he tries to set himself up for the better shot. The other guy is not going to be idle either. What if he go low to try to get lost in ground clutter because he know he is already is at an inferior altitude? What if he is already at a superior altitude? It is somewhat misleading from popular media to post images of fighters side by side with their respective radar ranges devoid of tactical situations.