How would a Su-30 go up against an F-35?
As I understand it, the F-35 isnt fully stealth capable, only Partial stealth capable? Is that right? Whereas the Su-30 stealth capable? So how would a Su-30 go up against an F-35? Can a Su-30 defeat an F-35?
I am interested how the China Air would force Su-30MKK & Su-30MK2 fighters Stand against Australia Air force buying F-35 fighters?
No...Your understanding of 'stealth' is incorrect.
For starter...There is no agreed upon 'radar cross section' (RCS) value that any aircraft must descend in order to be considered 'stealth'.
An aircraft's RCS value is not constant. For any aircraft, its head-on aspect to the transmitting radar will present the lowest possible RCS value to that radar, from the C-5 transport to the 747 airliner to an F-15 to an F-22 down to a missile, and yes, a missile is an aircraft. When the F-117 debuted, its RCS value, from any aspect, was so low from what is expected that this aircraft became the unofficial standard for 'stealth', it was accidental not intentional.
To date, no aircraft is totally invisible to radar and the US have never made such claim. Keep in mind that the goal of radar detection is about recognizing the target from as far away as possible. The intent of RCS reduction is to reduce that distance where the radar can definitively say 'Yes' there is an aircraft at so-and-so position in the sky. It does not matter if the radar is ground or airborne. The shorter this distance, the shorter the reaction time for the defenders. A crude example would be at 500km the radar say 'No' and continues to say 'No' as the 'stealth' aircraft approaches. At 100km out the radar begins to say 'May be'. At less than 100km distance and it is weapons release for the 'stealth' aircraft. The defenders are still trying to decide if they should respond to the 'May be' or not.
The reason I say 'May be' is because radar detection is essentially a statistical process. One pulse may produce a return but one pulse is statistically uncertain because the target is moving. Several pulses, accounting for signal strength loss, called 'atmospheric absorption', may produce less than %100 of total transmitted pulses. In other words, ten pulses may give you ten or even as low as three or four returns. Not exactly what you want but certainly is better than one or none. But now not only do you have to deal with atmosphere induced losses of your radar pulses, the aircraft itself is purposely designed to some degrees manipulate any pulses impacting its body. To be generous, for example, out of 10 pulses you would receive 7 or 8 returns at 100km but with a 'stealth' aircraft you get none at that distance and may 1 or 2 at 50km.
Is the F-35 a 'stealthy' aircraft? Of course it is when compared against other aircrafts, excluding the F-117, the F-22 and the B-2.
Is the SU-30 a 'stealthy' aircraft? Just from a visual perspective, I can definitively say the SU-30's RCS value is nowhere near the F-35's, so the answer is 'No'.
