November 7, 2014

Air Force 1 Evades Radar

PAKT50

While most diecast manufacturers do their utmost to keep their products in the spotlight, Air Force 1 is trying a different approach. Their latest entrant in the 1:72 scale diecast military space is based upon a Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 stealth fighter, the long anticipated Russian response to the US F-22 and F-35 fifth-generation air superiority fighters that are now seeing service. Still undergoing rigorous testing before full scale deployment, the current T-50 looks very much like the F-22 design, featuring planoform wings, internal weapons bays and likely radar absorbent material to defeat radar signals. What’s different, however, are the exposed engine nacelles at the rear of the aircraft, which is a dead giveaway to most search and tracking equipment. Supposedly, Sukhoi is working on a masking technique to dissipate the hot engine exhaust, particularly if it is capable of supercruise flight, although why it hasn’t been incorporated on the initial run of testbed fighters is a bit of a mystery to many western analysts.

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