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From: deichman@cod.nosc.mil (Shane D. Deichman)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: why F-4's as Wild Weasels?
Keywords: radar suppression, F-4, airframe
Message-ID: <1991Feb5.044528.7098@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 5 Feb 91 04:45:28 GMT
References: <1991Feb4.072034.23521@cbnews.att.com>
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From: deichman@cod.nosc.mil (Shane D. Deichman)

>From: clements@cs.utexas.edu (Paul C. Clements)
>
>Can someone fill in the blank in the following sentences?
>
>(1) "The F-4 makes an ideal aircraft to carry out the
>    Wild Weasel mission, compared to other a/c in the USAF
>    inventory, because _____________________."
>

I'm not so sure about this one, but I assume that the F-4 is
maintained in the Wild Weasel role for a couple of reasons:

1) They're still effective aircraft, not yet ready for retirement.
Since they don't have the task-efficiency of the F-14 or F/A-18,
they might as well be used in a capacity which fits their capabilities.

2) The EW pods were designs for mounting on an F-4; with all of the
subtleties of aircraft design (especially with respect to weight
distribution and drag coefficients), it's probably easier to keep
them in their present role rather than try to modify newer aircraft
for the mission.  Besides, the contractors probably have some kind 
of production agreement....

>(2) "The F-117 ___________________ (would, would not) make a
>    good Wild Weasel platform."   (If not, why not?)
>

It would NOT.  Part of the mission of the Wild Weasel is to make
the enemy aware of its presence, getting the SAM to light up the
acquisition radars, then send in HARMs to kill the site.  With a
low-observable platform like the F-117a, you'd have to send out a
radar signal yourself to get the SAM's ESM detectors going -- but
then you'd be vulnerable to the same type of missiles you're sending
to the SAM site.  Also, I believe Wild Weasels rely on jamming pods
(which also give off a sizable electromagnetic signal), so a Stealth
fighter would be revealing its position to more people than necessary....

There's also the topic of "cost effectiveness," too....

>
>Thanks,
>pc

You're welcome.  Hope this helps (and that I won't get flamed
too badly by the AF guys! :-)

-shane