• JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    The US has not had a peer conflict since the b2 entered service. (Good thing too!) But even so, Iraq had the heaviest air defenses at the time.

    Obviously stealth just decreases the detection range, but it can decrease it so far that you can weave between the mile or so of air defense detection and still drop bombs.

    Yeah hypersonics do do that, but none of that needs stealth! They’re standoff range munitions, you’re outside of the enemy air defense bubble when you fire them, because noone has an air defense bubble larger than their range.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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      5 months ago

      Again, Iraq air defences were incredibly dated technology. They’re not representative of modern capabilities.

      Obviously stealth just decreases the detection range, but it can decrease it so far that you can weave between the mile or so of air defense detection and still drop bombs.

      Given that, as you admit, this hasn’t actually been tested in practice, nobody knows how well this works. The links I provided above make it pretty clear that stealth aircraft can in fact be detected, and this is just public unclassified stuff. Furthermore, as I’ve already stated earlier, the missiles and bombs the aircraft uses can themselves be intercepted.

      Yeah hypersonics do do that, but none of that needs stealth! They’re standoff range munitions, you’re outside of the enemy air defense bubble when you fire them, because noone has an air defense bubble larger than their range.

      Right, that’s my whole point. You don’t actually need stealth when you have weapons that can engage from outside enemy’s air defense bubble. And having weapons that can fly really fast makes them far more effective because they can engage very quickly despite long ranges. Response time is everything. Incidentally, the plasma bubble that’s created by a hypersonic weapon as it superheats air in flight also acts as radiowave absorbing sheath making the weapon stealth. This further reduces already minuscule response window.

      • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        So why is China building a stealth bomber?

        when you have weapons that can engage from outside enemy’s air defense bubble.

        Exactly. You can fix that by increasing the range of the weapons, or by decreasing the range of the air defense bubble with stealth.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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          5 months ago

          So why is China building a stealth bomber?

          Why do carpenters use hammers and screwdrivers?

          Exactly. You can fix that by increasing the range of the weapons, or by decreasing the range of the air defense bubble with stealth.

          Again, nowhere have I argued that stealth tech is useless. What I keep telling you is that these are two different types of weapons that serve different roles, and can complement each other. I really can’t understand why this is so hard for you to process.

          • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            Why do carpenters use hammers and screwdrivers?

            Because they’re the best tools for the job

            So what is the stealth bomber’s role that it is the best at?

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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              5 months ago

              I’ve explained to you repeatedly with multiple examples of the roles that hypersonic missiles are better at. You just kept ignoring that and repeating the same line over and over like a broken record. Read what I wrote and address that.

                • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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                  5 months ago

                  Stealth bombers are good at reducing the range of detection compared to regular non stealth aricraft. However, they suffer from all the same disadvantages that regular aircraft suffer from, one huge disadvantage being long response times. Another being their vulnerability when they’re parked on the airfield. It doesn’t mean they’re useless, but it does mean that there are other weapons that compliment them. Let me know if you need me to chew is up for you a bit more.

                  • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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                    5 months ago

                    So what missions does that mean they’re good at? Penetrating contested airspace that other attacks couldn’t?