The F-35 thread

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Egypt?!?
 
Oh? So you expect your drone to actually make a return trip as well?
I definitely hope so at R200K+ without the payload. Scratch that! We definitely want them both back :ROFL:

But back on topic. Eyeball Mark One today on the camera footage confirmed the radar readings were F-22s and not F-35s. Pretty freaken cool knowing that they were buzzing us.
 
I definitely hope so at R200K+ without the payload. Scratch that! We definitely want them both back :ROFL:

But back on topic. Eyeball Mark One today on the camera footage confirmed the radar readings were F-22s and not F-35s. Pretty freaken cool knowing that they were buzzing us.
You got a radar return on an F-22 on a commercial drone?
 
You got a radar return on an F-22 on a commercial drone?
No, from our radar base station. We have to use our own radar system when operating in dangerous airspace out of line of sight as part of our compliance requirements. We found that an F-22 has a radar signature slightly larger than a largish bird (like an eagle), but it's easy enough to track as it's a bit weird seeing a bird doing 500+ knots :oops: We could write a script to auto-identify F-22s for the future if we plan to work in the same airspace they are operating in.
 
We found that an F-22 has a radar signature slightly larger than a largish bird (like an eagle), but it's easy enough to track as it's a bit weird seeing a bird doing 500+ knots

Are you sure it was an F-22? Or perhaps flying with Luneburg lenses fitted?


The B-2 bomber has an RCS of 0.0001m2, the same as the F-22, the size of a bumble bee. The new B-21 bomber, now being built by Northrop Grumman, is virtually invisible to UHF/VHF radar. It shows up about the size of a mosquito.


While the F-22's exact RCS is classified, in 2009 Lockheed Martin released information indicating that from certain angles the airplane has an RCS of 0.0001 m2 or −40 dBsm – equivalent to the radar reflection of a "steel marble"
 
Are you sure it was an F-22? Or perhaps flying with Luneburg lenses fitted?


The B-2 bomber has an RCS of 0.0001m2, the same as the F-22, the size of a bumble bee. The new B-21 bomber, now being built by Northrop Grumman, is virtually invisible to UHF/VHF radar. It shows up about the size of a mosquito.


While the F-22's exact RCS is classified, in 2009 Lockheed Martin released information indicating that from certain angles the airplane has an RCS of 0.0001 m2 or −40 dBsm – equivalent to the radar reflection of a "steel marble"
Absolutely sure, we have the footage to confirm.

From you own post it varies with angles and that small RCS is from very particular angles it seems.
While the F-22's exact RCS is classified, in 2009 Lockheed Martin released information indicating that from certain angles the airplane has an RCS of 0.0001 m2 or −40 dBsm – equivalent to the radar reflection of a "steel marble"

Our ground radar station was approximately 40 miles from our drone at the time and the F-22s flew from east to west to intercept and then returned to their original positions in the east. Perhaps we were able to track them because of the angle of our ground station.
 
Absolutely sure, we have the footage to confirm.

From you own post it varies with angles and that small RCS is from very particular angles it seems.

Our ground radar station was approximately 40 miles from our drone at the time and the F-22s flew from east to west to intercept and then returned to their original positions in the east. Perhaps we were able to track them because of the angle of our ground station.
As @Dave said they might have been using Luneberg lenses since keeping your exact RCS signature away from all the Russian and @Wut systems around Syria might be a good idea. Or the F-22 RCS sucks in the frequency band you were using for the Radar.

 
As @Dave said they might have been using Luneberg lenses since keeping your exact RCS signature away from all the Russian and @Wut systems around Syria might be a good idea. Or the F-22 RCS sucks in the frequency band you were using for the Radar.

I'm going to check the footage slowly this evening to see if I can spot the Luneberg lenses underneath them.
 
I'm going to check the footage slowly this evening to see if I can spot the Luneberg lenses underneath them.
There is a squadron of F-22's based at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. So I guess it was them who buzzed your drone.
 
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I got to see two of them up close during an airshow recently. All other planes you could go inside etc, but these were heavily guarded with 2 quadrants of 4-riflemen...you'll also notice they had hot wings with 1 stinger each - and we saw them head back to their base after the show was done.

F0Dd4O6XoAAh96D
 
As @Dave said they might have been using Luneberg lenses since keeping your exact RCS signature away from all the Russian and @Wut systems around Syria might be a good idea. Or the F-22 RCS sucks in the frequency band you were using for the Radar.

You hit the nail on the head in one aspect there. I can't post details as it's being investigated :mad:
 
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