The document discusses why missiles fired from stealth fighters are difficult to evade. It explains that radar warning receivers and missile approach warning systems typically do not detect missile launches until it is too late to evade. Against stealth fighters like the F-22 and F-35, the target often does not detect the launching aircraft at all until the missile activates its radar seeker just prior to impact, giving the target no time to evade or deploy countermeasures. The element of surprise provided by stealth aircraft makes the missiles much more likely to hit their targets.

1. Missiles Control

69. aircraft missiles do not explode on impact with the aircraft;
they explode when they are close enough for the blast of
air and the fragments to destroy the target

112. Is the gyroscopic effect created by high rpm turbo-pumps an issue for rocket attitude control?
[Turbo-pump damage] Seems unlikely for traditional attitude control, which can be done fairly slowly (degrees/sec) but I do
wonder if it’s a problem for the Starship Raptor engines during the flip from belly-flop back to vertical which looks like about
30 degrees/sec.
Anyone know the length, mass and rpm of the two Raptor turbopump rotors ? or if SpaceX talk about or test for this issue ?
This issue may put an upper limit on how fast a turbo-pumped rocket engine can be gimballed. We’ve seen the Raptor
engines gimbal very fast when an engine shuts off during the Starship SN8/9/10 tests.

142. Why are missiles fired by stealth fighters so hard to evade? Shouldn't the enemies be able to detect the
missiles themselves and use countermeasures, even if they can't see the launch platform?
You need to understand that detecting missile launches isn’t a “instant” magical process. There are primarily two
ways for detecting missile launches.
Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
For conventional radars, RWRs can distinguish between different radar modes of enemy radar (search, track &
“lock” for a missile launch). So the RWR primarily warns the pilot of enemy aircraft – what he’s doing. Getting
enemy radar’s ‘lock’ warning can help you determine a potential missile launch. In vast majority of aircraft, RWR
is the primary detection tool of an enemy missile launch (you’ll see why by the end). Although, RWRs don’t
directly detect BVR missiles until they go ‘active’ which is only in the final stage, few miles away from the target.
The problem comes with adversaries using competent AESA radars – the RWRs have a very hard time in
detecting their transmissions let alone distinguishing their radar modes. It gets worse with advanced AESA
radars and they’re practically useless against F-22 & F-35 as I explained here.
Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS)
Unlike RWRs, they can directly detect missile launches. They’re either passive (UV or IR) or active (millimetre
radar). Vast majority of 4th gen. aircraft have UV based MAWS which are primarily for detecting SAM or
MANPAD launches at low altitude, having high UV emissions (thick smoke). At high altitude and against modern
AAMs, their range is close to near-visual range. This is because Ozone concentration increases rapidly at
higher altitude (by a factor of 6) – making them practically useless against BVR missiles due to extremely short
range

143. Very few aircraft like Eurofighter Typhoon (above) have
active radar based MAWS. It’s much better than UV but
significantly suffers from 1) atmospheric attenuation, and
2) much smaller apertures (low power). They operate at
Ka band (35 GHz) and thus, are subjected to over 10
times greater attenuation than X band (~10 GHz).
Some modern 4th gen. aircraft have IIR based MAWS like Rafale and F-18 Super Hornet (Block III). Their
performance against AAMs is likely less than or at best comparable to millimetre-radar based MAWS
though better against SAMs (bigger IR signature). Of course, F-22’s MLD and F-35’s DAS changes the
game but let’s not complicate this further.
In short, MAWS are fairly short range and are more helpful in effectively tracking the AAMs (active & IIR
based). This is why RWRs are still more reliable means of detecting missile launches.
Against a 4th gen or non-stealthy adversary, you’ll know their exact position and type of aircraft (by onboard or offboard
sensors). For instance, with Su-30 being the adversary – you know that R-77 is its primary BVR weapon with ~100 km
maximum range and probably its estimated NEZ data as well. That way you’ll have pretty good picture of when you might be in
Su-30’s engagement envelope. So even with modern 4th gen. aircraft having capable AESA radars screwing your RWRs – you
can have pretty good idea about potential missile launch.
This completely changes with VLO opponents like F-22 and F-35. You’ve no idea where they are to begin with. WWII Aces from
both sides with hundreds of air-air kills stated that majority of their targets were ‘unaware’ of their presence. 80% of USAF pilots
that were shot in Vietnam were unaware of the impending attack. Since the beginning of Air Combat, vast majority of the pilots
that were shot were unaware of their attacker.
This should help you understand the impact of stealth in air combat. F-22 & F-35’s AAMs will have much higher pK because in
most cases the first time their targets are aware of their presence is when the AIM-120D lights up their RWRs few seconds prior
to impact and they can get close enough to launch their weapons from No Escape Zone.
The biggest myth about modern air combat is that missile launches are instantly detected – that only happens in movies and
video games.