F-35 vs. F-18 Stealth Comparison

Proponents and critics of the F-35 and F-18 bandy stealth claims back and forth despite the fact that there is almost no actual data on the subject.  Well, ComNavOps has no data to offer.  What, you thought I’d have some official, classified data to share?  What I do have is an interesting observation about the front aspect stealth of the two aircraft.  Examine the drawing below of the side-by-side, split frontal view of the F-18 and F-35.

Drawing credit listed below (1)

What jumps out?  It’s that the two are virtually identical !  Be honest now … without labels, how many of you can tell the two apart?

What does this tell us about their relative stealth?  Well, it suggests that the frontal stealth of the two airframes may not be all that much different.  Of course, there is more to stealth than just the shape although the F-35 claims to not use much in the way of exotic coatings to enhance stealth which suggests that shape is the F-35’s main source of stealth.  There may be materials of construction or internal shaping that also contributes to stealth but, if so, I’ve never seen a detailed listing or description of what degree of stealth they contribute.  No one who knows what the differences are is talking but this suggests they are far less than F-35 proponents claim, at least from the front which is the most important aspect since it’s the head-on, approaching profile that enemy radars will be seeing most of the time.

The biggest frontal aspect difference between the two aircraft is the external, pylon-hung weapons and fuel tanks on the Hornet.  Again, no one knows impact those have on the overall stealth.  Do they increase the Hornet’s radar cross section by 10%?  50%?  700%?  Again, anyone who knows, isn’t saying.

My takeaway from this visual comparison is that the two airframes are likely pretty close in frontal aspect stealth with the Hornet losing stealth as pylons/weapons are added.

Don’t get too wound up about this.  It’s not meant to be much more than an interesting observation.

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(1)Drawing prepared and presented by username=payload, 02 Aug 2015, 21:53,

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