Quote:
Originally Posted by Raviel
I'm not sure if this should go here but.........are the Raptor's stealth capabilities useful against the BETA or did the US just add them with the expectation that they might come up against other TSFs?
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Conventional stealth measures, which the Raptor and Black Widow II were equipped with, are ineffective against BETA; nobody is sure just what or how the BETA detect targets, but it's been observed that BETA targeting priority is skewed towards the more high tech items; hence TSFs have higher priority than artillery shells. (My personal theory is that they home in on the EM emissions produced by computers, which is supported by Yui's statement that BETA find powerful computers irresistible, and Yuuya causing a feeding frenzy after he exposed the Type-99's Core Module.)
The Advanced Tactical Surface Fighter Project assumed that within several decades the war with BETA would be over, and the nations of the world would be fighting each other for G-Elements. As such, the Raptor's stealth is geared towards fighting TSFs and other human opponents, though as The Day After shows it is possible to negate some of those advantages if you can prepare the battlefield in advance.
A common misconception is that the Raptor's stealth is superior to the Black Widow II; this is not the case, as according to
TSFiA #08 Question of Honor, both TSFs had similar levels of stealth. The Black Widow II was also superior to the Raptor in anti-BETA, anti-TSF and hive infiltration. The Raptor
was however easier on both the logistics, price, and fitting in with US doctrine (it's essentially do everything you did in the Eagle, but
much better).
Also, while the nations of the world condemn the US for being backstabbing asshats with stealth fighters, Boening is marketing the F-15SE Silent Eagle as an upgraded Eagle with stealth features, and at least one nation was interested enough to purchase twelve examples for test and
OPEVAL purposes.