I know this is a funny topic title for GA, but I am curious what collision avoidance systems USAF/USN and USMC fighters use.
The reason I ask, is because yesterday I went to a fly in at my local aerodrome, and a pair of F-16s called 5 miles out and then 2 seconds later they came screaming across the runway. The active runway was 31, and they performed the flyby on 13. Had someone been on departure and stayed in the pattern or departed to the south, there may have been some interesting moments.
I guess this information would do more good for MOA flying. I always call FSS before entering the MOA but sometimes they set up their flights last minute and you may be in the MOA when the flying is initiated.
Now don’t get me wrong it was pretty cool to have 2 Vipers come screaming down the runway of my little airport (even though they’re from my hometown airport and I see them there all the time), but just the speed at which they were flying and the time that would elapse from visual contact to physical contact being so small…plus the fact that my Warrior is lacking in the TCAS department, I wondered what they have to alert them, AND does it require the other aircraft Xponder to be on ALT (as I always am) or do they simply get radar returns, and can tell by size and then ID from the target aircraft Xponder.
Thanks in advance guys.
Well they have onboard radar. If you mean something like TCAS that gives a RA then I’m not aware of anything like that the fighters have. Cargo and tankers have TCAS just like civilian planes, not sure about the bombers.
I was speaking about copying an item from the web such as a news article. I misunderstood when you said “regardless of input.” I thought you were copying-and-pasting from another web page.
I’ll have to check the other laptop I was using when I first had the problem, perhaps there’s a hardware/language setting I’m overlooking for the keyboard. (Got one on every level of the house, two in the basement!)
5 miles and haze, same altitude, little grey fighter flying at around 250 kts on a head on course…I think that’s system is better called collision awareness, I am aware this F-16 is going to hit me.
The F-16 is equipped with one of the most advanced Radar systems of any aircraft in the world. Can’t quite be used as a weapon like the pulsed Doppler array Radar on the F-22 or F-35, but they’re working on it.
uh