2 ms·

IR seekers have very (in air-air combat terms) short effective range, ~25km at best. Thus, a missile with an IR terminal-stage seeker needs to either be launch

IR seekers have very (in air-air combat terms) short effective range, ~25km at best. Thus, a missile with an IR terminal-stage seeker needs to either be launched from close range (which would indicate the F-35 was probably detected via Mark 1 Eyeball) or the missile needs to be guided into range by radar. Guiding the missile that way involves painting the target with a fire control radar and having a passive radar seeker on the missile follow the return. Reduced radar signature obviously helps in the second case. Edit: fixed seeker range

dx034 7y ago
But in this case passive radar would help enormously? It could detect the aircraft and help to launch an IR missile, effectively rendering the stealth capabilities useless. Deployed at borders, it could provide good air defense against F35. You obviously need strong signals for passive radar to work but those could be positioned inland and they don't need to be where the passive radar is, making it harder to disable it.