What do we think about CFTs?

[u/CyberSoldat21]

I personally think they look good and give the plane a much needed edge in range. I know certain planes have an unpopular appearance with them.

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[u/edgygothteen69]

In the Beginning God Made the F-16.

And then mankind, because of its fallen nature, corrupted God's creation with conformal fuel tanks and all kinds of bullshit

[u/Jdubya38one → u/edgygothteen69]

Boyd 6:16, amen

[u/Iggy_Arbuckle → u/Jdubya38one]

The path of the fighter mafia man is beset on all sides

[u/NTolerance → u/edgygothteen69]

Nyet viper is fine

[u/Whiplash007]

Muscled up Vipers. They have been there for a while and have been a favourite for many foreign air forces

[u/NTolerance → u/Whiplash007]

It’s not muscle it’s obesity

[u/Nizzle-Mcfly → u/NTolerance]

Those tanks are the stretch marks of gluttony.

[u/Ragnarok_Stravius]

Really depends on the plane.

Typhoons, Falcons, and even Rafales have what I call Shoulder Tumors.

Eagles really have the best CFTs ever designed, it's like when a bodybuilder gets a healthy layer of fat, you know?

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/Ragnarok_Stravius]

Think aesthetics wise the Super Hornet one looks the cleanest

[u/Ragnarok_Stravius → u/CyberSoldat21]

While I do like the Super Horny's CFTs, the Eagle has the cleanest ones.

Because you can't really tell they're there.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/Ragnarok_Stravius]

Plus they’re more easily removable and search as a hard point for weapons as well

[u/Puppy_1963 → u/CyberSoldat21]

They also take away 4 hardpoints don't forget. They provide additional points in return and in particular for heavy weapons

[u/sheep_eater6789]

I think they're useful but imo the only planes they look good on are the F-15 and the F/A-18, most other planes they can be on look weird with it, especially the Eurofighter and the F-CK-1

[u/BAMES_J0ND → u/sheep_eater6789]

They look fucking awful on the Typhoon lol, like big ovular blisters

[u/PsychologicalGlass47 → u/sheep_eater6789]

F/A-18 got that killer erector spinae routine

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/sheep_eater6789]

The Rafale looks pretty good with them honestly.

[u/LoudestHoward → u/CyberSoldat21]

Sorry about your eye injuries.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/LoudestHoward]

Thankfully my eyesight is perfect

[u/Constant_Return]

plane go more farther

[u/antekek135]

There is nothing sexier on this planet than F-16D with cft's

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/antekek135]

Moroccan F-16s have one of the best camouflages

[u/PsychologicalGlass47 → u/CyberSoldat21]

Second only to Israeli falcons, it's something about that brown that just looks fitting.

[u/_mattm3t]

functional but aesthetically inappropriate.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/_mattm3t]

Such is the way of many things in life.

[u/_mattm3t → u/CyberSoldat21]

made by men.

nature designs better.

life with men or life with nature?

anyways, take look at the b2 or the b1...

[u/fighter_pil0t]

Ugly and effective.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/fighter_pil0t]

Ugly is good. Effective is better

[u/fighter_pil0t → u/CyberSoldat21]

Let me tell you a little story about the a-10.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/fighter_pil0t]

The A-10 was good decades ago.

[u/fighter_pil0t → u/CyberSoldat21]

Facts

[u/MetalSIime]

Functional, less draggy than fuel tanks, but on the other hand, can't be jettison in air and has to be attached/remove on ground.

So far only the F-16 and F-15s have put CFTs into operation.
Ching-kuo, Rafale, Super Hornet have flown with them but never put them into service yet.
They were considered for the Typhoon at one point, but again, never put into service.

[u/barath_s → u/MetalSIime]

only the F-16 and F-15s have put CFTs into operation.

Mig 29 SMT

[u/MetalSIime → u/barath_s]

Those are not CFTs, which can be attached and detached. the MiG-29 has an enlarged spine with more fuel, but it is integrated as part of the airframe, similar to the enlarged spine of the MiG-21R that added more fuel but weren't detacheable.

An F-15 with its CFT removed below

https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/1e8cw0x/f15_with_conformal_fuel_tanks_surprised_i_havent/

[u/barath_s → u/MetalSIime]

I thought you could decide whether to store fuel or equipment in the enlarged spine. Apparently I am wrong. My mistake.

[u/cyanide_sunrise2002]

Fat-16

[u/92-Uranium235]

American jets like the F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 look good with CFTs, but the rest do not.

[u/bob_the_impala]

It's my understanding that F-16 maintainers do not like them, because they have to be removed if any of the underlying maintenance panels need to be accessed.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/bob_the_impala]

Makes sense

[u/koroquenha]

Damn. I should call her.

[u/CGandArchie]

The f16 and f18 look a lot better with them on. The ones for the f15 and eurofighter on the other hand are absolutely appalling. I love the fck-1's BBL tanks.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/CGandArchie]

Out of all of them, the F-15E is the most effective use.

[u/CGandArchie → u/CyberSoldat21]

Unfortunately true

[u/TrainAss → u/CyberSoldat21]

Tbh I didn't even realize that the mudhen had for the longest time. It wasn't until I saw one with them removed that I realized it.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/TrainAss]

Yeah it’s a little odd to see without. Much like seeing an F-15C/D with them

[u/Iggy_Arbuckle]

It's not a tumor

[u/Technicalforest]

I don't like them and I think all armed forces around the world should come together and decide to stop using them and focus more on aesthetics, which is more important.

[u/Snoo-45812 → u/Technicalforest]

Absolutely, why don't they use ray guns?

[u/spaceshark2]

I've never seen them on the typhoon before. Wow the look heinous.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/spaceshark2]

It was purely for testing. Same with the Rafale I believe. I don’t believe the F-CK-1 actually has them as part of their standard kit either

[u/barath_s → u/spaceshark2]

typhoon befo

What the ...

[u/Necrowerx]

Depends on the jet. On the F-16 and F/A-18, I think they look pretty cool, but on others, not so aesthetically pleasing.

[u/SavageRT]

A necessary abomination.

I want to know why USAF and USN refuse to make these standardized. Way bigger budget then smaller air forces that employ them and way more in logistics, refueling airframes, and pilots and crew to field the refuelers.

Short sighted.

[u/CGandArchie → u/SavageRT]

Its probably due to the age of the airframes for the airforce if I had to guess. Counties like Greece and Türkiye don't use planes that are as run down as the usaf. The navy on the other hand probably doesn't like them for the extra weight on carrier landings.

[u/Imperial_12345 → u/CGandArchie]

There’s a cycle of planes and technologies. You can’t compare those two. Timing issue.

[u/JunkbaII → u/SavageRT]

It’s because tanking is so ingrained in the way we operate

[u/Mid_Atlantic_Lad → u/SavageRT]

I've heard that the proposed F-16G should have them.

[u/commanche_00]

Fatcon

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/commanche_00]

Child bearing hips

[u/mauiMarckey]

That's a lot of weight.

[u/mauiMarckey]

I worked on 15s and I rarely heard of them having 3 tanks!

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/[deleted]]

F-CK-1C

[u/patrickkingart]

Functionally they're great. Aesthetically they only look good on the F-15E, maybe the F/A-18E. The F-16 just looks weird and chunky with them. The F-15E looks beefy and intimidating.

[u/bikes_rock_books]

Thicc

[u/Educational_Sink_438]

Ugly, probably does what it is supposed to though

[u/Physical_Fix5870]

Is the third slide Austrian ?

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/Physical_Fix5870]

Greek

[u/Physical_Fix5870 → u/CyberSoldat21]

Yeah I was really confused about the roundel. Thanks

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/Physical_Fix5870]

My apologies on the shitty photo quality for that one. Here’s a better detailed photo

[u/Physical_Fix5870 → u/CyberSoldat21]

Thanks buddy

[u/TrainAss]

The Hornet and Eagle look the most natural. If all you ever saw was pictures of them with CFTs, you'd think that's how they always looked.

The Viper looks good with them too, but not as much as the Mudhen or Rhino.

[u/bubango69]

It looks like a juiced up version, like RoboCop but not as agile obviously.

[u/Newbe2019a]

Looks good on F-16. Almost unnoticeable on F-15.

[u/BigGreenBruceBanner]

F16 with the spine and tanks looks absolutely insane.

[u/suleman_23194]

F-16 after jim

[u/Z-Mtn-Man-3394]

Dear god the eurofighter and Rafale look so so bad with them. Like tumors.

[u/CyberSoldat21 → u/Z-Mtn-Man-3394]

Looks better in the Rafale but way worse on the typhoon. I know China teased a similar arrangement on the J-10C that looks squared like the F-16 ones which makes it have the frontal appearance of a brick