Quote:
Originally Posted by Muck
The "every single time" comment doesn't equate with the views of pilots who were actually there.
|
i think you got those two passages backwards. the "every single time" one was in relation to the 30 taking out the f-15C in the boeing test. of which both aircraft were being flown by US pilots (also important to note in addition to your very valid points).
against the german's, the mig 29's simply won more than they lost within visual range. sure, we win bvr and we tend to loose a significant amount of our advantage in dogfights. but my question to you is this. how many actual bvr kills have been racked up over the last 20 years? with rules of engagement, im guessing very few if not none. anything that gives our guys an advantage is worth its weight in gold.
im going to sum up the rest of my arguement for the critical need for the f-22 with this. b-2 bomber. slow, fat, unarmed. NO current air superiority fighter with the exception of the f-22 can provide escort for a b-2 through its first day attack against a country with a significant and intelligently deployed sam defense network. and lets be honest with ourselves here. any country that can afford pilots with migs who have enough skill and experience to not fly themselves into the side of a mountain have the money to suppliment those pilots and migs with a serious sam defense.
you don't have to get lucky very many times to put a serious hurting on our b-2 inventory. it certainly doesn't take to many f-15's or 16's to go down in a single nights fightning for the media to run the headline "black thursday".
edit: on the a-10 friendly fire issues. i can't say im in the know in the least. but it seemed to me the majority of the fratricide caused by the a-10 seemed to be non US allied forces. makes me wonder if "blue force" technology wasn't atleast partially to blame.