Just think, if we could use our brains to get along with each other we wouldn't need to WASTE all this money and material developing new tech weapons everyday as we do. Think of all that money helping other countries that need it instead of threatning others with weapons. :shrug:
Perhaps someday, Cosmic. Come up with the unifying philosophy, then let's talk. Oh also, how to employ people drawn to soldiering and engineering weapons. How to make them explorers and engineering new marvels of exploration. But not today, today we talk about our cool jet fighter planes...ZZZZZZZZZZOoooooooooooooooooooooooM! F18 can beat the F14 in rolling, instant turn, sustained turn rate. The f14 is the BETTER interceptor. It can ZOOOOOOooooooooooom up up up really fast and get to a target faster and potentially take it out at a longer range. Remember an interceptor like to eat bomber types(this is where the aim54 comes into play), again not as good up close with an air superiority fighter like the f18/f16/su27(Flanker)-37(Flanker-E) - etc. You know what maybe the Aim54 could take out nearly any pilot in an air superiority fighter. I don't really know, since I know of no time it's been shot at one. It was designed to shoot down bombers. Hence the Interceptor role(a role that is disappearing) for this plane and this weapon.
Start first by forming a world government instead of countries governments alone. Then find a way to stop greed, that will end many problems.
Well yeah, a cool sound track counts for a lot. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! On the other hand: "Today you will be flying against the A-4, it's smaller, faster and more manoeuvrable". WTF? F*ckin' Hollywood.
Agreed, but so can the 'adversary'/Mig aircraft that the F-14 pilots go up against in dogfighting school and Top Gun. EDIT: F-18s are actually being used as adversary aircraft at Top Gun now. You're right to an extent. The initial and main role for the F-14 was not so much a bomber interceptor but moreso a carrier/fleet defense fighter. Since a carrier has minimal built in defensive weapons (i.e. Phalanx), something had to be thought up. http://home.iae.nl/users/wbergmns/info/f14.htm While that statement does include bombers, it actually means any aircraft threatening the carrier or other vessels in the CBG. As for the fleet defense and interceptor role it was designed for, the F-18 can do it, but it won't do it near as well as the Tomcat did. Since the Tomcat has more range, it can intercept threatening aircraft farther away from the carrier (that's what the long range and Phoenix missiles were for). Well, the A-4 is smaller and more manueverable, but definitely not faster. IIRC, the A-4 is subsonic.
A-4 may be more AGILE, but IIRC less manoeuvrable. For the record, and it was reported ONCE only that I ever saw, F-14 kicked F-15 butt the first time they ever met. USN pilots with their new mounts went on a visit to show off to a newly-formed USAF F-15 squadron. The air force, being the jolly chaps they were, decided to wait for and bounce the incoming Tomcats before they landed. They got their heads handed to them to the tune of about 3:1 according the gun cameras. Strangely the USAF never really publicised this Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Reported in Flight Magazine, sometime around late Summer '77.
I did say in my first post in this thread - it depends first on the pilots(duel -a very rare event) and first on the tactics in a multi-bogey merge(completely anyone's game). There was a USN guy flying a SBD Dauntless that whacked 3 zeros over Rabul by forcing head on passes. There was a Canadian Canone that blasted 2-3 Fokker D7 types and a two-seater out of at least 3 German formations, by himself. I could go on and on. In modern times the examples get more rare, as air combat is rare. Israelis often came up short stacked against Arabs yet came out the winner. I will admit there are some rather nasty little gadgets that make life for fighter pilots in combat more stressful than it once was, but if victory or defeat was nothing but numbers and specs, than air combat would be all robotic/remote. It's not there ...yet.
I'm glad someone else can acknowledge Israel's insanely proficient fighter pilots. With that said, if you haven't seen the show Dogfights on History Channel, check it out. I watched one where they were talking about the Six Day or one of the wars where Israel was kicking the shit out of the Arab countries and it showed just how proficient the Israeli pilots were up close with guns.
Ya actually I try not to miss that show, one of the few programs I watch. Was watching the first time and saw my good friend Barrett Tillman doing commentary on that episode! It is such a shock to see someone just pop up on the t.v like that, when you know them as an average Joe. It shows how (relatively) small a community fighter pilots are.
Norse is saying that Shafaq jet fighter (air-to-air) will beat all of the above mentioned. Do I agree to that? No. But thats what he is saying. Shafaq is another version of F-5. Mach 1...questionable...
But we aren't talking about F-14 vs. F-15. And I don't doubt the F-15 could defeat the F-14. The F-15 is solely designated as an air superiority fighter (except for the E model which is ground attack capable). The F-15 has never been shot down in a dog fight before. And I will say this: -Air Force fighter pilots take off from a 10,000 foot runway that doesn't move and is there at the same place when they get back. -Navy fighter pilots take off from a steam catapult in the distance of about 150 feet off a ship. When they come to land, first they have to find the carrier, THEN they have about 300 feet in order to catch an arresting wire to slow them down. Factor in stormy seas that will make the carrier rock, and that exponentializes the difficulty. In fact, this is the episode that comes on this Friday, pretty much verifying your statement about Israel often coming up short stacked against the Arabs (an all new one): I bet even the A-10 would give Iran's fighters a run for their money.
Nope, but it was apropos Tomcat's turn 'n' burn capabilities. Re-read it: F-14 won! (Pilot quality counts for more than aircraft capability).
D'OHHHH!! I totally misread that. Color me stupid. That also reminds me of the demonstration the 14s and 15s put on for Iran's Shah when Iran was in the market for a new fighter. He was so blown away by the 14s capability, that they chose the F-14s (all of which are still supposedly in desert storage). I watched 'Anatomy of an F-14' on History Channel the other day. Pretty interesting.
