Airshow tricks are one thing, actual combat another.
Our boys had to “fight” with one hand tied behind their back because of visual ID rules during an exercise. They would have smoked that plane before it knew what was happening if they were engaged in actual combat.
Our planes are designed to avoid the “close contact dog fight”. I had a pilot tell me once that if he got into a dogfight he eff’d up.
Only fools fight fair.
Exactly. A "fair fight" means a fair chance of dying. A "good" air-to-air engagement resembles an assassination more than a boxing match - and we want it that way. We want our pilots finishing their missions, we want our pilots and aircraft returning to base. If the other guy dies before he even knows he's engaged, tough luck. Being a good sport is just that - for sports.
>>Only fools fight fair.<<
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I like that expression — it is a complete description of the GOP.
In a proper fight, as opposed to “fair”, an E-2C or E-3 would have done most of the heavy lifting (radar work) from a couple hundred miles away. Datalink to the F-18s (in EMCON status, of course), and away the AMRAAMs go. MiGs gone.