Name one fighter that did all of those things in the 80s.
Closest is probably the F-18. Which is is a good choice.

F/A-18 is a good choice, but I was thinking of the F-4 Phantom and Mirage F1E actually. True multirole aircraft in the early 80s.

This depends how you mark the introduction of the F-15. Is the F-15E separate because I regard that as a development of the F-15, which entered service in the 1970s and could probably have been ordered by a customer if such a demand existed. I was assuming F-15C and E counted as one type – F-15.

We’re looking at specific aircraft variants that made it to a frontline squadron.

So generic types are irrelevant, e.g. F-15A, C and E are all different. This is a more accurate reflection of reality… just too hard for example to talk about “F-16s” in generic terms. Too many evolutions over time.

The F-15E is a great choice for the 1990s but IMHO it’s cheating to include it in the 1980s. It wasn’t fully operational, and even shortly before the Gulf War was still mostly limited to dropping dumb bombs by day, due to missing Lantirn and laser designator. It was basically irrelevant in the 80s for the short few months it was in limited squadron service.

F-16 only works in a hi-lo mix… missing critical capabilities like BVR, recon, anti-ship.

For a single fighter fleet the F/A-18 would be ideal but not available for export until the mid/late 80s. Mirage 2000 is similar. So in the early 80s I might still go with the later Mirage F1E variants…

Mirage 2000C might be an option. The last French ones are retiring next year. Should be 12-24 flyable ones available with 2,500+ hours left. Good for 10-15 years.

New radar and AAMs needed. Similar to the Moroccan Mirage F1 upgrade (which only cost ~$15M each), but much less work required I could be very cheap. Plenty of spares available and no support issues with hundreds still flying.

Overall not a bad option for any country looking for a cheap interceptor equal/superior to F-16 and Gripen. Also comes with some ground attack capabilities.

The F-100A was in squadron service in 1954 (thought not yet IOC). It was the biggest, most powerful fighter available… by all rights should be a top pick.

However seems like it had tons of issues and wasn’t particularly liked or even ready for combat?

I think his general points are OK (importance of sortie generation, visual stealth, reliability, persistence etc). However his translation to real world aircraft is extremely biased and uninformed.

Based on his criteria, the Mirage III should have ranked highly relative to any J79 fighter (F-104, F-4 etc). Simple, low maintenance, bulletproof, smokeless engine. Plus very stable gun platform and effective guns.

The Draaken should have rated lower.

The F-5´s twin engines and 20mm guns were nothing to write home about. The F-5E was much improved, but compared to a contemporary Mirage F1 was still a very compromised platform.

F-4E. Despite its many flaws, the F-4 proved to be the most successful fighter of that decade. Also available as CATOBAR, which would allow for spares/logistics commonalities. The E variant added an internal cannon, which fixed one of the flaws and has all sorts of interesting stuff like Combat Tree. Also a good basis for an electronic attack aircraft.

The F-4E missed most of the 1960s so doesn’t count.

First flight mid-1967, entered squadron service mid-1968. It was not available for export until sometime later and the maneuverability issues were only fixed in the 1970s once combat slays were added.