Sweden is being worn down by the free trade with the Far East like everyone else. Competition for resources, especially from predatory hoarders, is putting a squeeze on the bottom line. Its the same story everywhere, including in Russia. So what if Russian planes make mock runs, they have less of a threat than ever to attain their desired goals with such maneuvers. The biggest threat from Russia is the same it always has been, the regulars on the ground.

F-16 is superb for its current role and can do everything necessary for its missions. The fact F-35 is so far along decreases the need for F-16 upgrades save for extension of the service life.

Where did it improve. The old layout had less wasted space and was easy to use on a phone.

Nicolas nailed it on contrast topic. The old forum was tweaked optimally. Now its not. The new font doesn’t help matters either. The buttons got moved. Its not phone friendly now.

Tornado GR1 old school

If you look at Su-15’s in the museums you will quickly notice the rough construction. I believe the airframes were meant for 2K hours, which the soviets were committed to burn compared to the conservative usage of MiG-25’s. A few things probably would have improved the Su-15 substantially as time progressed. Using streamlined stations for the main bomber-destroyer missiles. A high wing would have allowed easier stores management; drop tanks and smaller AAMs or rocketpods. Separation of the engines or sticking to one engine. An internal 23mm cannon.

Su-15 were flown in flights of multiples generally of 4, operating in pairs. KAL 400 wasn’t intercepted by one Su-15, no fewer than four tracked it and when they fired flares they used a pair of aircraft. The intercept was handed off from one group to another at least once in that incident.

If an F-4 is flying a mission its going to be pretty straight lined. The first pair of Su-15 would cut off that line and the second trailing pair would pounce on the turning target. But this isn’t much of a concern considering F-4’s are part of the self defense force and are not an offensive arm.