the guy who wrote the book iran-iraq war in the air 1980-1988 his name is cooper is pro-iranian airforce read the book and you will reach that conclusion i have written to him to point out that many of his claims are untrue..
thanks madrat

Thank you for the reply!! That is actually a book I own and have read on the matter. Thank you for the clarification on the Phoenix kills. Can you elaborate on any other mistruths in the book?

None of this is relevant unless you know the scope limits of the E-3 and the MiG-31.

The AWACS has a larger spread of its modules and more modules overall for more granulation in its search. Its not even remotely comparable to a MiG-31. Add in the electrical power available to the E-3 and its on a whole different level. This thread has turned into around 50% posts just of star49’s opinion and its mind numbing to say the least.

If Gripens work out then it will be a natural evolution for them to move to Super Hornets.

You have to remember than a lot of Soviet equipment is “export” models with crippling techniques than can be easily circumvented by several different foreign companies in the know. The Russians bide time before they offer upgrades to stuff that was crippled by adding in a component here and there into the system and removing some extra stuff that doesn’t belong. The idea of someone else offering an upgrade that essentially should have been handled by Russians has got to **** them off. They really should be more pissed that foreign companies know their equipment so well. And to unlock the full potential of this equipment for less than friendly neighbors is just plain asking for trouble I’m guessing. It feeds their political machine to rile up the population in support.

I guess the Monroe Policy is dead.

I was thinking more along the lines of intercepting bombers when I was talking about their weapons. But now that you mention it, the Lightning did enjoy a huge performance advantage when it came to control ability at its combat ceiling. If the F-4 and Lightning were pitted head to head I think the Lightning would take its chances fast & high against the Phantom. The Sparrow wasn’t a great weapon for use against a lofted target because it bled energy too fast to be useful in that respect.

Weak weapons set? They carried more sensitive IR seekers in their missiles than the comparable sidewinders up until the 80’s. Pretty much the same reason F-106A planes beat F-4’s in simulated combat.

Avro Vulcan, EE Lightning, or Gloster Meteor come first to mind.