hi, there is a lot of reasons to fight at hugh speed expecially if the opponents is too manouvrable. Example? If a Fokker triplane meets a spitfire who of the two is advantaged in a close fight battle? The fokker. But what must do at stall speed the spitfire when it is able to dive at high speed and devasting every fokker it meets?
Between foxbats and Phantoms but also F 18 and even F 15 the thing is similar: regardless how often the missiles hits the targets there is a clear vantage for the mig to dictate the speed of the match, holding and mainteining so high speed that the others fighters cannot soustain, with a powerful radar and long range missiles, it can do it without closing and even fire outside the sparrow range, if is it true how descouver in seversl episodes about. Not only this: if you are at high levels-high speeds your missiles will goes fasts and away while the enemys could be a tremendous problems with the fire solution of its. I think that except the Mig 31 there is no fighter that seriously deal with the foxbat at supersonic speed, expecially at 1,5 mach and above that. In such scenarios the most part of the fighters or turn with less g or loose its speed. The foxbat is also very heavy so it has plenty of kinetic energy to soustain its manouvre. In such conditions it is very “at Home”. It is the real stratospheric fighter and with such beast around nobody could have easy life to fly above 10000 level.

But not only this: do you know that the S.harriers dealed with the starfighters also? Well, with experienced pilots about its weakness, the s.harriers cannot win and the encounters were foremost “draw”. the S:A. were too much agiles at medioum levels but the starfighters were much fasters as well negating the right fire solution, because the S:A: must turn to avoid the attacks so they loose much speed in this and they were distantiated quicly. The starfighters aren’t better than the mirages and these fightings are significative: never fight like your enemy do, atleast with different planes.

Macchi at 7000 mts: why? Never heard of flyng fortress? Escort fighters? So the game is done.

Ultimate thing about: often is said that the target for the foxbat was the valkirie. Ohters says that this was the Blackbird. Forget both the ipothesis. The much likely was insthead of this to catch one forgotten protagonist of 60’s: the B-58 , a real beast to counter, cleary beyond every soviet fighter of that time, and not soviet. But also the U-2 ,despite its slowess, was a target important. It was slow but : a capable to reach very high levels and B- at these levels it could turn 2-3 gs and this could be more than enough for the most of the fighters, despite that several J-6s were able to catch it. At low levels it couldn’t has any possibility: slow, not manouvrable. But at this home it could really fly higher and agile enough to avoid the most part of the fighters. Surprise? not really, if you know something aboutthe camberra bomber you should know that it was almost impossible for a sabre to be intercept: above 12000mt. it was both faster that nimbler than almost every fighter of it’s time. Only the Mig 15 could reach it but not necessarly outmanovrer it

Hi,

this is my first post here.

I must say that this is really a modern forum:never seen so many gadgets!And the grapics too!

To the Foxbat, i would try to say my opinions around the facts above mentioned.

N. of G of Foxbat: it’s a complicated issue. Well, the point is the maximum g load and the speed reachable. In effect, the foxbat can manage 4,5-5 g nly when its weight down because its fuel fraction is enourmous: 15000lts. At full fuel load, this could reach only 2-3 g, at low fuel aboard it could put 4-5g. Now, this not should surprise, many of the interceptor with much fuel are limited as well when with full load and i’m not surprise if the foxbat with few fuel is better than the phantom with max load, maybe also ext. tanks. the fact is that the foxbat is designed for the high speeds so it can holdsuch g’s even in supersonic. As you well know, the agility is not at the same level everywhere: a zero could be more agile than a P-40 at low speeds but if the fight shift to high speeds the things changed. In a Phantom or a Mirage 2000 the g soustained at Mach 2 are 2 or 3. If the foxbat could put 4-4,5 gs at this speed possibility without loose its energy( and it could because its speed is well over that limits while Mirage and Pahntoms expecially with normal ordnaces are at limit) it coul really outmanouvre them, and i am pretty sure that agiles lightfighter as the F-5 at supersonic speed aren’t able to deal with the foxbat, because thei are already at the limit, and every manouvre mean the supersonic speed is lost.
Also the level is important: if the fightis at 1000mt. there is no way for the foxbat, even enough fast at this levels. But if the fight climb at 10000-15000 mts. where the most of the fighters are simply at their limits and the foxbat not, well this is like put a Macchi 200 vs. a spitfire at 7000mt: at low level the first could even outmanouvere the spit but at such level it engine and aereodinamic are simply unable to do anything: let’s think that the Macchi speed is 500 kmh at 4000m but at 7000 is down to 360. So, the things are the same. Even the Sea harrier, almost invincible at low level-low speed, at 10000 could be defeated by the Mirages or starfighters running at supersonic speed, while they haven’t possibility to do it at 4000 and subsonic: the sea harrier could reach high levels but the mirage here is toostrong and the eenglish known that, so the fightswere conduced at medioum levels ( Mirages with ext. ordnaces were supersonic only over 6000mt). I have heard also that a fight between tomcats and foxbat was happened in mediterranean. The start was at 6000mt, but only when the tomcat down to 1500 the foxbat were cleary defated: well, let’s imagine how difficult could be to deal with them at 10000-15000 mts.

The R 40R, after this, is a very powerful missile that in the latters type has a 100km cinematic range, atleast matched in a real battle vs. a Phantom damaged from over 90km..except the tomcat and the foxhound i believe that cannot exist fighters with such longe range, even if specialized to bombers,as in the foxbat.

Accident with a foxbat, was already instructive how this machine has a lot of redoundancy in structure: if a fighter with 8g normal reaches over 10 is a thing: if a fighter quoted with 5 g max reaches 12 g it’s no laughable as it’s damges but it’s surpising that it isn’t gone in pieces, not?

regs.