Ahh the F-106, back in the good old days when an aircraft ceased to have a good deal of commonality with its original model it actually got a new designation.

The Su-27 and Mirage2000 would have made a beautiful high/low mix analogous to a F-15/-16 combination. Right down to the blueish paintjob 😉 In terms of performance they are very dissimilar in some respects but complement each other exceedingly well at the same time.

I think the a Mirage 4000 / 2000 fleet would have made a more complementary one 😉

It really is hard to fathom why the Navy decided to utilise such a singularly useless airframe.

Versatility, reliability and cost effectiveness.

Any of the bicentenial schemes U.S. aircraft had from about 1975-1977 were absolutely hideous.

Indeed

I was never a fan of the F/A-18C digital camo scheme to commemorate the Marines adoption of the new digital uniforms.

What is the point of the seriousness of this “dispute”? To prove that no matter how highly trained a pilot is, a WVR kill of an F-22 is impossible/fake/fabricated/cheating?

I would say its more along the lines of interservice rivarly that carries on the debate. If the picture was taken from a Viper or Eagle I there wouldn’t be as much of a stink, but considering it was a Navy plane (and one that has had a mixed reception) the bickering drags out.

A 1992 buy of the F-15 would have been the opportune time as the production lines were closing. However, considering that the US was only willing to sell F-16A/Bs (granted they were up to MLU spec) and not C/Ds it probably wasn’t too likely. So even if they bought the F-15 it may have been even more downrated than the F-15S. Also buying the F-15 would rule out the Mirage-2000 purchase most likely and leave a mix of F.CK-1s and Eagles leaving them less diversified.

The block 52+ is really the only logical choice as its commonality and capability are very nice addition. The F-15 is quite long in the tooth these days and expensive to boot. Many European nation like the Netherlands and Germany follow the ‘One China Policy’ and will not export weapons to Taiwan and France has been very cosy with the dragon of late. Taiwan also dodged a bullet when the EU arms embargo of China lift stalled last year.

F-106 Delta Dagger “The Six”