H_K posted this interesting link
http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/08.pdf

no need to read all 159 pages, he basically says:

F-86: whoops the derriere of all century fighters, only F-5 comes close

F-104: great aircraft except for crappy turning. could’ve been best fighter until the 1970s

Mirage III: like F-104 with poorer thrust and less acceleration. French engine sucks. With a J79, could’ve been like a half size F-106 or a F-104 thats more balanced

F-5: most effective a2a aircraft in 60s to early 70s, could generate more sorties than f-16s. problem is poor visibility and acceleration. combat persistence on par with F-15A. F-14 and F-15 can’t convcingly dominate the F-5 still. F-5 still has problems with F-86

Kfir: Mirage III with J79 but got too heavy and sucks

Draken: better acceleration than Mirage III, F-4, and F-100. great maximum turn rate since F-86, better dog fighter than century fighters and even F-14. Swedes regret getting Viggen. F-16s have a hard time with the Draken. its only flaw is the Falcon fcs and missile.

F-16: could’ve been great until they added multi-role features and made it fat. one F-16 may not be able to defeat as many enemies as 6 F-5s (sortie issue mentioned above). Still, can kill as well as the F-15

His opinions on BVR combat are likely out-of-date and the last gun kill was in 1999 (Ethiopian-Eritrean War) and before that probably Falklands War if you discount the A-10’s helicopter kills in Desert Storm. He does make good points about quantity, availability and operating costs though.

^Now that’s interesting.

Eh? Why would it be so unstealthy?

Internal payload, canted tail, early engine stages worked over for LO, RAM treated airframe with increased composite content. No chines though. Boeing claims (probably with some exaggeration that it compares to the F-35 in the forward sector).

I guess it should apply this RAM treatment to a B-52 and make it like a B-2 then.

Israel’s main tool of spanking Arab aircraft was with Mirages, that was until 1967 when CdG placed an embargo on them, forcing them to make Neshers, Kfirs, and into the arms of Uncle Sam’s succulent breasts.

but what if he never placed the embargo (or if Pompidou lifted it after CdG left)..
how would the IAF be different during the wars after 1967.. how would international relations be different?

Europe would be the focus of international terrorism instead of the US.

http://publicintelligence.net/u-s-navy-natops-f-14-tomcat-flight-manuals/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/94648410/TO-1F-15A-1-Flight-Manual-USAF-F-15-Series-A-B-C-D-Block-7-and-Up-Change-5-01-Mar-1986

http://www.scribd.com/doc/39906505/F-15-Strike-Eagle

http://publicintelligence.net/u-s-air-force-f-16ab-flight-manual/

http://publicintelligence.net/u-s-navy-f-18-natops-flight-manuals/

http://publicintelligence.net/u-s-navy-natops-av-8b-harrier-ii-flight-manuals/

The UK used to build great transports and airliners like the Shorts Belfast, Andover, Vickers VC10, etc
now all you really have is the BAe 146
the UK let their civlian/military transport industry die only to rely imports from the Yanks and worse, the French.
yet the Brazilians, Japanese, Indians, etc are trying to build their own transports, at least short and medium sized ones..
should the Brits get back into the game?

Sad to see the VC10 go. Very ahead of its time. Still holds the record for the fastest subsonic airliner crossing of the Atlantic. BAE really screwed up by selling their stake in AIRBUS though. Some dummy wanted to provide a higher return for shareholders one year, so they sacrificed the company’s diversity and future profits to turn a fast buck.

It is capable, but I am quite sure it cannot take off on its own and need delivery 🙂

http://defense-update.com/20121207_fire-support.html

The conceptual Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GL-SDB) will utilize the MLRS rocket to boost the SDB to a trajectory from where it will be able to continue gliding to its target like it was dropped from a manned aircraft.

20 years ago was also the year of Intel 386 CPU, DOS, and 64 kB graphics,
my 50 buck wristwatch is better

Too bad. I had a Commodore Amiga 500 27 years ago but Pershing II RADAC could home in on bunkers at Mach 10 when we were all playing PAC Man on ZX Spectrums.