Most Powerful Militaries of the 20th Century

Avionics are far more important than speed these days as well, like it or not the Phoenix and Tomcat combination are just getting a bit old for warfare in the 21st Century.

Roll rate and turning circles are no longer a real factor and are unlikely to be decisive since Turning Dogfights are a rarity in modern air combat.

I admit modern aircraft I am really pretty vague on, but why do you think Mach 2 should be the optimum speed?

 

I don't think we've needed to fear the Russians since 89' so much as their long list of customers :-?

Even so Blaster, rest assured... The USAF has a hell of alot more aircraft than the VVS... (18,000 compared to 7,000) not sure how many of those are fighters though

 

Well, that means the Super 18 can beat the Su-33 then?

 

Of course it CAN... but it might be UNLIKELY to do so... it depends on how the two aircraft are deployed... I mean, look at Israel's numerous air wars in the desert... despite having reasonably matched aircraft with their enemies, they deployed their aircraft more effectively and managed to suffer far fewer losses than their Syrian opponents... I.e. one simple example was them taking out Syrian Radar vehicles so that their fighers would be left in the dark with no radar, meaning they could more or less shoot them down with impunity... If an F-18 encountered an Su-33 with no radar support he would be more likely to win... thankfully most of Russia's arms customers (like Iraq) didn't deploy their radar very effectively and as such suffered many more aerial losses than they could have if they were smarter

 

Ok, but what if the Su-33 had radar support and so did the Super 18? What if their pilots were equally experienced and the outcome of the fight came down to the plane's tech, performance and equipment? Now can the Super 18 beat the Su-33?

 

No! But that particular situation is vaaastly unlikely to ever happen

 

What was the name if that training event in India a few years ago? Indian pilots in truly ancient planes (second generation jet fighters) gained a stunning victory over Americans in their brand new latest-update fighter planes. I need to look up some details on that, it's a good argument against those who like to overemphasize technology in war.

 

Not exactly. It wasn't the newest technology planes and the rules of engagement strongly favored the Indian side. It was considered a wakeup call by the USAF because they didn't expect to lose even with the odds stacked against them. The USAF then turned it to their advantage by actually promoting the results to the US Congress as they were seeking additional funding at the time

 

Still, the technological advantage lay with the Americans. All other factors that influenced the exercise only support my point, that many things other than technology play their part in the outcome of all battles.

 

See! The Super 18 is still vastly inferior to the Su-33! Even if the situation's unlikely to happen! What in the cosmos are these navy guys thinking?

 

Blaster, there aren't enough Migs, Sukhois, Yaks, or Tuploevs in the sky to match the sheer quantity of American fighter jets. The American Navy probably has at least three F-A/18's for every Su-33 which is more than enough to take 'em down... Besides, air to air is not the only way to take down an aircraft, SAM's are, if anything, a more common threat to Navy fighters... Or you could destroy the aircraft on the ground yada yada list goes on...
point being: US Airforce = most powerful in the world at the present time

 

So, you're saying that the vastly inferior performance of the F/A18 and it's out-of-this-dimension totally unreasonable price won't matter because the decks of US carriers will be swarming with them. These budget-killing hunks of junk. Can I get a roll rate, and climb rate on the normal F18?

 

Yes, on the Internet.

Blaster, I have said it before and I will say it again: You place WAY too much weight on technology/equipment.

 

Yes, yes, pilot training. So what, are the US navy gonna' start training their F18 pilots double-time, huh?

 

AFAIK, with no references to check on, USN "aviator" training (ongoing as well as intial training) is considered among the best in the world. Also Russian pilot training depends very much on budgets and the state of the Russian economy, so many pilots do not get enough hours a year to maintain their skills.

IMHO training is more important than most technical advances.

Tom

 

Training is another factor, another thing that matters is the weather at the time of engagement, the support given to each side in terms of AA fire and other aircraft in the area, the morale and intelligence of the pilots themselves, and so on.