Don't know who wrote it originally:

Again, AWACS is situation-dependent, and there's that oft-quoted
statistic about 80% of surviving pilots wondering who shot them down
(tracking that statistic to a source is probably good for a PhD thesis -
anyone up for funding it? )

Would it be snobbish to point out the 80% of pilots who get shot down
have lost or never had situational awareness? Scott O'Grady stories,
anyone?

I don't think your PhD thesis will shed much light on improving combat
effectiveness.