"BUFDRVR" wrote in message
...
Good reply, but I don't think I'd classify Mig-25 as 4th generation.

I may have catagorized that one incorrectly, but I though it was
considered the
same generation as the F-15?

An earlier design. Much cruder in many respects (vacuum tube pulse radar).
Kind of the ultimate go-fast jet, when we thought go-fast was critical.
Designed as a B-70 killer and a design dead-end (no question the Eagle was
no dead-end).

The US jet I think of that most closely approximates it is the F-8U3 (lets
discount the F-103, F-108, and YF-12 .... stillborn concepts and all much
more sophisticated in aerodynamic concept). Very fast (mach 2.8 if they
solved canopy heating), relatively unsophisticated ... albeit large ...
radar. Of course, its maneuverability was quite good compared to its peers.
Good fuel fraction (range and endurance). Limited multi-role capability
(probably would have been great at recce), limited growth potential.

We bought the Phantom. Less performance in almost every key parameter, but
a far more capable multirole airplane that served in multiple capacities for
two decades (more?). The F-8 was a Corvette compared to the F-4 F-150 ...
but the old F-150 was, ultimately, a better all-around airplane.

R / John