One of the driving reasons to the development of air to air missiles in
the jet age was the problem of having the engines ingest the bullets
you fired a few seconds earlier that have now slowed down due to air
drag whilst you kept on motoring along at 500 to 1500 mph - and lumps
of metal hitting a 50,000 rpm fan blade has predictable results... So,
they developed missiles that leap off the rail and gain speed beyond
their initial launch velocity, sparing the ignoble result of shooting
yourself down (actually ramming your own projectiles from behind, which
is technically not 'shooting' yourself)... Further, the missiles very
soon had heat tracking, higher speed, longer range, etc. capabilities,
allowing the pilot to shoot a target moving at supersonic speed from a
standoff distance... Yes, there was joy in Mudville...
Then Vietnam came along... And the Mig-15 was a quick, deadly, street
fighter that outclimbed the US fighters and could turn inside of you in
a fight, and never, ever engaged you at supersonic speeds from 5 miles
away... Instead he dived in tight and rolled onto your tail firing
cannon shells up your butt... And even if you got behind him he was too
close to fire missiles effectively... Our vaunted kill ratio of 30:1
slammed into the ground hitting an eye popping 1:1 ratio... Needless to
say this came as a shock to our cocky fighter jocks... And the shock
was often fatal... So, they began demanding, "gimme some gawddam
guns!"... To their credit the Pentagon listened, equipping Sabres with
50 caliber guns to even the odds, and started the Top Gun fighter
school to teach the obsolete art of dog fighting... Luckily, there were
still fighter jocks from WWII who could show the new kids how to save
their butts in a real gunfight... So, in the end it turned out right
from our point of view and John Wayne was able to swagger down the
street once more...

denny