Q? We don't need no stinking Q!

I think coming from F-8's provided you with the kind of instincts in
fighters that makes you think about what the hell we are doing. There has
always been a "Holy Trinity" in fighter planes - "HIGHER" - "FARTHER" -
"FASTER" and if you aren't getting that generation to generation you may
have to ask yourself something.

We have had a tendency over the last two decades to play on the advantage
that our pilots could win in just about anything they flew regardless what
the enemy was flying, and up until the Gulf War that may have been right.
Now we have not one but several families of superior machines showing up at
our door steps carrying equal if not better weapons flown by zipper-heads
that suddenly don't look all that silly. And the once laughed automation
that kept them at least 10 seconds behind the bubble has now grown in
capability to where big fast jets that go high and far carrying lots of long
range missiles with sensors that can sample multiple spectrums and share
data to fill a New Jersey sized hunk of airspace full of missiles all
seeking anything it can track. Kill'em all being the tactic of choice.

The F-18 was chosen for its maintainability and essential reliability in
pumping sorties, in this it dominates the F-8, F-4 and F-14. It has a
vastly improved weapon system that could easily be added to any of the other
fighters. It can not run from anything nor chase anything down, so it will
be placed in small postage stamp locations around the fleet defense
perimeter to zip-zip back and forth trying to protect the ship. The new Nuc
ships are designed to pump sorties so the cycle times would mean they don't
go too far, and the JSF will do less. The Navy is cutting up their F-14's
in storage now just to ensure they never are forced to use them again by
Congress which may be the dumbest and most self-inflicting move ever done in
the history of Naval aviation.

The best performing fighter on the world scene right now may be the Rafale
followed by the Su-33 but soon to be displaced by the MiG-35M .... the
Palace is full of too many dillusionary people who have been in the confines
of that place too long drinking their own juices. We may not be seriously
challenged in the air for a while, but it will be a short while. No body
expected the IED's to totally humiliate the US Army, but it wasn't the
stroke of asymmetric warfare as much as the fact that the enemy simply
watched us and took notes of our habits driving down the same roads all the
time using a schedule published around the hot chow and meeting schedules of
the leaders who never leave their bunkers. They simply came after us where
we demonstrated great vulnerability.

Rememebr the old SA plot curve in the Search - Sample - Sort - Lock/Track -
Shoot - Short Range Ops - disengage - reset
where in the beginning you are kind of stupid, get smarter by the time you
are sorting you have it all together and when you focus on shooting you
narrow your concentration to go blind all around then get into a fight and
if you are winning good if not OOPS, then bugout leaving it all behind. In
the focus into the fight when you dedicate your sensors and mind to the kill
our tactics support each other to compensate fior vulnerabilities, in fact
that has become the western trademark where we can cnvert bad starts into a
success (Israel in the Bekaa) and tuen around the advantage of lesser pilots
to gain kills - because our SA is collectively high and we are optimized for
the fight. So in general where have we been loosing aircraft - the enemy
watches, and just like on the roasd segments in Iraq and Afghanistan we are
hit where our guard is down. In Vietnam we were attacked going out to the
CAP's or refueling or doing something else that got our attention and in a
big way we were run down going home on egress - that is the enemy was not
ready to meet us head on in a two vs two, he was going to shoot us in the
back because we would let him. When we got our **** togther the enemy was
dropped fast, otherwise we enabled him to screw around with us by never
being able to toally unleash hell on them

In short nothing has changed except the dimension of the blind egos inside
the beltway. Now just think what this country bwill have to endure with a
Nimitz or Stennis burning helplessly in the Gulf with the mullah's doing
their rag dance on zipper TV. Then we will get the message - perhaps


..


"John Carrier" wrote in message
. ..
"Speed is life" was drummed into my brain starting with FAM-1 in the F-8.
Particularly vital in an era where any likely adversary would eat you
alive in a slow turning fight. Also useful when it was time to leave the
scene ... max speed to disengage and get to feet wet and safety. We're
not talking big mach numbers at altitude, but big knots(AKA Q) relatively
low ... shrinking missile envelopes and generating separation from the bad
guys.

Had an interesting conversation with a PXO (former Bug driver) who just
finished 4 years at the puzzle palace. He claimed we didn't need speed in
tactical aircraft.

By default we don't have it in USN aircraft. The F-18C/D can't exceed 700
knots on a good day. The E/F is slower. They're impressive at high alpha
(only the F-22 and modded flankers are better), but they're not dragsters
(they're also a bit weak in endurance and range). But no matter.

Alleged reason: It's cheaper to design a missile that'll kill anyone
giving chase than it is to design an airplane that can egress. As the
AIM-9X is developed further, it will be able to engage a bogey at or near
dead six (!?!). Of course, the argument overlooks the fact that we've
been flying F-18's for some 20 years without this capability. In certain
Pacific Rim scenarios, an intrepid aviator in a Mig series aircraft could
give chase and run down the Bug and put one up where the sun don't shine.

Any thoughts? There aren't many potential adversaries that could put up a
significant A/A defense and current tactics are to neutralize them early
(Six day war style, as opposed to Vietnam), but it only takes one late
arrival in the furball to ruin your day. Is the day of the 800+ egress
over?

R / John