Most successful fighter...

What is the most successful fighter in your peoples minds?

I would say Mig-29.

It is a great fighter and has a very good history and also alot of countries want it so its a good money maker.

Out,
Russian

Russian, successful at what?

Import Sales, the MIG - 21 series takes the lead with 3,000 MiG-21 now operated by the air forces of more than 40 countries.

Numbers of enemy A/C shot down, think that claim go's to P-51 of WW II

You'll have to define "sucessful" more narrowly.

I would have thought that the Spitfire, F-4 and F-16 would all rate much more highly in any 'success' chart than the MiG29.

Success in everything combined.

Sales, performance, etc

Out,
Russian

i would the F-16, it's used by ALOT of countries in the 70's and 80's

F-16 no doubt. Over 5,000 built cheap, very manuverable, great attack and fighter and very adaptive.

How bout the F-15? Used by many nations (in combat) with an excellent kill ratio.

Russian I agree that the MIG-29 is a great all around fighter that is getting good export sales, theres only one thing missing............a combat record to compare with other fighter aircraft. Because the criteria you set is so broad................

My vote has to go with the F-16 Falcon and its demonstrated record over the Bekaa valley 82', this A/C set the standard for modern fighter manueverability.

Originally posted by Phoenix
Russian I agree that the MIG-29 is a great all around fighter that is getting good export sales, theres only one thing missing............a combat record to compare with other fighter aircraft. Because the criteria you set is so broad................

My vote has to go with the F-16 Falcon and its demonstrated record over the Bekaa valley 82', this A/C set the standard for modern fighter manueverability.

Remember one thing.

Mig-29s were sold to alot of poor countries that cant train their pilots.

F-16 were sold to mostly democracies that were at a much higher level.

Out,
Russian

I don't know... You have to judge a fighter based on its performance, not what it *could* have done under perfect circumstances.

If my memory is correct, the MiG-29 has never won an air to air engagement when going up against a western fighter from the same design era (F-16, F-18, etc.).

The 'foreign users of MiG-29s are poor' excuse doesn't hold up because some of the countries that operate F-16s, F-18s, and F-15s are NOT wealthy democracies... and the foreign export models of those fighters are stripped down, to a degree. Also, not every foreign operator of Russian built craft has a bad air force. The Serbian AF was highly regarded in 1998, and certainly experienced, yet all air to air engagements were own by the west.

I'd recommend setting up a scale based on sortie to victory ratio or maybe some historical aspect.

and I forgot...

Russian pilots use to serve as 'volunteers' in foreign air forces. many of the Communist bloc aces from Vietnam and Korea were actually Russian.

Now, you can make a very good argument along the lines that the MiG-17 was one of the best fighters ever. Though, in overall victories, it couldn't match the F-4 or F-105, if you factor in its cost it did pretty well. 17s often caught far more advanced, powerful, and expensive US fighters like F-4s or F-8s at low levels.

Currently I'd say the Su-27 line of planes because of it's excellent preformance. good sales record(and still growing) and innovations(3d TVC).
Back a step or two I'd go for the F-16, phenomenal lightweight fighter at a low cost a growing exception in the west.
Back further I'm not too sure, I'll go for Spitfire though, tough choice though given the range of aircraft available then.
Mig-29 dosen't really belong here as it has a horrible maintenance record that kept jet engien factories running not too far off wartime production replacing ones that just failed. It has imporved dramatically in recent years but it's still a problem.

The most sucessful fighter....hmmm...i am biased...I used to work on the EF-111 and F-111 aircraft....The EF-111 made the first kill in the Iraq war in 1991...this is no big deal...except when you consider that the EF-111 (aka EF Wonder Lemon) The EF-111 has no weapons. It simply put the Terrain Following Radar system on when the Iraqi fighter locked on...
The EF-111 automatically went to 200 feet off the ground...and the Iraqi pilot bit the dust....that was the first kill of the Gulf War in 1991.

Well, I don't know the the F-111 really gets to take this catagory because of it's fighter-bomber nature, leaning towards the bomber end at that, certainly this has been my impression. Also I find that limited combat record is worse then none in the case of guaging a fighter as it is heavily swayed by what it was up against in technology, skill and numbers.

I'm gunna have to go with the F-15 for one reason, because it did/does what its designed to do better then any aircraft ever, and has proven it's self to be versatile even though it was designed to be a pure A2A fighter.

It has over a hundred kills for the US with no pilots lost in A2A combat. Considering that the US does not have too many problems coming up with their high price tag it is one amazing aircraft.

Honorable mention: Mig-29 and F-16

F-15 F-15 and F-15 no other aircraft matches its record in A2A and it is still good after 30 years but the F-15 cant compare with the F-22

This is the best jet Ever!

[edit on 16-6-2004 by Warhappy]

F-15 and Su-27

Mig-29 is far from success.

Originally posted by gastric cancer
F-15 and Su-27

Mig-29 is far from success.

What do you think of the Su-30 MKK you people got from Russia?

You like them dont you?

Out,
Russian

Originally posted by Russian

Originally posted by gastric cancer
F-15 and Su-27

Mig-29 is far from success.

What do you think of the Su-30 MKK you people got from Russia?

You like them dont you?

Out,
Russian

Yes, I really like Su-27 and Su-30.

They are the most beautiful flighters in the world.