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The Hornet "snap" shot - good story. Happened here at Langley. It was a stock, combat configured F-22 flying a BFM (dogfighting) sortie against an airshow configured, i.e. squeeky clean, not combat configured or loaded, Super Hornet (not at all representative of how it performs with 8 pylons, an EA pod and 4-6 or missiles hanging off the rails and probably a fuel tank or two or their out of gas real quick...). It started from a 9000 foot line abreast 300 knot setup (which AF pilots never fly) where they turned into each other at the "fights on" call. It's not a scenario we fly because we never find ourselves in those parameters, we try to set up realistic parameters we expect to see in combat - otherwise the lessons learned aren't applicable and while it might be fun it's not a good use of scarce training time (I don't know if that's a setup the Navy flies or it might just have been a quick attempt to get a last engagement in if they were low on gas - I don't have that info). The Hornet pilot gave up everything he had to point at the Raptor and take a snap shot - it was NOT a tracking shot (stabilized and enough bullets to cause a kill), it was about 2 or 3 frames (many more required to cause a kill…
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Originally posted by ShatteredSkies
WVR rules, I believe the Su-35 to be the deadliest of them all.
But to the topic at hand, this really proves nothing. If you sent out 1 Raptor against 6 bugs, 1 is bound to pick up above the Raptor and over take him. We don't know the parameters of the excersize, so everything is pure speculation.
Originally posted by Darkpr0
Also very true. Because we don't know the parameters of the excersize, all we can do is guess. What he said.
He added that the F-15s at Langley “do a real good job” as adversaries, “even though they have a mission to fulfill, and they need to train their pilots just as much as we need to train our pilots.”
Echols, who is also an instructor pilot, said sometimes the F-15s “win” against an F-22, but it is a rare event. When it does, it provides ample fodder for tactics evaluation.
Should the F-22 ever get into a close-in, turning dogfight, it still will have a considerable edge. Despite its large size, the F-22 can turn as tightly as an early model F-16 and can, in fact, sustain a turn at 9.5Gs—a half-G better than any previous fighter. Hecker said the F-22 pilots can stay conscious in such a situation because they also have a new kind of G-suit that covers more of the lower body.
Originally posted by Laxpla
The F-22 had a kill ratio in exercise Northern Edge, if I remember around 108 - 0, that is when the F-22's were allowed to raise hell in BVR.
Sorry..total misquote. The kill ratio was taken from this article:
Originally posted by WestPoint23
"Tha Toublashoota" can you post a link to the source that stated the 122-2 ratio? Thanks.
In recent exercises over Alaska, the F-22 has been put to the test. The results have been staggering. F-22s notched an impressive 108 to 0 "kill ratio" - often when outnumbered by as much as 8 to 1 by simulated Su-27/30 aircraft.
The Hornet "snap" shot - good story. Happened here at Langley. It was a stock, combat configured F-22 flying a BFM (dogfighting) sortie against an airshow configured, i.e. squeeky clean, not combat configured or loaded, Super Hornet (not at all representative of how it performs with 8 pylons, an EA pod and 4-6 or missiles hanging off the rails and probably a fuel tank or two or their out of gas real quick...). It started from a 9000 foot line abreast 300 knot setup (which AF pilots never fly)
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Technically, this doesn't matter so much. You clean the airframe when you get into a 'serious' fight and given the capabilities of the Gen-4 crowd, that is going to be just about every time now. The USN has a tendency to hang onto their weapons and tanks a little longer than they should (see the double MiG-21 kill of ODS), IMO, but the real problem with the Hornet is that it's quite likely it won't have more than 1-2 AMRAAMs just on the basis of what will clear to the outboard pylons in combination with A2G crap and the AAS-46 or ASQ-228 on the opposed fuselage shoulder. If you come into a WVR fight from a disadvantaged BVR one (nose off and/or down, no speed and a lot of expendables already blown), you are in serious trouble.
Having said that, the USAF has not been into head on passes in quite awhile. Red Flag training from the late 80s in particular restricted collision course FQ 'lobotaya' passes for all but the A-10 to minthreshold ranges on the order of 6-10,000ft, depending on airspeed and initial angle off the nose or well above what the gun can be effectively used at.
OTOH, the USN pulls the 'Top Gun' detail rather more often than is reported whereby nobody is allowed to shoot first but it's understood that you WILL allow joinup for escort or things will get serious. Aggressive maneuvering for position from relatively close in and slow starting speeds is thus probably not as unusual for them as one might at first think.
Many would say that this is a relic of Vietnam fighting wherein the squids never went half as far beyond the beach as the USAF drivers did and so rarely saw a MiG-21 or 19 while making better use of heat shots simply because their BVR option seldom was working right.
Others will point out that fighting well from the tactical position you're given most often is the key to success.
To which the only real response possible is that when it comes to killing deep in the other guys sandbox, the USAF gets the nod everytime with their EID BVR intensive doctrine and larger numbers of OCA-only shooters.
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...where they turned into each other at the "fights on" call. It's not a scenario we fly because we never find ourselves in those parameters, we try to set up realistic parameters we expect to see in combat - otherwise the lessons learned aren't applicable and while it might be fun it's not a good use of scarce training time (I don't know if that's a setup the Navy flies or it might just have been a quick attempt to get a last engagement in if they were low on gas - I don't have that info).
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USAF 'neutral' starting geometry has the breakin as you pass each other's 3/9. This keeps both sides noses out of each others cockpit on a chicken-game basis of flight safety and makes both sides work harder for the tracking shot if that's truly what they are training for. It also rewards the sustained energy maneuver ship because while the Hornet can do a 'pirouhette' maneuver that esssentially swaps ends on jet, it has no smash left to control the nose/gunline with and is obvious as a no-speed, flat-plated, tell from early on. Play up and out or reverse back across (2-circle) on the fight plane and he can't keep the nose up enough to kill you.
Probably.
Conventional (horizontal) max nosehose efforts also runs one out of knots around a quarter to a third of the way around the circle (90-120`) and so again, the Bug loses because it can't add altitude at a constant G or windup on G to max rate-around the circle like the EM optimized USAF aircraft do.
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The Hornet pilot gave up everything he had to point at the Raptor and take a snap shot - it was NOT a tracking shot (stabilized and enough bullets to cause a kill), it was about 2 or 3 frames (many more required to cause a kill…
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Duuh. The question being what would have happened if he had had an AIM-9X and HMCS to trade off the just-shy-of-worthless gun for. HOBS makes the visual arena a real game of Russian Roulette. Assuming you both come into the fight 'equally surprised', -sometimes- you can beat the head mounted computer by doing something so crazy you are just not where he expects you to be as he lets off on the initial G pull for setup and can start looking around again.
But if (another advantage to starting from lower speeds) he keeps eyes-on with you and has a weapon that will follow the helmet with decent boresight overlay and latency suppression, _you're dead_.
This will never change so long as the airframe cannot outmanever the missile. Or dazzle it off the rail with a laser and EVERY pilot knows it. But because dogfighting is still perceived to be an important element of ACM and in particular an important (synthesis) 'artistic' differentiation between humans and machine logic, nobody will admit openly that, because they are in the airplane, they handicap it's abilities to win the WVR fight almost to the level of dice-toss outcomes.
Myself, the only way I would ever play the WVR game is if I could grab somebodies nose from a long ways out and drag him around for my wingman to shoot as he planforms himself. Preferably from below the other guys sill line.
Originally posted by WestPoint23
Uhh… were you for some reason oblivious to my above post?