posted on Dec, 10 2008 @ 02:05 PM
Lest we forget that those Russian Aces were flying american made P-39 Aerocobras :-P in Low level mountain engagements... a theatre where the P-39
performed like a dream and most other frontline fighters of the war performed poorly.
In "a dogfight", IE the standardized conditions horsehockey statisticians love, an ME-109, FW-190, P-51, ASM-1, F6f.... pretty much ANY fighter from
WWII would have spanked the pants off the P-39. P-39's do not perform well at high altitude where these "dogfights" are staged given to a lack of
turbo/supercharging on their engines. But the Allison is a monster down low where the atmosphere is thick... and this is where the Russians baited the
poor unwitting german pilots, and then tore them to pieces.
So just remember that before you start quoting statistics and citing "mock engagements."
If i were to weigh in, I would put my money on a 22. I'm sorry, maneuverability is a very nice thing, but the 22's radar tends not to set off
RWR's, and as previously stated, the 120's dont even need a hot lock to fire. They'll only light their radars up for terminal manuevers, and at
that point you have to out-manuever a missile streak in on a ballistic path doing about mach 6. Not bloodly likely. The majority of Anti-Air missiles
that are 'dodge' are A) heat seekers, B) old style AIM-7 Sparrows which require a cosntant lock from their parent aircraft and C) engage during the
boost phase of the missile flight.
The 22 will stay out of enemy range, and can outrun either fighter if nessary, and the person who claims you can track stealth aircraft is lying out
their butt. Iraq didnt field "3rd world" radar systems on their AAA and SAMs during either the Gulf War or the more recent Iraq war. Iraq was not a
"3rd world country" as people believe, and in all engagements they never saw either the B-2 or F-117's. Usually the AAA didnt light up until
something blew up :-P. The F-117 lost in Kosovo suffered a "Lucky Shot". It happens.
Aquiring the 22 will be a challenge the 22 wont have to face aquiring either fighter. And if the 22 is forced to close to gunnery range, then the
mission planner/squadron leader messed up big time, and in that case, as the above snippet of history from WWII shows, it's all down to the guts,
skill, and luck of the pilots.