67Cougar wrote:
Nathan, it is pretty simple.
The Iranians, according to aviation sources who are supposed to be in the know, are lucky to get the F-14s off the ground safely. No one in the West knows their mission availability, but it would seem to be poor. Yes, the Iranians have been clever in reproducing a few parts to get the airframes off the ground, but how usable are the jets in the air? Just think - we've all heard the horror stories about aircraft servicability in he US armed forces, AND they are supported by the actual manufacturers of the aircraft. Imagine trying to keep a 35 year old jet in full working order with no support.
The weapons systems in the aircraft are out of date - the USN deemed them out of date well over a decade ago. Although the Russians may have supplied Iran with new AA missiles, it is highly unlikely they've been adapted to the complex, out of date, analog control systems in the Tomcat.
The Iranian Tomcats are 1971 technology. They did not benefit from the upgrades applied to US Tomcats over the years. There may have been some Iranian supplied upgrades, but does anyone in their right mind think they would be on par with the US upgrades?
Training. If you put up a fighter pilot trained in the US system against one trained inside of Iran, in exactly the same equipment, the better trained pilot is going to win almost every time. How do you think a better trained US pilot in much better equipment is going to fair against an Iranian pilot in poor equipment. (To be fair, if an Iranian pilot went through US training, and was equipped with the same equipment, it could very well be a fair fight).
Last, I have spoken with US fighter pilots who have been over there. F-15, F-16, and F-18 pilots salivate over the prospect of getting into an engagement with an Iranian Tomcat, Phantom, or MiG. None of them thought it would be a fair fight, and every single one of them was confident that they would be victorious before the Iranian pilot even knew they were under attack.
Unfortunately, I don't agree with your post.
Here's a link to a thread in which I've discussed this in the past:
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... hp?t=27696The gist of my belief is this:
Quote:
I am never prone to just scoffing a potential enemy outright because he is not a technologically advanced. That was a mistake we made with the North Vietnamese, and you can see how that worked out for us.
If anyone wants to beat their chest and think that it would be a cakewalk to just roll into Iran and eliminate their Air Force in the first day, they're entitled to that opinion. I happen to think that's a pretty ignorant opinion, though.
Would the US win militarily against Iran? No doubt in my mind. Would it be a cakewalk? I dunno...why don't you go ask some Desert Storm vets if the Iraqi Air Force was a pushover in 1991. Although the US did not have any confirmed air-air losses (Scott Speicher, perhaps), I'll bet you a case of Heineken that every pilot that shot down an Iraqi had a pulse going through the roof and was playing his top A game....he wasn't just relaxing, smoking a Lucky, and saying "awww, these Iraqis are a bunch of Amateurs." Same goes for Operation Allied Force, where F-15Cs bagged a few more MiGs. Were the Serbians a bunch of Clowns? Yes...but the US pilots flew as if they were going up against the best MiG-29 pilots in the world.
Listen to the recording of "Dirk" flight that is available for download here on the Internet...it's the two F-15Cs that shot down two MiG-29s in Allied Force. All you have to do is listen to the tone of the pilots' voices over the radio to know that they are operating at a very high level and are....well, scared isn't the right word. Perhaps anxious is a better word.
Anyway, if something bad happens and the US finds itself poised to take up arms against Iran in the next couple years, I will probably be there. I won't be thinking to myself, "Aww, these punks are just armed with a couple dilapidated Tomcats and some old Phantoms and MiGs and stuff. What a friggin' cake walk."
No, I'll be "anxious". Probably even scared, because you never know when an enemy -- even one who is not as well trained or equipped -- could whip out a sucker punch that could send me home to my family in a flag-draped casket.
You simply HAVE to respect your enemies until they prove themselves unworthy of that respect. Otherwise, your pride will be your downfall.
There's more on the F-14 as a potential adversary in that thread, I recommend you read it.
Here's, again, the gist of what I think about fighting Iranian Tomcats:
Quote:
When I was a brand-new F-15E pilot, I had the opportuity to fly against an F-14A in a 1 v 1. I was surprisingly able to kick the snot out of him. Three years later, I had a similar 1 v 1 opportunity against an F-14D -- this time I was the one getting the crap beat out of him. IMHO, the D Model Tomcat is a pretty good fighter -- good engines and good radar -- that still suffers from some of the limitations of the Tomcat airframe (like numbers of places to hang ordnance, where the targeting pod is mounted, overall G limit, etc). It didn't carry the AMRAAM (the A model), so it suffered in the medium range BVR arena significantly (don't let the Phoenix fanboys convince you otherwise...).
I would NEVER underestimate anyone I was fighting, including an F-14A, because you can get the tar beat outta you by darn near any piece of equipment, depending on what the scenario is and who is flying it....
When I flew AT-38s, you would not believe the number of times I "killed" F-16s and F-15s in air-to-air engagements, even though I had no radar and no medium-range missile capability. Why? The T-38 is small visually and has a small radar cross section. If you can slip in un-noticed and turn the battle into a gunfight at close range, the odds change significantly. Even better, if you can get into a shot position WITHOUT BEING SEEN, you're in REALLY good shape, and that's what happened most times with the AT-38.
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