He is preparing for his retirement - a defence contractor consultant.
Or scare mongering congress into releasing more funds for the defence program. Having a powerful air force is very expensive and no country save for Russia can come close to the United States in surviving beyond the first few days of air war. Not only does the US have the ability to maintain and protect it's borders but can also partake in force projection. This is something few countries are capable of. The United States airforce attacks like the 800 pounds gorilla. There is little to no chance of a dogfight. If one does happen, it is usually after the opposing force is rendered ineffective and to let their pilots target practice using missiles that would otherwise expire their shelf life. None of the countries you mentioned are a threat from a conventional weapons point of view. They do not have offensive capabilities beyond their immediate neighbours. Aside from that fact, none of these countries can be defeated in a conventional war. Sure their air forces and navies can be decimated, but a land occupation is akin to committing suicide.
DG
-----Original Message-----
From: Angel Stewart [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 4:25 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: Indian Airforce Bests USAF. Wakeup call.
" <http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040623210447.wil34maf.html>
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040623210447.wil34maf.html
RESULTS OF AIR EXCERSICE WITH INDIA A "WAKE-UP CALL" FOR US AIR FORCE:
GENERAL
WASHINGTON (AFP) Jun 23, 2004
The US Air Force got a "wake-up call" in air-to-air training exercises
with India earlier this year that showed the United States can no longer
take air superiority for granted in a conflict, a top US general said
Wednesday.
A study of the "Cope India" air exercise, conducted by the US and Indian
air forces in Gwalior, India last February, is secret, said General Hal
Hornburg, head of the air force's Air Combat Command.
"But we have to learn a lot of things from that," he told defense
reporters here. "We have to learn if we want air superiority it doesn't
come cheap and it's not automatic."
The Russian-made SU-30s are reported to have bested the F-15s in a
majority of their engagements, much to the surprise of the organizers.
It was the first time the two top-of-the-line US and Russian-made
fighters have flown against each other in an exercise, an air force
spokeswoman said.
It pitted F-15Cs from the air force's 3rd Wing out of Elmendorf Air
Force Base in Alaska against a variety of Indian fighters, not just the
SU-30s. They included Russian-built MiG-21s, MiG-29s and French-made
Mirage 2000s.
Although the US fighters flew with certain restrictions that handicapped
their effectiveness, the performance of the Indian fighters exceeded
expectations.
"In general, we may have learned some things that suggest we may not be
as far ahead of the rest of the world as we once thought we were,"
Hornburg said.
He said the results of the exercise showed the need for the F/A-22
Raptor and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Both aircraft are stealthier
than the F-15, but the F/A-18 also has greater range and speed than the
air force's existing fighters.
The air force has been battling the perception that the costly new
fighters are a luxury at a time when the United States has dominance in
the air.
"I thought it was a wake-up call for some things that we've been talking
about before, and it provided validation," Hornburg said.
The trade journal Aviation Week and Space Technology reported last month
that the exercises showed the SU-30s had a clear advantage over the
F-15C in a long-range fight.
The US and Indian aircraft were seeing each other at the same time with
their radars but the SU-30 pilots were able to simulate-fire their
Russian-made AA-10 "fire-and-forget" Alamo missiles first, the weekly
said.
Experts say the SU-30 has a more advanced radar than the F-15C.
Hornburg said the F-15Cs that took part in "Cope India" were not
equipped with the latest US active electronically scanned array radar.
"We are going to put new radars, as much as we can afford, in the F-16s
and the F-15Es, and my prediction is we will have to do for the F-15C as
well in due course," the general said.
The exercise appears to hold lessons for the air force in east Asia,
where China is acquiring SU-27 and SU-30 fighters and AA-12 air-to-air
missiles.
"I see air forces across the spectrum and across the world becoming
better and better as each year passes," Hornburg said.
"China is very formidable. It is a huge, collossal nation, and they are
very technologically adept. Do I worry about the Chinese? I would say I
worry about anyone who could be a possible threat, to include them and
many others," he said."
--------
I've been saying this on other forums for a while now. When have US
fighters been pitted against similar generation fighters in an
engagement recently? At no point in time really. ONe can't consider
either of the Iraq wars.
The Russian made aircraft are excellent, they just lack ease of use in
the cockpit and can quickly overwhelm their pilots in an engagement. But
in terms of getting weapons on target, they're great platforms.
I don't think the US has dominance in the air anymore, and that it
hasn't for quite some time.
The article makes no mention of the Eurofighter
(http://www.eurofighter.com/News/), which bests the F15 in every aspect.
It's anyone's guess what is to become of the F22 Air Dominance Fighter
after we see what happened to the Comanche, but I think that the USAF
needs something like that. I also read that they had disbanded or
severely reduced the operations of the Top Gun schools that taught
close-in dogfighting, arguing (just as they argued with the Comanche)
that such fighting isn't necessary in modern engagements, since the US
aircraft will maintain air superiority by attacking Beyond Visual Range,
and never have to get in close and certainly never have to use guns.
The Western world can depend on NATO to protect its liberty to some
extent, but if a modern country suddenly decides to flex it's muscle we
will undoubtedly need the strength of the US, and it doesn't look to be
a sure thing in the skies anymore. Tactical nukes or dropping a full
sized bomb may not always be possible, and a conventional engagement may
have to be fought.
North Korea, India,Pakistan, China, one of the Russian break-away
states?
-Gel
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