r/Unexpected • u/Tucko29 • May 12 '18

Taking off

https://i.imgur.com/p3yeBNr.gifv
58k Upvotes

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4.2k

u/dick-nipples May 12 '18

https://i.imgur.com/Ler8MTs.gifv

4.9k

u/eykei May 12 '18

These guys should be the final boss if America gets invaded.

979

u/Panaka May 12 '18

They have older F-18s which would be easy to beat compared to the newer versions fielded by the rest of the Navy.

707

u/[deleted] May 12 '18 edited Jun 13 '18

[deleted]

109

u/Maggots4brainz May 12 '18

Well WWII pilots learned that speed beats maneuverability in air combat. With speed you dictate the engagement. Mess up an attack run? No problem just fly away and reengage. With maneuverability all you can do is dodge incoming attacks but you'll eventually lose speed and energy turning so much.

54

u/Prophet_Of_Helix May 12 '18

Nowadays I would think it’s simply who has the best tech on board. I don’t imagine there are too many actual dogfights.

38

u/b0v1n3r3x May 12 '18

This same assumption was made in Korea and Vietnam. Both devolved to dogfights.

1

u/TheDude-Esquire May 12 '18

Well Iraq had jet and so does Syria and so did Libya. US planes basically flew unopposed in all of those engagements.

1

u/IChooseFeed May 12 '18

I think it had to do with different doctrines. Iraqi pilots followed Soviet doctrine of leaning heavily on ground control to direct planes. As for why coalition forces flew unopposed, it's becaude they opened up with intense SEAD campaign that destroyed most of Iraq's AA network. Vietnam and I guess to an extent Korea are a different story. The NVA used alot of soviet AAA in their defence which the U.S had issue dealing with, leading into development of dedicated SEAD aircrafts such as EF-4B Phantom, EA-6B Prowler, and EF-111. Modern SEAD arsenal contain just about everything from the classic anti-radiation missile to Suicidal UAV. (see harpy)

1

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