The best combat Aircraft.

Site Issues 2005 Archive Room
#1

What’s the best combat aircraft? I’ll put a ranking off my aircraft in service.

*1- Lockheed FA-22A Raptor (United States)
*2- Sukhoi SU-30MK (Russia)
*3- Dassault Rafale (France)
*4- Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon (Europe)
*5- Mc Donnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle (United States)
*6- Mikoyan Gurevic MiG-31 Foxhound (Russia)
*7- Mc Donnell Douglas FA-18E Super Hornet (United States)
*8- Sukhoi SU-27SKM Flanker (Russia)
*9- Lockheed F-16E Desert Falcon (United States/United Emirates)
*10- Dassault Mirage 2000-5 (France)

Are you in disagree???

#2

I’ll need to give it a lot more thought but the MiG-31 definitely doesn’t belong in there for starters. F/A-22 in top spot is quite right - you throw enough money at a problem, you get the top spot. Not too sure where the Sukhoi’s should rate… and the Mirage 2000-5 I’m not too sure on either but then by the time you get to tenth place it’s all a little hit-and-miss.

#3

the Raptor is still untested in combat and according to http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-22-deploy.htm

The first detachment hasnt even been completed yet! (end of august 2005)
how do they get first place. what are we basing this appraisal on?

#4

At the moment we can only “expect” that the Raptor will become the best fighter in the world, considering all the develpment and money theve done. But I think the Raptor still has some flaws that they need to overcome.

#5

If we restrict it in that fashion though, the list becomes very, very short and the F-15, F/A-18 and F-16 dominate and it’s all rather dull.

#6

258 million dollars for one jet?! now, i am no plane buff, but that seems very high. how can the US expect to mass produce these things?

#7

Possibly by subsidising domestic production by via pre orders from freindly and wealthy oil producing countries afraid of the raise of muslim fundamentalism following the invasion of Iraq

#8

Heh. The quantities they are buying started out in excess of 600, but then it looked a bit pricey so they cut the numbers… so unit cost went up. Still too pricey. Cut the numbers. Unit cost went up further. I think they now want more than 300 but they might only have funding for one 180. And yes, that isn’t miles away from the number of Typhoon’s that the RAF wants to buy.

All the same kind of madness that meant the US Air Force ended up with 20 B-2 Spirits… at the unit cost of about $2 billion EACH.

Large development phase / low production run = Something only the US taxpayer would ever pay for.

#9

You been combining the skills of drinking and posting again? :lol:

#10

The treasury department? :? I don’t know really lol

#11

Well neither the Raptor or Typhoon are in operational servcice yet so I think we could discount them.

The Foxhound is old and dated, an interceptor based on the Foxbat.

#12

Well if we’re going to be realistic about the criteria, then it’s between the F-15 and the F-16. The F-15 is the bigger, meaner aircraft, but the F-16 is a hell of a lot of fighter for the money.

#13

Well I saw this film once and I thin that the best was the one Tom Cruise flew! becasue it had 17 Missiles on it in the final dogfight, the only porblem was it had crap cd’s stuck in the autochanger! and went into a flat spin this one time and like totally got p0wned!

but it did fly </Tom cruise to Kelly McGillis> Inverted <Tom Cruise to Kelly McGillis>

#14

Although they are not in really service, they will be by the next months, so I thought it was correct to put them in my list.

Yes, de Foxhound is based on the ancient MiG-25, but the power of the MiG-31, and it capability is striking!!!

The FA-22 isn’t proved yet, but the case that a raptor have stealth capability and supersonic speed without post-combustion systems makes the difference. Try to imagine, you are a pilot of an enemy. Your radar doesn’t catch to the FA-22 which is behind you. You only see a missile which is aproaching in your radar… you couldn’t fight to this class of beast, until a new detection system would be ready to stop the Raptor, and in the future, to the F-35, and of course, the B-2 y F-117.

Greetings from Argentina.

#15

The F-117 Nighthawk is supposedly invisible to radar to, but the British Rapier system can track and lock onto it. An RAF Regiment team did it at an airshow once and the Americans had a fit about it.

I wouldn’t place too much faith in ‘stealth’ - it makes them harder to see, not invisible.

#16

The Su-30 may be a challenger, they have off boresight missles etc and that natty little IRST device. Oh and helmet mounten sighting.

I would probably go for the tried and tested F-15 myself though.

#17

The Su-30MK, the best fighter of Sukhoi, I think is the best aircraft in the world. I am not a russian-weapons lover, but I found to that Sukhoi, used by India and China, as the best aircraft in service.

#18

Of course its all subjective as modern air warfare is not about individual fighters. Its about a tailored package to do the job in hand, this includes tankers and AEW aircraft as well as ECR aircraft etc.

#19

French aircrafts are great!

#20

Can you please back this up with a bit more info Mate, why do you like French ac, what are their special capabilities etc etc etc and why are they better than the others listed here.

Thanks