Scott.Johnson@gatech.edu (Scott Johnson) (09/02/90)
From: gatech!p0.f7.n391.z1.fidonet.org!Scott.Johnson@gatech.edu (Scott Johnson)
HS> dogfighting was out of fashion. The Navy requirement was for a
HS> fleet air-defence interceptor, basically a missile platform.
HS> Maneuverability was explicitly *not* a consideration.
The plane that the missileer requirements would have produced
would have been a deathtrap for anyone flying it. Lets face it,
throughout aviation history, super-specialized (sp?) aircraft have
always performed miserably in combat situations. The unpredictable
nature of warfare (especially modern ROE-run warfare) will always result
in weapons being used for and in situations they were not designed for.
The Ju-87 in WWII was a very good dive-bomber, mainly because it was so
highly specialized for the role. But when escorts could not be provided,
the slow speed that made them such neat bomber turned it into a neat
target. They fell like mayflies. In more recent times, the F-4 was never
really ment for dogfighting, since its jiffy-pop missles could swat
things from way beyond visual range. Hence it was not equipped with a
gun, and was not designed as a high-manuver craft. Unfortunately,
congress (in its infinite [?] wisdom) did not allow the Phantom to use
this capability, and so it was forced to dogfight. The lack of a gun was
a terrible disadvantage, since the missles did not perform up to snuff.
Also, enemies being the sneaky folk they are, the F-4's would sometimes
get "bounced" and have to fight their way out. Fortunately, the Phantom
was not super-specialized to be a missle interceptor, and it did quite
well when tactics were re-thought.
The missileer, while interesting in concept, had very large
flaws. Once it had expended its six missles, its only form of defense
would have been to run. With its slow speed and total lack of defensive
armament, it would have been blown out of the sky with ease. It would
have also left the Navy with no fighter able to escort attack squadrons
(remember this was before the F-17/18). The Missileer's slow speed would
mean that the missle itself would have to do all the work of
excelerating to attack speed... it has been found that a missle givin a
high energy launch has a MUCH better chance of hitting targets. Again,
don't let anybody tell you different... the F-111B, AND the D-766
Missileer were DOGS!
HS> missile-platform-interceptor mission, it is seriously inferior
HS> to the F-111B in almost every way.
See above