ViperEagle

According to now Lt. Colonel Tom Murphy, who was then a Captain, that DACT never happened. I trust him completely. He was a pilot for the 1st Fighter Wing, out of Langely Virgina. He left 1st FW shortly before this happened, but he knows several of the pilots who were "supposedly" involved. They said it never happened. http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/f15vssu27sm_1.htm The WarbirdTech Flanker article, and the Yefrim Gorton book are exhaulting something that never happened.

FYI, there has never been any DACT between Russia and the US, not now, and not for the forseeable future. The "DACT" was basically that a F-15 and SU-27 were in a tactical formation, the SU-27 fell onto the Eagles' six, the F-15 pilot tried to shake him for a few moments, and then stopped..this proves...? nothing. So far, the only DACT between Eagles and Flankers has been Cope India 1 and 2. But yes, scripted combat rarely resembles real combat.

Yep, I meant in BOTH cases. Both Cope India 1 and 2.

Exactly, In India they do what is called "Full Blue on Blue" meaning their combat training is full bore, balls to the wall, give it all you've got. In the US, UK and such, they do "Blue vs. Red", where the "red" force uses tactics and technological emulator modes to simulate likely opposing forces. It's largely how the US and UK, allied forces, etc, have such a good combat record in the Gulf, over Yugoslavia and Kosovo. In "Cope India", where the F-15C's were at a disadvantage, they were simulating Pakistani F-16's with Sidewinder and sparrow missiles, as opposed to what they really were, F-15C's with long range ARH missiles, Aim-9X's, and now, AESA radars. When you tie your hands to fight like your opponent, it's not suprising you dont do well.

What were the ROE's? Was it a full on fight? were both sides fighting to their best? Were the F3's simulating a Red Air aggressor force? Were there restrctions on the Tornados? Was there AWACS support on both sides? Were the Tornados outnumbered? These questions must have answers before you draw a conclusion. the F-15C's were outnumbered 3:1 AND..they werent allowed to use the AMRAAM to it's fullest capability AND they didnt have V2 radar... I'm getting sick and tired of this IAF propaganda, the -30MKI is impressive, but it's not unbeatable, F-15's and F-16's got WVR/BFM kills on it, but you dont hear that because it wouldnt suit the Indian Air Forces needs. Really, the -30MKI is impressive, but I get tired of the frantic masturbating over it.

And IIRC, the maximum speed to maintain control and directional stablity with an engine out in a F-14 was about Mach 1.6-8, alot of F-14A's came back to the carrier and to the airfields with one TF-30 shut down or a piece of very hot junk.

The Hornet and the Viper were both much more widely spread for the last six years than the Tomcat. Thus, they have a higher "Total force" accident rate than the Tomcat. The vast majority of the accidents related to the Tomcat were related to the Craptastic TF-30 engines found in the A's . Those TF-30's were simply touchy, and would fly apart if you farted the wrong way, modifications were done on the TF-30 fleet during the mid to late 90's which helped this, but it never, ever fully went away. Virtually all of the engine problems were solved with the introduction of the GE-110's on the B (intially A+) and D model Tomcats. The lack of the AMRAAM severely limited the Tomcats A2A ability, and after about 2001, you almost exclusively saw them as Mudmovers, while also having a A2A role as alert fighters and CAP aircraft. Ultimately its about the pilot, not the machine. A well trained F-14 pilot could and did eat Nugget Hornet pilots, newbie F-16 and F-15 pilots. Just as when the initial wave of Tomcats entered the fleet, well flown and trained Phantom pilots could kill Tomcats. Because of its swing wing geometery and such, the Tomcat had very good low speed manuverability, and had very impressive role and snap turn rates. The fact is, the Tomcat is gone, and in an A2A fight, I wouldnt take a F-14 lightly as an opponent, but it's not the super plane that some people think it was. The Hornet has its advantages over the Tomcat, and vice versa, same with the F-15 and F-16. And I wouldnt call the F-14 garbage, alot of the first F-15 and F-16A's went to the Boneyard before the A model Tomcats, same with the Hornets.

As I recall, the Tomcat that blew out it's engine was a TF-30 powered bird, which were prone to catastrophic engine loss. The GE-110 powered Tomcats did not share that trait.

Depends really, if the squad was transitioning to the E, the RIO's went off to train and left the squadron. If it was transitioning to a F, the RIO's went along and became the WSO, weapons system operator/Guy In Back

Oi... Ok...firstly, I do love the F model Super Hornet, I do. But there are some very plain facts attached to it. As of it's current block and engines, it is: # Not as fast as the Tomcat, both in dry power and AB. It also doesnt have as prime of a T/W ratio as the Tomcat and doesnt have as sharp throttle responce. # It doesnt have as long legs, so it cannot go as far or loiter as long, which is important in a CAS/ FAC-A role. The Super Hornet has a very fine A2A suite, and it's a very capable multi-mission capable fighter. The much masturbated HUD footage of a F-22 is the result of a WAAAAAAAAY out of ROE merge. Also, due to ONE frame of footage, we dont know if it's a good gun track, which is 15-20 frames, or roughly 2-3 seconds. I mean, if one HUD shot is a sign of clear superiority, then the Eagle and Viper are clearly superior to the SU-30MK and MKI's, since there exists HUD footage of them in F-16 and F-15 WEZ's and gun funnels. And as for the Tomcat and the AMRAAM? Back in the mid 90's, there was simply a budget crunch. There existed the funds for the LANTIRN upgrade, to give the Tomcat the best A2G suite in the Navy and AF inventory on a fighter (Much better than the Viper and the Mudhen aka F-15E). OR, the Tomcat could get the AMRAAM to replace the phoenix. Dale Snodgrass argued for the LANTIRN, and ultimately, that was the wisest choice. The LANTIRN Tomcat kicked ass until April of 2006, an AMRAAM Tomcat maybe would have made it to 2000. The Tomcat WAS a 9G aircraft, during the engagement with the SU-22's off of Libya, one of the VF-41 Tomcats executed a 10-11G manuver, with no problems at all. Basically the Tomcat driver had to whomp on the stick to clear the flaming wreckage of a -22 as it went down. However, with age, certain things cant be done anymore. At the end of their lives, after thousands of carrier landings, which alone is more stress than ANY AF jet will ever go thru, the Tomcat was limited to 7.5G's, and it STILL got kills on Hornets, Vipers and Eagles. However, the YOUNGEST Airframe in the fleet is still 14 years old, and after that much stress, you'd be worn out too. And for the record, on their final cruises, VF-31 and VF-213 were averaging 25-30 maitenence hours per flight hour, the Super Hornet was averaging 20. They also had a higer mission capable rate and ordinance on target rate than the Hornet squads. The Tomcat is GONE, and the SUPER HORNET is here, and best wishes to the Rhino, go kick some ass.

It's also in the "full down" position on engine start up and taxi.

Simple, ED goes where the money is, they ARE a business after all. The money for Flaming Cliffs and Black Shark was there.

Last time I checked, they were still slinging LGB's on Hornets, they were on Tomcats all the way to the end, and are still common on Eagles..soooooo I'd call them modern. To me, "non-modern" bombs would include the Paveway I's and such, snakeye Mk. 82's and Mk. 117's.

Sorry Alfa, I didnt mean to come off as snarky. I just reacted that way because by what I have also heard, some of the AESA radar equipped Hornets are about to enter the fleet with VFA-213. I didnt mean to come off as high handed or some such.

Not quite..... The Block II Super Hornet radar is the Raytheon AN/APG-79 AESA Radar. http://www.raytheon.com/products/apg79aesa/

Here is the tailhook, a detailed shot showing the lack of the "stinger" housing which was removed in 1992. Here is picture, highligting the specific antennae on F-15C's.

The USAF doesnt use Compass Ghost anymore, hasnt for at least 13 years All the Eagles I linked to are indeed Mod-Eagle camo'ed F-15's. Florida ANG F-15A Mod Eagle: http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050519-F-1279W-035.jpg Eglin F-15C Mod Eagle: http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050420-F-0000W-002.jpg Trust me, it's Mod-Eagle, as are all A, B, C and D model Eagles in the USAF and Air National Guard. The only non Mod-Eagle's are the E model Strike Eagles "Beagles".

Sure thing, I figure the best source is the offical source! Here's a few pics that show the Mod-Eagle camo very clearly, and recently painted jets. Mountain Home F-15C http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/061101-F-6911G-026.JPG A fairly fresh Lakenheath F-15C doing a Demo in the UAE http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/051119-F-4801H-011.jpg A Langley F-15C in formation with 2 F-22's. The Mod-Eagle on the Eagle is fairly fresh: http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050812-F-2295B-166.jpg Hope this helps!

The first two LN pics are from the Compass Ghost era, so they are not current in the mod-eagle paints, I just showed it to show the antenna.

Also, Walmis! Dont forget to delete the "stinger" housing for the tailhook! the tailhook is supposed to just stick out! The housing was removed/deleted off of all F-15's a while back!

Actually, you can see it in a lot of photos these days. Here are some Lakenheath F-15's: http://perso.orange.fr/aeromil-yf/F15%20LN%20air%20to%20air.jpg http://www.powerwheelz.net/kingaviation/upload/F-15C%20LN%2084-0014%20landing.jpg Here are some Mountain Home F-15's with the antenna: http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/061101-F-6911G-026.JPG http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/061019-F-6911G-270.jpg http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/061011-F-6911G-015.JPG

............??

I think it's a mixed bag, since I can see them on Langleys jets "FF" Mountain Homes "MO" , Lakenheaths "LN" and Kadena's "ZZ". I think it's just a mixed bag, ranging from F-15's with production years from 1979 to 1986.

Ok, I contacted a F-15 Crew Chief that posts on another board, and this is what he said about the "bump/antenna" on the nose. It's the old JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Distribution System) antenna. We don't operate that datalink system anymore. It's known as FIDL. So..basically, it's the System Link antenna, not the GPS, never-the-less, it should be there.

Actually, around this timeframeish, due to the fact that the timeframe has been porked to hell and back by the addition of the KA-50 and the Su-25T, there might even be V2 radars on the Eagles.