RaceFuel85

Okay, present your solution to this problem: You have to replace every F-16 ever made with an aircraft that'll be capable of doing everything it does now, and more, as well as being capable and adaptable for the next 30 years and face both opponents you have now but also be able to adapt to new threats across every threat spectrum. Go.

I see what you did there. I just can't stand the "the lack of proof is proof itself" argument when it comes to Tomcat vs Eagle.

Always love a good looking AliCat

If you don't know that the USAF has it's own version of "top gun"..then how exactly do you presume to declare that the F-15's losses to F-14's were "few and far between"?

Oh please.

Yep.. The one the USAF demanded be destroyed and how it was grossly unprofessional etc etc.

I thought the F-16 was only front and center in 2 of the 4... The 3rd were the warbirds The 4th was the T-6's and crap.

Keep in mind..a Tomcat 4 ship could really be a handful for a Flanker 4 ship depending on the loadout. If two of the Tomcats were to carry a 4-2-2 load, and two were to carry a 2-4-2 load..that's 12 Aim-54's 12 Aim-7's 8 Aim-9's That's a lot of missiles hauled up for the Flankers to handle.

A 6-0-2 loadout is basically them telling the Tomcat to go out and kill an incoming bomber wave, their survival and coming back without running out of fuel is a secondary priority.

I live very close to Kingsley Field, which is home to the 173rd FW, Oregon Air Guard. The 173rd is the USAF F-15C training house, so they have *a lot* of very experienced, very capable, very driven Eagle drivers. A good friend of mine was a DCC there so I'd frequently get invited to come hang out when able since I also did some journalism work freelance for a few different websites and my college. One afternoon when half of the squadron was in Australia playing with the RAAF I was over hanging out and after the afternoon flight ops a group of us, along with two of the IP's, went out for dinner at a local steak house. Obviously mostly we avoided "shop talk" but I did ask one of the IP's, who had been active duty at Kadena before coming to Oregon, what he thought of the Tomcat, since he had done DACT with Tomcats during WESTPAC's while at Kadena and other events. It's been a while, so I'm paraphrasing a bit. F-14A: TomKitty with a distinct grape tinge (aka ripe for the picking). Great instant turn rate and good pitch authority but all you had to do was run them out of energy. When fighting them all you needed to do was bleed them down, and once the cat was wings out, slow and wallowing a bit, all you needed to do was plug the cans, go vertical, convert, use a bit of Gods G's (aka rolling over and pulling down) and drill him..pretty simple. They couldn't aggressively use the throttles so if you learned to read them you could see them planning out ahead and planning their energy and since the (F-15)C had the DEEC so we could throw the throttles around pretty much carefree where they(Alpha Cats) had to handle them like they were glass. F-14B: Totally different..they could turn and turn and turn and turn and when they didn't want to turn they'd run from you and you're up shits creek trying to catch them. The only other jet I saw move with more authority for it's size were the RooVarks (RAAF F-111C's). They were a bit more simple than the Supers (F-14D's) and you could see a nugget struggle since it was a lot of power in a old jet. Towards the end the Tomcats were more focused on blowing up camels than killing jets so their knife fighting got a bit rusty..but that's more the guy than the jet. F-14D: Pretty much the same as the B but with the digital stick (DFCS) they were much easier for the pilots to fly, and were harder to kill since the big cans (F110's) and the digital controls meant the pilot could pretty much focus all their energy on killing us..which they did pretty much on par with us killing them. I thought the Eagle was big but the Tomcat you could VID it and keep tally without problem.

Don't forget the AMRAAM launch pad...ya know..like from the stealth.

Came in here expecting wanting a MiG-29K.. Was done a surprise instead, and a laugh!

To be exact they said they anticipated it being in Beta by the end of 2015 but cautioned it was subject to significant change. So in light of that..it's more of a 4.5/10 troll attempt.

Question for you folks.. Are you planning on standing up a Tomcat squadron once HB's F-14 releases?

Yep..the TF30 was supposed to be replaced by 1975 with the P&W F401 in the F-14B, the first 100 or so F-14A's were supposed to be reworked into B's with the new motors. Obviously the F401 fell flat, so the TF30 kept on keeping on.

It does, but it wasn't updated significantly between it's initial deployment and thus was a bit lacking by Desert Storm in 1991. The lower capabilities of the F-14A/B IFF system in 1991 meant it was considerably restricted in BVR engagement compared to the F-15 which had a much better, by that time, IFF interrogator system

I think a IRIAF skin is a given..plus the Tomcat had some attractive adversary schemes with TOPGUN...

Y'all da real MVP

There's a video going around (well..an audio recording set to generic footage of Phantoms) of a F-4 driver that had an uncommanded DUMPEX of his own and filled his suit with his previous meal. So it literally was a poopy-suit.

Don't forget the DFCS which would require a new flight model

My guess is we'll get a TGP/B+ release before a D since the D does require...a few extra bits. Once the work for the TGP is complete that'll be one less thing they need to do for the Delta.

The Sparrow is useful because it allows the launching aircraft to disengage should the need arise..just break the radar lock, stop illuminating, etc..and the sparrow will go stupid and miss. Immediately post 9/11 ANG F-15 units would usually carry a 2X2X2 loadout (2 Aim-9, 2 Aim-7, 2 Aim-120) since if the need arose to launch on a non-responsive aircraft, and suddenly they responded or the situation was resolved, they could abort and the missile wouldn't pitbull towards the target regardless. It could be the Navy is still employing Sparrows over Syria for the same reason.

D'oh! Yes..I forgot that news came out.

I think it's reasonable to expect that the Syrians and their Russian partners/co-combatants/etc were aware of the Super Hornet being there but either neglected to inform the Fitter pilot or banked on the Super Hornet not taking any action.