Right now the SMT is the one that can choose to not engage, F16C simply can’t climb at 1450kph as it barely reaches that in a straight line.
9th picture is for the F-16C (that rates way better than the F15C), 11th picture is for the MiG29. Not posting the pictures themselves as some guy said the F16C one might not be allowed on the forum.
MiG-29 (13000kg, of which 1600kg is fuel) should rate at about 20 deg/sec at 650kph (~350knots), F16C (9980kg, of which 1100kg fuel) does 20.5 deg/sec at that speed. Difference is never mode than 1 deg/sec until MiG29’s G limit becomes 7.5
Maybe in a straight vertical, but the hornet has much higher stability that allows him to yaw / roll + pitch upwards of 60+ degrees remaining in full control the entire time… whereas the MiG-29’s “Cobra” would not be useful for a gun solution on a target incorporating roll + pitch, the F/A-18 could keep nose on target vector even outside of just lateral or vertical plane.
Well the cobra is mostly useful to shoot an R73 than using the gun… in a gunfight actually sustained turn rate (either flat turning or doing loops) is usually more important than high AoA manoeuvres…
That’s also why I was (am) insisting so much also on the rate of the 29, the F-16 and other aircraft in general.
In modern gen4.5+ fights nose pointing is required in the fight as it devolves into a tight min radius scissors to stay outside the weapons employment zone of HOBS missiles (min engagement range). AIM-9X and R-73 for example.
So, in these situations, the F/A-18 can actually win, whereas an F-16 often will lose the encounter against something like Su-27 WVR…
Yeah with HOBS missiles AoA manoeuvres are extremely important, perhaps the only thing that matter (no wonder one of the improvements they went for in the mig29M is extra Aoa).
That’s also why most of Europe went with canard-delta. They optimized BVR capability thereafter with Meteor and such. Russia still has a focus on WVR capabilities and so did Europe. US has gone away from this mostly, but the Raptor and F-35 are both VERY capable still.
Russia doesn’t actually focus on WVR, from the little I know supermaneuvrability is mostly an “extra tool”. Since real life fights are not 1v1, even if the engagement does not end in BVR you usually won’t see aircraft circling each other slow, but quickly pointing the nose it’s still useful, which is something the raptor and the F-35 are also very good at.
Guys I really urge you all to watch this. This guy is clearly an expert on history and capability. He goes in depth about the the differences between the Mig29 and Su27. He also goes into history regarding the blitz fighter concept (F16), The orgin of the F15, Mig25 and the doctrinal approach of the Soviets and US.
As I know from all my research in the history of cold war aviation he has not misspoken. However I did take a little offense to what he said about the Mig23. However he does not mention the MLD.
He says some awesome things about the Mig29 over the Su27 vice versa. Let me know you guys thoughts.
He specifically touches on SMT as well. This thing should perform much better in terms of thrust to weight.
Sorry to go off topic, but…
We really need features like this in RB
If possible, a feature that would allow AOA as well as G restrictions at the same time, with one button to remove the restrictions, would make air RB air combat great
