Something like the K-77M might do, though.
A newer version of the A-1 Skyraider
A plane which was great for dropping ordinance on targets, but were extremely vulnerable to anything which could take down a plane.
The A-10 is the epitome of survivability. In the link below, a pilot talks about his A-10 not only being riddled with bullets but having one of its own AIM-9 cooked off from fire and still was able to land the plane.
6 Likes
Actually, if you rerun my math you should find that 20, not 200 el cheapo planes would be enough to overwhelm that single F-35. Didn’t the North Vietnamese put up lots of Mig-21s over Hanoi when America sent in much more capable Phantoms? And fire off so many SAMs at the B-52s sent in for Rolling Thunder that some of the BUFF drivers wondered if they weren’t being sent to the same waypoints again and again in order to clear surplus inventory? The Migs went down in serious numbers – but Phantom casualties were nothing to be happy about either. Hey, what’s the per copy price of a Mig-21 these days, and could they restart the production line?
As for it being easy for the F-35 to detect the “fat lumbering” turboprops – since American planes historically are always the attacking force it would be safe to assume the hostile territory may be more or less covered with el cheapo opposition. Gee, that stealth technology had better live up to its promises…
You’re on to something I think. Instead of 200 prop planes, a really smart Air Force would just use 1000 hot air balloons with 100 missiles on each. It would be invincible!
Of course, if someone fielded an Air Force with 10,000 kites equipped with 500 missiles each, it would be even more invincible…
2 Likes
Why yes, since you mention it, I do think an air force that would be useless for offensive military actions would be a good thing, especially in the hands of the United States. (Although, how do you propose deploying 100 AIM size missiles on a single hot air balloon, 1000 times? And how do they acquire their targets, hot air balloons not being well known for either load carrying or electricity generation? And who fires the AIMs? I don’t think you’ve thought this through very well.)
Not that that was what I was proposing. Rather, I was pointing out indirectly that what Eisenhower called the “military industrial complex” (in this case Lockheed Martin) has been taking American citizens for a long, very, very expensive ride.
Mig 21’s were fairly capable planes and were used sparingly against fighter bombers (F-105’s) in “hit and run” attacks. They tended to avoid tangling with Phantoms. There were less than 3 dozen Mig-21’s in the NV arsenal. The greatest loss of them was when several were lured into an ambush by Phantoms using the avionics of F105’s
The Israelis got a hold of one by bribing an Iraqi pilot. They even made a movie for HBO about it
V[quote=“Mangochin, post:106, topic:152654”]
Mig 21’s were fairly capable planes and were used sparingly against fighter bombers (F-105’s) in “hit and run” attacks. They tended to avoid tangling with Phantoms. There were less than 3 dozen Mig-21’s in the NV arsenal. The greatest loss of them was when several were lured into an ambush by Phantoms using the avionics of F105’s
[/quote]
That’s interesting. I expect you’re right.
1 Like
There are at least two cable shows which discussed “Operation Bolo” and its famous takedown of the NV MIG-21’s
History Channel’s Dogfights “Air Ambush” and Discovery Military (Now AHC)'s Air Aces “Robin Olds”.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
