Thunder
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This question was asked by a famous ruissian test pilot who invented the move called "Pugachev's Cobra".
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Q. But this is again the same old question about the difference between long-distance missile engagement and dogfights. The Americans believe that long-range radar-guided missiles are the key to air superiority. It that so?
A. I think that only life can prove or disprove this. The Americans have somewhat larger experience of conducting massive air operations. They recently had a massive air campaign in the Persian Gulf, for instance. But in fact they did not meet a strong response in the recent local wars, including that in the Gulf, and air engagements were rare. This fact gives the Americans the base to assert that they have powerful means of monitoring the airspace - "we see everything, we know everything" - so that they think they can begin an air campaign with shooting down as many enemy aircraft as we see at long distances. That works in Persian Gulf conflicts, but should it be a real well-organized response from the enemy, the control lines could get destroyed or jammed, leading to a collapse of the whole system. That will happen if the enemy possesses powerful electronic countermeasure systems to jam radars. In that situation, two fighter flying towards each other will cover the distance of 100-150 km, which is a launch range for modern radar-guided missiles, in three minutes. If they do not make well-planned evasive actions, the likelihood that they would end up in a dog-fight is high. Of course, in a massive air campaign a number of aircraft from each side could be shot down at long distances, but those pilots who survived will be drawn into a dogfight with their opposing counterparts. And in this situation super-agile aircraft will have the advantage. Surely, in the future the long-range missiles will be the decisive factor - we will finally come to that. But today it is too early to drop the dogfight from consideration.
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