Lt Col Wade Tolliver, 27 FS director of operations, delivers the second permanent F/A-22 at Langley AFB on 8 June 2005 photo by TSgt Ben BlokerFranz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat: Adios, Top Gun: The End of the Fighter Jet?
Maverick and Goose would be terribly unhappy with this new CSBA study.
Is the old dichotomy between fighter jets and bombers becoming obsolete in air forces across the world? Yes, according to a new study, which argues small and highly maneuverable air-to-air combat planes may indeed be on their slow way out to be replaced by a new multi-role, stealthy, long-range aircraft the size of a bomber.
Yesterday, Breaking Defense reported on a new provocative paper, “Trends in Air-to-Air Combat – Implications for Future Air Superiority,” which analyzed “over 1,450 air-to-air victories” in the last 50 years across the globe. The report concluded that new technology “has fundamentally transformed the nature of air combat.”
WNU Editor: I doubt that the brass in the U.S. Air Force will accept the recommendations of this report.
