Best RAF fighter jet in 2003 ?? Some info please

[Marina]

Hello Air Force experts !

I'm new here, I'm not military at all, i'm just curious to learn more about the military. So please forgive my ignorance if I ask silly questions o.k.

Which is the best RAF fighter jet ? What is the US equivalent ?

What are the roles of tornados, jaguar, Nimrod R1, Harrier ?

Do women fly anyof these fighter planes ? Generally what are their roles in the RAF ?

Why are F-16 planes not used ? Have f-15 replaced them ?


Which countries in the world are famous for the best in terms of 'skilled fighter pilots' in the western world ?

Also what about the 3rd world I know they may not have the technology and best aircraft, what about fighter pilot skill ?

Sorry to ask alot of questions ? I'm just curious to understand more !

Thanks alot, eagerly awaiting your reply

[El Prez]

Hi Marina, we have no Air Force experts, that's partly because the RAF doesn't do experts, and partly because we scare them off, being nasty hairy Royal Marine types. There is an alternative. As a clinical scientist the lads may suggest you help me with my PHD studies. don't be alarmed at their precociousness, it's just their idea of humour.

I'm sure there's an anaorak or three around waiting in the wings for Nurse to bring my medication, then they'll dart in and answer your questions.
Welcome to the site, I hope you enjoy it and can put up with what we know as humour.

[davidBarker]

try www.warships1.com they have a dedicated discussion board for air forces

[Marina]

El Prez,

You guys are very funny !! I think I can put up with the humour ! I found your section about women in the sas very entertaining !
I'm just browsing around. Ok my mistake you military experts !
I'm just curious !
Also, I heard alot about the Royal Marines ?
Are you guys related to navy ? Or are you lot a separate entity

Is your training tougher than the paras ?

What's this rivalry Paras vs Royal Marines. Should I go to the RM section ?
Also SAS vs SBS ? ( are they a spin off of the paras and RM respectively ?)

thanks

[Archie]

It's not a true rivalry, put simply, The Paras and the SAS think they are Gods' Gift whereas The Marines and our SBS Know we are.




Incoming................

[voodoo sprout]

1) The RAF only has two fighters, the Hawk and the Tornado F3. The Hawk however is just a trainer which if needed can carry a cannon and short range wair to air missiles so isn't much cop, leaving the Tornado as the best. The Royal Navy have their Harrier F/A2's, which are not quite as effective as the tornado, but are at least more manoeuverable in dogfights.

The US use a number of planes, the air force have F15's and F16's, which are about as capable as each other though the F15 is more of a missile platform and the F16 a more agile close up aircraft, I can't really say which is better though. Needless to say, they're both better than anything of ours . The US navy have F/A18's which are multi role fighter/bomber jobs, and are again better than our stuff. And finally the F14 which is akin to our Tornado F3, but this has bigger missiles anyway.

So in short, we've got tornados which aren't much good, the Americans have loads of stuff which is better . We do, however, benefit from better pilots .

2) The Tornado F3 is a pure fighter, while the Tornado GR4 is a pure bomber, though there is the GR4a variant which has extra sensors for reconnaissance.

3) Yup, women can fly all of the aircraft in the RAF, and can do most other jobs too - the only mainstream jobs throughout the forces which exclude women are armour and infantry.

4) Both the F16 ad F15 are in use at the moment, while both will be replaced (F15 first I think) by the F22 when it comes into widespread service. But due to the price they're likely to retain at least some F15/F16's.

5) Most Western European pilots are about on par with each other, while the most acclaimed are the American and British. However almost all countries invest heavily in pilots so can have disproportionately skilled pilots; Pakistan for instance is considered to have much better pilots than its richer and larger neighbours. The other main contender that springs to mind is the Israeli air force, sometimes touted as the best in the world but they don't have much recent operational experience so it's hard to judge. For the same reasons some countries might have brilliant pilots, perhaps the best, but who never get the chance to show off their skills to the rest of the world.

Hope you haven't died of boredom .

[Topper]

The Nimrod R1, an electronic intelligence aircraft used by the RAF.
The Harrier, a close support aircraft, it can also take off vertically if it really wants to. The Tornado GR4 is a long range interdiction aircraft used for long range misssions.
The RAF don't have F-16s or F-15s. They are operated by the USAF, the F-15 is an airsuperiorty aircraft, something that the RAF don't have. The RAF have the Tornado F3, but that isn't a true high agility fighter.
Most third world air forces are poor due to the lack of hours flyng time availble for the pilots. This is due to the poor maintainance of the aircraft and a lack of money. For example many critical parts of the aircraft have a set number of flying hours before they have to be replaced, obviously this is expensive and many air forces can't afford regular replacements and the huge amount of fuel burnt by fast jets.

[Marina]

Voodoo Sprout and Topper,

Thank you very much for your kind help and effort.

No I haven't died of boredom, I thought it was fascinating.
I printed the info out for useful future reference so I can show off to some egotistical professors and Medical scientists! Also, my female friends aren't interested in these things. Also, the newspapers are a bit vague about technical stuff.

At the moment, I'm reading a bit on F-117A nighthawk, F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet, so if i'm stuck I'll ask you guys. I'm just curious ! I should have done a PhD in something military instead of crappy Medical Microbiology !

Thanks again

[The JaCkAl]

You know your sh*t VS that was very interesting actually. So when the euro fighter does finally come out will it be anywhere near as good as any of the Americain plains?

[voodoo sprout]

The Typhoon (that's the official title now, others are Eurofighter/EF2000/EFA) is a bloody good aircraft, and better than any of the current American fighters. It's one of the most manoevreable fighters around at the moment, has some of the most up to date electronics, and when it enters RAF service will have ASRAAM and Meteor misiles both of which are highly capable in their class, and also has nice and up to date defences (it even has a towable decoy ot confuse missiles). It does have weaknesses though, or instance to cut costs the MoD has removed the cannon so if it runs out of missiles it's scuppered .

The main problem however, is that as good as this is now, even before it has entered service American and Russian aircraft are developing beyond these capabilities, and we may well find ourselves outclassed again. The F22 due to enter the USAF is briliant as it is not quite as agile as the Typhoon but very tough, very fast (one of the only aircraft whcih can crusie at supersonic speeds without afterburners), and best of all, it's stealthy so will not show up on most RADAR, has a small IR signature and so on, meaning the enemy might not spot it before it's too late. Again though technology is rapidly evolving, and systems to nullify these stealth measures are already on the market, but luckily do not appear to be in significant use. And even this is being competed against by the next generation of Russian fighters (MiG MFI and Sukhoi SU37 mainly), about which very little is known but they advertise the same stealth as the F22, but with greater agility, longer range missiles, and being Russian may find thier way into the hands of undesirables and pose a serious threat to us, if of course the Russian companies can beg borrow or steal the funding to complete development of course .

[Topper]

Another aircraft under development which will work alongside the Typhoon is the FOAS. This is the long range interdiction aircraft due to replace the Tornado GR4 in 2020. Although little has been heard of it since 2000, the aircraft will probably be stealthy in nature and could be unmanned, but they are still at the early stages of design.

[El Prez]

You two, yes you two, come over here, double!
Get over to the stores and draw an anorak, flask, notepad, binos and a scruffy pair of trainers. Don't forget the WW2 knapsack to keep your fish paste sarnies in. Before you go why haven't you applied an elastoplast to the frames of your glasses? Give me 20; push ups you pillock, not rich tea biscuits.

[Topper]

Personally i prefer cheese and pickle sandwiches.

[Peds]

they dropped the cannon?!

I thought that was a lesson learned by USAF in one of their campaigns from over the last 50 years... some plane (was it the Phantom? im not too sure, it may have been an earlier one...) didnt have a cannon and was ripped to peices by its soviet counterpart in battle.

does this mean that EF pilots will have to add a cannon pod instead?


and by my understanding, we are going to be getting the 35 when it comes in, but NOT the 22. right?

and tell more of this plane for 2020, please... i havnt heard a word about that.

[Topper]

It was in Vietnam where it was the Yank F-4 versus the Mig-21 and Mig-17. They were highly agile fighters and the F-4 relied on the new radar guided missles, of course this missles were totally unrealiable and as a result cannon pods had to be shipped in.
The RAF Typhoon won't have a cannon but the export version will, its a bloody stupid idea. It probably saves £1million prehaps at a stretch, but if there is a war they will have to ship loads out and incur an aerodynamic incumberance on the aircraft. I spoke to the people who made the decision at Farnboro, they said there was no place for an cannon in modern air warfare, yet a Tornado GR4 crew in the Gulf said after they had completed the bomb run on some Republican guard position said they used the cannon to keep the heads down, invaluable. The MoD don't know what they are doing.
The Future Offensive Air System is currently under development and apart from fancy arty images of it, little is known. Yet it will probably be a stealth aircraft of some decription.