Best AtA fighter in service today

[davidpt40]

What aircraft currently in service do you think holds the distinction of being the best air to air fighter in the world?

My vote goes for the Mig29.  A light-weight fighter comparable to the F16 in maneuverability, yet boasting the offensive fire power to equal the F-15.  

The Mig29 has the capability to fire IR missles and guide them with a helmet mounted sensor, while U.S. aircraft do not have this.

Top speed is Mach 2.3.  Faster than the '16.  However, the F15 can do Mach 2.5 at sea level (at least thats what one website said).  If true, the '15 is one bad mother.

[iceydee]

Su37 "Super Flanker" would win any dogfight. Don't know about it's arnament though. Think it would be about the same as for the other Flankers...

EDIT: oh, missed out on the "in service" part of your post. The Su37 is not in service yet, is it?

[whgates3]

i've read in a number of places that the SAAB JAS 39 Gripen is the most advanced fighter in use today, but winning a dogfight in the present day probably has more to do w/ smart weapons, electronic countermeasures, radar avoidance, etc than aircraft performance

[iceydee]

Gripen carries mostly Nato weapons. Here's one carrying amraam missiles.

[NUKE]

f-15 has like a 99-1 k/d ratio... or something like that, and the f-15 is a pretty old plane.

It all comes down to training I guess.

[iceydee]

Originally posted by NUKE
f-15 has like a 99-1 k/d ratio... or something like that.

It all comes down to training I guess.

and probably since the f-15 has seen more action than most other modern jets.

[Pepe]

Originally posted by NUKE
f-15 has like a 99-1 k/d ratio... or something like that, and the f-15 is a pretty old plane.

I wonder how long it takes to Saddam to cry it perked!  

[NUKE]

If topic is best fighter, F-15 is hard to beat, even at 30 years old.

 I just looked up it's combat record.

This from Boeing's web site:

The F-15 Eagle has a perfect combat record of 101 victories and zero defeats. F-15s downed four Mig-29 fighters during the recent Balkan conflict and 33 of the 35 fixed-wing aircraft Iraq lost in air combat during Operation Desert Storm. During the Balkan conflict, the F-15E was the only fighter able to attack ground targets around the clock, in all weather conditions.

This more recent from af.mil news

The F-15 Eagle turned 30 years old July 27 and currently boasts a combat record of 104 kills without a loss, a score that includes Israeli and Saudi Arabian air force F-15s

[OIO]

The F-15 is the best AtA fighter today in record.

It is virtually a fricken long range radar with long range missiles on wings. Only the Tomcat rivals it, but its Navy and therefore it stays glued to the carriers without seeing much action.

I would be very interested to see how a "duel" between an F14 and and F15 would turn out. Personally I think the F14 would win.

[StSanta]

Gripen is the best in service I'd think. If you want record though, nothing beats the F-15, except maybe a 190A5.

F14 vs F15 - F14 would get spanked. Phoenix missiles won't hit a nimble F15 at long range, and in a dogfight the F15 has everything on the F14. Except one pair of eyes vs two, and that's not true if we're talking the F15E.

[Dowding (Work)]

I once talked to a Eurofighter test pilot. He was saying that on simulations of combat survivability, the Eurofighter beat the F-16 into the dust, was better than the F-15 by a decent margin but was outclassed by the F-22.

[Ripsnort]

I'd say the Predator, as they're now just toying with mounting it with ATA missles, and the fact that it can sustain 20 g turns indefinately,(no pilot) and it can outturn any aircraft in the world.

[Sandman]

I think that Superman can whoop all over Spiderman.

[Kanth]

not since he fell off his horse.

Originally posted by Sandman_SBM
I think that Superman can whoop all over Spiderman.

[udet]

F101 Voodoo