I’m working on an expansion to Hornet Leader II that will include Tomcats and Phoenix missiles.
Each region in the tactical display is roughly 5 miles across. When aircraft are within the same region it is assumed they are engaging in dogfighting maneuvers to shoot each other down.
Is it reasonable to allow AIM-54 shots within a region during dogfight maneuvering?
I’m not talking about theoretically “possible”, I’m talking more about “reasonable” on a regular basis.
On another note, I find it interesting that the Phoenix has a great reputation, yet it’s never hit anything in combat, unlike Sidewinders, Sparrows, and AMRAAMs.
Although hard-pressed to maintain their fleet of American-built fighters, Iranian ground crews kept as many as 60 Tomcats mission capable throughout much of the war, despite a lack of parts, normal attrition, and dwindling
supplies of material and munitions. Iranian F-14 crews clashed repeatedly with Iraqi MiGs and French Mirage F-Is as the Iraqis attacked Iranian oil platforms and storage facilities. The fact that many of these highly skilled, aggressive Iranian crews had been in prison after the revolution makes their story all the more remarkable. These crews are responsible for the only kills scored by the highly touted Phoenix missile, which, along with the AWG-9 nose-mounted radar, was at the heart of the F14’s weapons system.
It is actually in dispute whether the Iranian F-14 cats were capable of launching the Phoenix missile, but if this book is correct, then Phoenixes have been deployed successfully and with effect in combat.
The ironic thing about the F14 is that it has this reputation as an air superiority/interceptor but it’s a pretty shitty plane for a typical dog fight. Awesome for stand-off engagements and CAP, but it’s just not nearly as maneuverable as a smaller plane like the F16 or F18.
I’m not sure if an F14 has actually engaged opponents of reasonably good training. IIRC from the Libyan engagement those guys were little better than target drones.
The ironic thing about the F14 is that it has this reputation as an air superiority/interceptor but it’s a pretty shitty plane for a typical dog fight. Awesome for stand-off engagements and CAP, but it’s just not nearly as maneuverable as a smaller plane like the F16 or F18.
At the time, the Turkey was a good dogfighter/interceptor. You know, before more modern fighters like the Viper and the Hornet came out. :roll:
