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interceptor squadrons had been tasked with a worldwide mission to send expeditionary forces overseas to conduct air defense operations as necessary. Realizing that they would encounter MiG fighters, not Soviet bombers, in distant hotspots, the
Command set about to teach itself dissimilar air combat
335:(BVR) at bombers, and not on daylight dogfighting which was thought to be obsolete in the missile age. The primary US fighter used against North Vietnamese MiGs, the F-4 Phantom, did not even have an internal gun. US pilots were finding themselves hard-pressed to prevail over the nimble
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in World War II, aerial tacticians have advocated exploiting differences in aircraft to maximize one's own advantages while minimizing the disadvantages of one's own platform, thus neutralizing the superior maneuverability and climbing speed of, for example, a
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was ineffective in many dogfighting maneuvering situations. Phantom training against other
Phantoms did not reflect the reality of a target that was smaller, smokeless and more agile. Ever since the success of the
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MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 pilots that had also been training and were prepared for the resumption of hostilities. The Navy's win/loss exchange ratio soared to over 20:1 before the loss of a
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attack aircraft and never as part of a formal syllabus. From 1965 to 1968, US pilots found themselves over the skies of North
Vietnam pitted against the smaller, more nimble subsonic
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finally began to participate in late 1972 when it sent F-4Es to function as adversaries for the F-106s of the 5th
Fighter Interceptor Squadron. In the summer of 1973, the
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were barely able to exceed parity and pilots in
Phantoms and Crusaders were not able to achieve the hugely lopsided win–loss ratio achieved over
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training program, Operation
College Dart, and began to fly practice air-to-air combat missions with F-106 squadrons in the summer of that year.
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because most air combat doctrine since the late 1950s centered on delivering nuclear weapons over Europe or firing missiles at
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Traditionally, pilots would undertake air combat training against similar aircraft. For example, pilots of single seat
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Phantom brought it back to 12.5:1 by 1973; an unqualified testament to the value of the TOPGUN approach and
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339:(VPAF) MiGs which by late 1966 had grown to be a real threat to US aircraft operating over the North.
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simulated the supersonic MiG-21 fighter. Both the
Skyhawk and Tiger were used in the 1986 film
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did not improve its exchange ratio at all in the same period and hurriedly began to adopt
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to come up with recommendations to improve the situation. His report became known as the
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adopted the nimble subsonic A-4 Skyhawk to simulate subsonic Soviet fighters, while the
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Tiger Check: Automating the US Air Force
Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950–1980
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took a hard look at its air-to-air problems over North
Vietnam and tasked Captain
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Scream of Eagles: The
Creation of Top Gun and the U.S. Air Victory in Vietnam
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In 1970 the Marine Corps and the Navy found out about Air Defense Command's
655:"Tale of a Tiger – From the Diary of Robert T. Smith, Flying Tiger, Part 4"
320:(ACM) was not practiced by all fighter squadrons for a variety of reasons.
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competency became a required portion of an interceptor pilot's training.
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have been used to simulate later generation Soviet fighters such as the
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MiG-21s using the Flying Tigers "hit and run" tactics against them.
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has reportedly also used captured or purchased Soviet fighters for
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compared to the rugged, fast-diving and powerfully armed
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Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic airline
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functioned as adversary aircraft for the F-106s, and
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Military education and training in the United States
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experienced high failure rates, and the short-range
506:was also used in various paint schemes to simulate
94:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
739:Bandits – History of American Adversarial Aircraft
679:"Missed Opportunities before Top Gun and Red Flag"
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486:The A-4 Skyhawk has since been replaced by the
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748:"AVG American Volunteer Group - Flying Tigers"
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692:(4). Air Force Historical Foundation: 18–31.
179:The examples and perspective in this article
8:
732:. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
375:. US pilots found themselves the victims of
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57:Learn how and when to remove these messages
263:, engage in dissimilar air combat training
424:United States Navy Fighter Weapons School
281:would seldom train against the dual seat
235:Learn how and when to remove this message
217:Learn how and when to remove this message
154:Learn how and when to remove this message
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496:General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons
490:, a navalized version of the British
737:Parsons, Dave; Nelson, Derek (1993).
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386:in 1966 in Air Defense Command. Its
382:The US Air Force began to reinstate
92:adding citations to reliable sources
537:4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron
460:with the F-4 Phantoms based there.
716:. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
659:Planes and Pilots of World War Two
14:
677:Weaver, Michael E (Winter 2013).
646:Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs
350:firing of missiles. Radar-guided
283:McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs
38:This article has multiple issues.
707:from the original on 2022-06-18.
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103:"Dissimilar air combat training"
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27:
346:(ROE) that did not even permit
79:needs additional citations for
46:or discuss these issues on the
648:. New York: Osprey Publishers.
488:McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk
268:Dissimilar air combat training
1:
473:64th Fighter Weapons Squadron
510:F-14s, as well as the large
483:as its "red team" aircraft.
306:Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs
770:Military aviation exercises
741:. Motorbooks International.
397:Lockheed F-104 Starfighters
393:Convair F-102 Delta Daggers
285:, and almost never against
193:, discuss the issue on the
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712:Wilcox, Robert K. (1990).
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653:Smith, Robert T. (1986).
337:Vietnam Peoples Air Force
728:Fino, Steven A. (2017).
388:Convair F-106 Delta Dart
361:American Volunteer Group
422:into the syllabus. The
298:Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
294:Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
644:Davies, Steve (2008).
475:became operational at
342:Even more vexing were
318:air combat maneuvering
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373:Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk
253:Douglas TA-4F Skyhawk
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469:Tactical Air Command
279:Vought F-8 Crusaders
259:, both belonging to
199:create a new article
191:improve this article
181:may not represent a
88:improve this article
582:, pp. 103–105.
504:Grumman F-14 Tomcat
428:Northrop F-5E Tiger
344:rules of engagement
333:beyond-visual-range
296:and the supersonic
287:Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
257:Grumman F-14 Tomcat
722:General references
532:Aggressor squadron
502:. The now-retired
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686:Air Power History
570:, pp. 20–21.
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185:of the subject
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105: –
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99:Find sources:
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77:This article
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667:. Retrieved
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512:Sukhoi Su-27
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314:World War II
302:US Air Force
300:. Pilots in
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86:Please help
81:verification
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41:
40:Please help
37:
628:Davies 2008
616:Weaver 2013
604:Weaver 2013
592:Weaver 2013
580:Wilcox 1990
568:Weaver 2013
416:Ault Report
316:. In fact,
272:Vietnam War
759:Categories
669:2011-07-05
638:References
556:Smith 1986
477:Nellis AFB
412:Frank Ault
251:A US Navy
114:newspapers
43:improve it
391:tactics.
195:talk page
49:talk page
702:Archived
698:26276385
526:See also
189:You may
508:Iranian
433:Top Gun
408:US Navy
312:and in
304:(USAF)
128:scholar
18:RED Air
696:
514:. The
500:MiG-29
448:. The
442:Marine
291:Soviet
261:VFC-13
255:and a
130:
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101:
705:(PDF)
694:JSTOR
682:(PDF)
543:Notes
481:T-38s
479:with
310:Korea
197:, or
135:JSTOR
121:books
520:DACT
516:USAF
465:DACT
458:DACT
454:DACT
450:USAF
446:DACT
438:VPAF
420:DACT
401:DACT
395:and
384:DACT
377:VPAF
325:USAF
323:The
107:news
348:BVR
329:ACM
90:by
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