What do you think would have happened if they had been allowed to attack NVPAF airfields? It's all pure speculation.
IMO so long as there's *any* possibility of a close-in engagement our fighters need to be armed with a gun. Rememer the A-10 jocks that tried to shoot down helicopters with missiles during the first Gulf War?
Would a JSF manage as well in tests like the Sea Harriers did against a top US aggressor squadron ?
Yes - I'll agree with that...and an SRM. But given current trends in tech and politics we're now back to what the AIM-54 was all about.
Limited only by our ability to ID what we're shooting at, which was/is always the problem...and where the politics come in.
...and from what I hear, shooting down helos A/A is a particularly difficult task anyway.
I would expect so and then some, or noone would be wanting it built in the first place...just given the improvements in weapons alone - having a things like AIM-9X or ASRAAM and a heads-up cuing system for example. Not to mention a better radar, and presumably a higher thrust to weight ratio.
Only problem is gathering the funding and justification to build them...
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