Quote:
Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman
Yup, the technique was pioneered by the Royal Navy and battle tested in the Falklands.
It was the reason the Harrier could beat the Mirage. On paper the Mirage had all the advantages but when you take into account the harrier's unique characteristics the Argentines couldn't compete.
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Well, yes and no. As hard as it is to learn how to turn and burn in a conventional fighter, it takes an awesome, outstanding pilot to learn to use VIFF in a dogfight -- it's part of the reason why Harrier trainees have a much higher drop-out and casualty rate than F/A-18 and F-18E pilots do. The Harrier is the "sexy aircraft the Marines never told you about." If you think about it, several of the new fighter designs the past years have had some degree of thrust vectoring or routes to uncoupled flight -- Harrier pilots have been doing that for a good 30 years or more.