The Panama Connection <DRAFT>

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by cawest

if you want to keep the Migs go for 25's or a short unit of sat 4 Mig31's. range for the 25 is 1700km to 2500 km ferrying. the 31 has a listed range with 4AAM, 2 droptanks and no mid air refuel of 3000km

Combat radius for the MiG-25 is 300 kilometers. Those engines are incredibly thirsty at high thrust, and it's a heavy airplane that was essentially a brute force method of making a high-speed interceptor. It can get a decent ferry range at high altitude, low speed, with drop tanks, but it's a wallowing pig in that flight regime. The -31 would work, as would an SU-27 Flanker (1500 km combat radius).