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Yanks With Tanks: Difference between revisions
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The original intent was a winged version of [[Sword and Sorcerer]]: the big beefy air-superiority fighters (F-14s and F-15s) would sweep the skies while the smaller strike fighters (F-16s and F/A-18s) slid in to pound ground targets and engage in close-range dogfights as necessary. This later became muddled, as micronized avionics made the "little" planes effective air-superiority fighters in their own right, and improved radars made effective strike fighters out of the big planes. But the end result are four classic American fighters, three of which are still in service today.
(The Phantom was finally retired from American service in 1996; highly specialized F-4G variants replaced the F-105 Thunderchief in the [[
* The '''Grumman F-14 Tomcat''', the Navy's version of the air-superiority fighter, was a carrier-based interceptor that was famous for starring in ''[[Top Gun]]''. It was retired in 2006 in favor of the Super Hornet. Designed to defend US carrier groups against bomber attack, it acquired an air-to-ground role late in its career, taking on the nickname "Bombcat" as it did so. The fighter's calling card are its "variable geometry" or "swing" wings, which (controlled by onboard computers) move back and forth from almost-straight-sideways to way-swept-back depending on how fast the plane is trying to go. The F-14 project took many of its parts and pieces from the cancelled F-111B, including its engines, its missiles, and it's swing-wing configuration. The plane was in fact built around the ability to fire the F111-B's AIM-54 Phoenix long range air-to-air missile. The US never actually shot anything down with that missile (it was designed for use against Russian bombers), but the sole country to which the F-14 was exported has made use of it. Shortly after delivery, that country had a revolution and is now quite hostile to the United States. That's right, we sold Tomcats to ''[[
* The '''McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle''', the USAF counterpart to the Tomcat, is one of the world's best air superiority fighters: in over thirty years of service, there has been no <ref>the Syrians claim to have gotten 3 Israeli birds in late '82, but even on Wikipedia that claim has a "[Citation Needed]" tag</ref> case of an F-15 shot down by a real enemy in an air-to-air engagement, while its various operators have taken down precisely 101 opposing aircraft with it. (The F-15E Strike Eagle is a different story, but it's not the same kind of bird.) Its detractors call it the "Aluminum Tennis Court" for its size, as well as "the triumph of thrust over aerodynamics". It also has the more dubious honor of being the (original) disguise of [[The Starscream]].
* The '''General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon''' is the Air Force's version of the light fighter. The first combat aircraft to use true fly-by-wire controls, the "[[Battlestar Galactica Classic|Viper]]" (as its pilots call it) has been the workhorse of the Air Force since the early 80's (during the first Gulf War, the F-16 was used in more sorties than any other Coalition aircraft), and is scheduled to remain in service until the 2020's. It's so versatile that's its also found homes among many foreign air forces. It can be configured as an interceptor, an air superiority fighter, a strike aircraft, or a close support aircraft, and does all these jobs well. It is the current vehicle for the Air Force's Thunderbirds. The F-16 was featured heavily in the ''[[Iron Eagle]]'' series of films, which could be a positive or a negative, [[Your Mileage May Vary|depending on what you think of those movies]], and stars in the ''Falcon'' series of [[Reality Ensues|brain-breakingly realistic]] flight sims.
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