4 ms·

Consider the source. Medium.com likes dirt. Like the man said, dogfighting is obsolete.

• GVIrish 11y ago
  Many people have said that over the course of military aviation history and all of them have been wrong. In the ideal situation you can kill your enemy at beyond visual range. But in reality there are multiple situations where you won't have that advantage. Rules of engagement can prevent you from firing on another aircraft without visual ID Terrain can obscure enemy aircraft until they are WVR *Enemy aircraft can use electronic countermeasures to confound your radar If dogfighting were truly obsolete there never would've been a requirement for the aircraft to be more maneuverable than a F-16 and short-range missiles and a nose cannon wouldn't be part of this aircraft's armament.
  • oldpond 11y ago
    The last aircraft shot down by gunfire involving US forces was during Vietnam. I believe the cannon for the F-35 is not operational yet, and will be externally mounted in the navy variants.
    • GVIrish 11y ago
      True, but I believe the Israelis have gunned an enemy aircraft as recently as the 80's using F-16's.
      • oldpond 11y ago
        Well, the F-16 is still my favorite. Spent way too many hours in Falcon4 back in the day. :)
    • engi_nerd 11y ago
      Internally carried in F-35A, externally carried on the F-35B and F-35C.