CardSharp
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Another thing that is irksome is that we don't know the circumstance of the fight. If it is a dogfight then the PLAAF pilots must be morons if they lost. The F-4 was designed when the USAF still believed that future air battles will be dictated by long range missiles and manueverability really wasn't its game. Vietnamese and Chinese pilots have downed F-4s with MIG-19s in gun range before. If it is a BVR fight and the F-4s had AWAC support then it is possible for them to gain an upper hand.
Really a headline like this means... F' all.
Wars are not won by Rambo with a M60 or Tom Cruise in a F-14 but by integrated air command doctrine combined with pilot training.
If this news mean anything at all, it just means that China has a ways to go in terms of pilot training, something that everyone's known since the 1950's.