Originally Posted by
dozerf22
OK - here's two more cents.
I will take what Gen Jumper says with a grain of salt. Couple of reasons - 1: he had 3 or 4 checkout rides in the Raptor, that's it, he's not even close to understanding what it can really do or how to make it perform (not a critique, no one can claim such in just a few rides - I doubt he would if asked, I've flown with him, he's way smarter than that), and 2: he has to be very cautious of what he says, words are far more dangerous than bullets, not just the security aspect but relations between countries & militaries can really be impacted by good/bad comments from a high ranking officer, 3: there's a political side to what he does and that can't be overlooked, who knows what agendas are being played out? Bottom line is I think his are macro comments (not micro) made in a very cautious & contentios context / environment. Just a for example, would you expect him to say our a/c completely outclass the latest European a/c? If he did, that wouldn't bode well for buying more & better a/c and upgrades to what we do have would it? Congress would be likely to say forget it, you've already said it's way better than anything else out there. I'm only making up an example but I hope you can see why you can never read too much into statements depending on who said them to whom and in what context.
I have spoken with several pilots, both American & British who have flown, flown with, or flown against the Typhoon. There is no doubt the Typhoon is a very good fighter. It appears to have very capable sensors, performance, and maneuvering capability. It also has a helmet and off boresight weapon with the ASRAAM so that makes it (like any other a/c with such), very lethal WVR even if it wasn't overly maneuverable. I have seen open reports (not US military to be very clear) that the LO is not really the focus so it would appear it's not really in the category of a VLO a/c - again, I'm only speculating. As mentioned there's also the possibility of augmentation (for everyone), so you don't know what you don't know.
I have never flown with the Typhoon and I'm not aware of such a test or encounter, but of course that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Based on how the USAF works however, I am skeptical those of us flying it would not be made aware of at least some "results". We are always keen to filter data down to lower levels as quickly as possible and certainly to those with a need to know. How we fare against an advanced fighter would be of great interest to those of us in the operational wings so we can compare notes & tactics - that would directly translate into capability vs. other a/c such as the Chinese F-10 or SU-30+ series, etc. Then again, if another country was invovled that would change the dynamics & security surrounding the event - anything is possible, I'll never say never.
However, I'll remain a doubting Thomas until I see something otherwise. And since from my vantage point its all conjecture, I'll shy away from speculating how we'd do vs. each other, there's a thousand conditions which could come into play, like any air to air engagement, so who knows?
Also, as correctly mentioned, we're allies with those countries fielding the Typhoon so it's not so much how we'll fight vs. each other as how we'll integrate during war with each other. I have no doubt each country is interested in finding out how it's a/c does against the others but this is a sensitive topic. I wouldn't be surprised if, as always, we would find each a/c has some areas of advantage but doesn't exclusively own it "all". I think that generically speaking the Raptor is the king of the hill in most areas right now, no other a/c has certainly claimed the same record of achievement in such a short time vs. such an extensive "test" - it's certainly done extremely well. When data begins to filter in about how other a/c perform maybe then we'll have better info to judge by. I am certainly biased, I admit that, but results are results, and right now the Raptor can clearly claim to have phenomenal (unmatched really), results in some of the most challenging scenarios & tests any a/c has ever had to endure. (And with pilots with hardly any hours in the jet!).
I'd still prefer to be flying this jet if I had to go to war tomorrow over any other a/c out there - that's my bottom line.
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