From: eoahmad@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg (Othman Ahmad)
Subject: Re: Malaysia to choose F16 or Mig29
Organization: Nanyang Technological University - Singapore
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 09:38:06 GMT

engp1186@nuscc.nus.sg (Won-Soon Lau) writes:
: 
: Interview with Non Eastern Bloc pilots who were invited to fly the Mig29
: shows that that a/c is poor in human engineering.  The pilot has to spend
: lot of time struggle with the controls thus divert some of the attention
: the pilot needs for target engagement.

It could be the lack of HUD. If you are new to an aircraft, surely you need
to fiddle more. It reminds me of Mac vs PCs. Once you are an expert, everything
is second nature. You can even judge speed and position from your gut feeling.
If you rely on those instrumentation, it may be too late.
	However those Mig29 were old ones. Malaysia could get the latest
version, westernised versions.
: During the target acquisition phase, the missile gyro is slave to the
: a/c's gyro.  Once the pilot aligned his a/c to the target, the pilot 
: uncage the missile's gyro (so call lock-on) and the missile is ready
: is guide itself base on the information gathered on it IR seeker.

You may be out of date. Those are old sidewinders. The latest one have
fast and wide acquisiton angle. You can fire at an incoming aircraft.
That is the secret success of the Harrier verses the Mirage III of the
Argentinian navy. Of course, the Mirages were heavy with missiles so cannot
manoevre.
: 
: A very good example is the Israel and Syria air war (over the Barkca valley?)
: where the israeli scored a 62-0 victory over the syrian Migs.  One of
Most of them are bombers. From an analysis of the Syrian Airforce, they
tend to commit their bombers to threats. Having the AWACs helps in identfying
concentration of aircraft and overwhelm them with fighters at your choosing
angle of attack.
: the decisive factor was that israel was able to jam the syrian Migs
: radar using the Hawkeye and vector their own fighter in to do the
: actual kill.  One source said that the syrian fighter radar was jammed
: the moment that a/c lift-off from the runway.  So the pilot is as good as
: blind (for me I'll rather pull the 0-0 seat level at the end of the runway :-)

It enabled the Israel bombers to escape or jettison their bombs to be turned
into fighters.
	I thought that the Arab pilots do not like dog fights, unlike Israel and
US pilots. They may not be well trained. Mig21 can hold its own against F4
phantom in the hands of Vietnamese/Russian pilots.
	Their strategy like in Iraq, may be faulty. 

: In modern air war where fighting begins BVR (Beyond Visual Range), better
: standoff capability is the winning edge.
I thought infra-red is not BVR. It is most effective in the sidewinders. Bigger
and longer range missiles are less effective against fighters especially
equipped with flares and iron dust.
	BVR is mostly used by SAM, but they are not effective. Short range 
missiles are better, as well as guns.
	BVR was just dreams and I do not think they can ever replace the
manoevrability of fighters, unless the missiles look and behave like tiny
fighters, but it will make them too expensive.

--
Othman bin Ahmad, School of EEE,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 2263.
Internet Email: eoahmad@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg
Bitnet Email: eoahmad@ntuvax.bitnet

Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean