I was watching a program on the War Channel a couple weeks ago, and they said the US no longer has air superiorty in fighter aircraft. And won’t until 2006, or something like that.
Seem’s that Europe has developed a fighter superior in performance to the F-16. I think it’s the F-16. Whatever our top fighter is, anyway. 
The French pilot was pretty proud, I must say.
I got to thinking about it today, so I did a search but didn’t find anything. Am I hallucinating, again, or is this true?
Please ignore the vagueness. I’m not really up-to-date on military stuff. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Someone may have said it, but that doesn’t make it true.
It’s very hard to determine which aircraft is ‘better’ than another. For instance, none of the modern fighters are as fast as an F-104, which was designed in the 1950’s.
I’m guessing that the aircraft you’re talking about is the Eurofighter. It is an excellent airplane. One big advantage it has is ‘supercruise’ capability, which means it can go supersonic without afterburner. That gives it a long supersonic range.
But saying things like, “The U.S. no longer has air superiority in fighter aircraft” is a bit meaningless. Different aircraft, different roles.
The F15 is still a formidable Air Superiority fighter, and generally regarded as the Air Superiority fighter. The F22 will once again raise the bar another generation.
I saw the same program. The documentary states that the F-22 will be a generation ahead when it is operational. The documentary shows the F-22 with plenty of actual flight footage. So while the F-22 will not be “operational” for many years, rest assured that if those nasty Europeans try to invade us, they will meet actual flying F-22 fighters that have every capability they do (except bigger and not quite as maneuverable) and many more. And yes, the US also has the missile targeting helmets that allow fire and forget in any direction.
Well, I don’t expect the Europeans to invade. 
Not militarily, anyway.
But yes, that was the program. They were talking about dog fighting ability.
Here’s some pictures, and info, of the Typhoon, the jet in question.
I was just kinda surprised. I’ve gotten used to the idea that the US the most capable fighters in the world. Now someone has a whoop-ass fighter, at least until the F-22 is fully deployed.
Goodness me!
Peace,
mangeorge
Bottom line is still the pilots…
From http://www.af.mil/news/Jan2002/n20020117_0084.shtml
They’ll actually start taking delivery in 2004… not too terribly long.
The F22 is very manuverable, and with its thrust vectoring its probably even more so than the Eurofighter.
So do the Russians. Including rear-firing missles.
IMHO, I think the best bang for the buck right now in Fighters is the SU-37http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/su-37.htm. The Russians have some amazing aircraft (see the S37http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/s-37.htm) and the MiG1.42 http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/mfi.htm. They just don’t have the $$$ to produce them nor foriegn customers with the $$$ to buy them.
Granted, I don’t know much about aircrafts, but I doubt it. The OP is refering to a french pilot, and AFAIK, France doesn’t intend to operate Eurofighters (which are a joint project of other european countries. It includes the UK and I believe at least Germany, I don’t know about the others).
The only recent fighter France is operating (actually beginning to operate, only a few have been delivered, IIRC) I can think of is the Dassault’s Rafale.
Since I know nothing about fighters and their capabilities, I’ve no clue about whether the Rafale could be a better plane than the F16 or not, but I don’t think the OP could be refering to the Eurofighter.
I quickly checked on the Net, and indeed the Eurofighter is a project involving Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK. Greece and Austria intend to equip their airforce with it, too.
So, I assume the OP is refering to the Rafale. Except if the french pilot was only testing a foreign plane. But in this case, he wouldn’t boast about it, I suppose.
Yes but can it do a Cobra attack?
http://www.techtv.com/futurefightingmachines/story/0,24330,3393205,00.html
The French are known for their Mirage family of combat aircraft. Dassault first came up with the delta shape for the Mirage in the 1950s, drawing from German designs during WWII.
The latest offer in the Mirage series, flying for France and a few other countries it has been sold to, is the Mirage 2000D, a Mach 2 machine capable of carrying more than 13,000 pounds of weaponry.
The next step in the Mirage series will be the Rafale, which is scheduled to hit the French Air Force in 2006. The Rafale is the French next-generation combat plane, a jet with the latest gadgets, integrated infrared TV, and laser sensors. It will cost about $60 million per fighter.
Both the Rafale and the Mirage 2000 will fire the latest weaponry, including the Storm Shadow missile, that new kid on the bunker-busting block. The Rafale is a deviation from the classic single-seat Eurofighter; it’s a two-seat tactical aircraft. Eurofighter says that the fusion of technologies on board is so technically adept that you don’t need a second man in the cockpit.
OK…I didn’t read your second post, mangeorge, in which you stated you were indeed refering to the Eurofighter typhoon.
Though I can’t fathom why the french pilot was proud concerning an aircraft France isn’t involved in the building of and doesn’t even intend to fly.
Well, ** Bongmaster ** I must say that even after reading your post I’m still as clueless about fighters.
Just ouf of curiosity, what is a “tactical” fighter? Tactical as opposed to what?
And also, what is the second guy doing in such an aircraft? Navigating? Firing weapons?
Tactical fighter = fighter-bomber = fighter/attack = dual-role fighter = funding from congress, parliment, etc. as being a 2 for 1 type deal.
Bull.
Rafale then. There’s 294 on order, not all of which have been delivered. While the Rafale is a good aircraft, its not unbeatable by any means. Its also not combat proven, and the European governments don’t spend near as much on training and logistics as the US, which affect performance when the shooting starts.
It may look that way, but as you say, no one’s bought it. If you were accountant in charge of buying fighter aircraft, would you risk it all on an unproven design?
Who’d want to? The Cobra is an airshow manuever, nothing more. Pulling somthing like that in a dogfight means that you just burned all your energy, and are a sitting duck.
Oops, I’m not so sure the guy was French. He could have been Italian. But the plane was a Typhoon.
I am Sparticus may remember the nationality of the pilot.
Peace,
mangeorge
What? Not a proven design? The Su27 is an incredible base and very proven. Its an evolution of it in the same way the F15C/E is an evolution of the F15A, F16C to the F16A.
The F22 is even less of a proven design and billions are being spent procuring those.
Why aren’t other countries buying them? They’re Russian. And its a pitty. If they were hybrid with the best of Western tech, they’d be awsome.