Russian Nuclear Bombers over Guam

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The Phantom II has always amazed me. It was designed as one of those late-'50s interceptors. It had a fairly poor thrust/weight ratio, which gave it mediocre acceleration and climb, a terrible turn radius, was bloated and heavy, and originally it didn't even have a gun. With all that against it the plane still managed to rack up a very good kill ratio in Vietnam. Part of that was due to the combination of radar and heat-seeking AIM-9 Sidewinders, and part of it was due to its pilots figuring out tactics that used its strengths and played down its weaknesses.

Plus it could take beating and still fly back to base.