Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sun!amdcad!amdcad!military From: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Air to Air F-16 vs. F-18 Message-ID: <1991May21.024219.13155@amd.com> Date: 21 May 91 01:56:07 GMT References: <1991May17.063114.1236@amd.com> <1991May18.051031.11041@amd.com> <1991May20.052329.21908@amd.com> Sender: military@amd.com Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Lines: 34 Approved: military@amd.com From: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) >From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >>From: >>...the fact that the F-16 cannot fire a Sparrow... the F/A-18 can... >Correction: the F-16 can carry and fire Sparrows. It's been done. However, >production aircraft are not normally equipped for it.... Sparrow is heavier, >...and otherwise the missiles are (by design) mechanically compatible. This brings to mind a minor (near) historical event. Iran & Iraq both had F-14's, They both also had Anti-Ship missles from various sources. I clearly recall expert after expert swearing up and down that the F-14 COULD NOT be used to (attempt) deliver these weapons against either the U.S. Fleet or friendly tankers in the Gulf. The basis of this was that the U.S. Navy hasn't done it, there isn't a 'module' in production that plugs in that does it, and a complete module (read that as semi-idiot-proof black box that starts up the missle and fires it) is quite complicated, and would cost the U.S. millions to develop. To further this, they claimed that these governments were stupid in buying weapons because they couldn't be used from any fighter size aircraft that they had (meaning old{er} jet migs or piston fired craft). A little later the 'real' truth did finally get published, that they DID have a delivery system for EVERYONE of these classes. What our safety margins were was the low 'skill' level of the pilots, the failures of the 'manual' launch system, and the high effeciency of our air crews, ageis cruisers, and radar operations. -- Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE