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Originally Posted by Stealhead
It was very bad 2.5:3 I believe now this is to blame on several factors the most notable one being that especially in the USAF "dog fighting" was not even practiced.
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You have to remember that the Air Force went into the 1960s with the same mindset they had from the '50s. The mission they trained for was stopping Soviet bombers from attacking the United States. Fast, unmaneuverable airplanes armed with missiles were needed to stop those high-altitude bombers, and fighter combat was considered to be a thing of the past. They went into Vietnam thinking that they would be able to stand off and shoot missiles. They didn't envision actual dogfights, which have a habit of slowing down to 500 knots or so, and require turning.