Originally Posted by
etudiant
That suggests the central purpose of the air combat training has been subjugated to 'safety risks'.
I doubt a serious enemy would be similarly bound.
Sadly the reality of 75 years of peacetime with only punching bag opponents, the military are no longer primarily a fighting force.
Perhaps we need a vastly smaller military, wholly professional, which would again make effective fighting the core mission.
No such limitation would exist in combat and I don't think there is any air force out there that practices forward quarter gunnery in the air to air environment.
Anyone with any time in fighters understands that there's a serious risk associated with ahead of 135 gun employment, with near zero training payoff. Theres a very good reason why its not done in training. You'd literally lose more aircraft in accidents than enemy you would take out with that added marginal skillset in combat.