Originally Posted by
etudiant
Dumb question here-- does anyone have a plausible threat they are practicing against? I recognize the publicity value, but
afaik not even Russia fields a massive fighter/bomber force.
In fact, they are so strapped that they are reduced to hyping their potential F-35 equivalent in the hope of finding development money.
Would it not make more sense for Europe to take the lessons of recent conflicts more to heart?
Air superiority is wonderful, but it needs to translate into real military value. I do not see that here.
If we only took lessons from recent conflicts to heart then all we would provide (from a fighter perspective) is CAS and strikes on undefended targets. Russia has more capability than you seem to give it credit for.
In the West, we've had the luxury of operating largely unopposed in the air since about halfway though GW2. Any conflict in SE Asia or Eastern Europe will be a far tougher nut to crack. That being said, against a peer threat I'd be more worried about the tactical buckets of insta-sun being thrown around than the fighter threat...