Originally Posted by
CargoOne
That is why F-4 with basic comms and old style targeting + Vulcan is a cheap and effective answer to any such target as long as it cannot return the fire. And it is expendable - you just build a few dozens out of a thousand stored. The latest war has shown that cheaper assets in mass can do much more than a few uber drones, while having a much lower total cost and training requirements.
I would respectfully disagree. The latest war has shown that Russia’s Air Force is technologically not on a par with the West. A paper tiger if you will. I imagine the West is sitting pretty happy right now with the capabilities they have that they know work effectively, F22 being just one. And I doubt any valuable intelligence was given away by an F22 shooting a heat seeking missile at a balloon.