Basically, anything with a radar missile would ruin your day. The poor old Red Top was limited to about 30 degrees off the tail, something that was damn difficult to acheive, especially against an aircraft like an F-16. I've got a picture in my log book taken from the gun camera (mounted at the bottom of the air intake - hence the pitot tube appears in the frame) of an F-16 being bayonetted in germany, but I snuck up on him when he wasn't looking. I can remember a 2v2 against French Mirage 3s overhead Paris (yes, I do mean
overhead Paris) with a base height of 30,000ft!
I wouldn't have liked to go to war in a Lightning, but what fun! The best flying club I ever joined! Christmas present was a Mk3 with the belly tank removed. Hold burners (not 86%) against brakes until the tyre slips around the rim, let the brakes go and airborne before the first RHAG, pure vertical climb until there is enough fuel to come back down, break and land, filerup again and let someone else have a go!
And the ability to smell a tanker when it was still on its take-off roll. What a life, I'd give anything to go back and do it all again!
