This reminds me of the "force multiplier" arguments of the US/NATO air forces of the 80's vis a vis F-16 and F-15 versus the hordes of Migs expected to darken the skies over the Fulda Gap and points north and south.
If the planning assumption on force levels is 4:1, but you don't quite get that, and when the 8 show up and you lose one of yours and three of theirs in opening rounds, the 5v1 begins to take on the macabre reality of air to air combat ... in the missile age.
I don't really care what the advertised exchange ratio is. The point is, as Manfred von Richtoffen once pointed out, to see and shoot your enemy before he shoots you. Nowadays, it takes more than a hot fighter to do this. It takes a mix of assets, to include EW, jamming, and robust BVR weapons and Target ID methods to achieve such an advantage, since you don't want to waste your misiles on drones of decoys.
"We're invisible, so we'll get the first shot."
Interesting planning assumption. If you aren't actually invisible, then what?
Better have some team mates who have your back in the EW and jamming department, eh?
Last edited by Lonewolf_50; 17th Sep 2013 at 19:04.