Originally Posted by type rated
If we had gone for F-15's they would presumably have been head and shoulders better than an F3 carrying the same kit?
For the job we used it for, not really. As an interceptor, probably better energy at launch for Skyflash and AMRAAM and better energy manoeuvrability; space for a bigger antenna in the nose, of course, but who would have wanted to rip out the APG for AI24? Of course, once you get to the merge everything changes.
As for reconfiguring the rear cockpit of the D model, I wonder if that would have been worth it - we would, effectively, have been asking for a new model removing the flight controls and moving a lot of kit to the back seat. The E wasn't up and running until 1988 so a bit out of the timeframe.