BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

I apologize for my extended vacation from the blog.  There has not been a lot of aviation-related news lately, and the Clinton/Trump debacle of 2016 has most of my attention.  (Enough that I have an extended rant ready to post about how Trump's candidacy will effect Canada's long-term defence needs.) We can thank China for giving us aviation buffs something to talk about.  Not one, but  two J-20  "Mighty Dragons" made its  public debut  the other day, after years of being a  poorly kept secret .  While its performance and equipment specifications are still relatively unknown, China has made it very clear that it is now making 5th generation stealth fighters. From a design standpoint, the J-20 is clearly aimed at the F-22 and the Russian PAK FA.  Unlike the F-35, this is a big twin-engined fighter.  Also similar to the F-22 and PAK FA, the J-20 utilizes four (not two) internal weapon bays.  Its forward weapon bays, ...

Chengdu J-10A Big, nasty, superfighters like the PAK FA and J-20 are getting plenty of headlines regarding their performance.  Other designs like the updated Sukhoi Su-35 are getting plenty of attention as well.  Undoubtedly, these are the designs that current and future military planners are seeing as the biggest threat to western air dominance.  Much like the emergence of the MiG-25 during the Cold War, western air experts are seriously wondering if western designs can hold their own against these emerging threats. But the MiG-25 wasn't the biggest fighter threat of the Cold War.  It was produced in relatively small numbers and it had a rather specialized role as an interceptor, meaning it wasn't a very good air-superiority fighter. No, the biggest aerial threat during the Cold War was the MiG-21. One of MANY MiG-21s Was the MiG-21 a good fighter?  Not when compared to American F-16s and F-15s it wasn't.  It had quite a short rang...

MiG-31, obsolete aircraft...  But not obsolete concept. Recently, Russian officials have admitted to developing a MiG-31 replacement .  This sparked some interest from aviation enthusiasts who have long believed the MiG-31 "Foxhound" was little more of a remnant of the Cold War and would see retirement as the PAK FA and Su-35 became the prevalent fighters in the Russian inventory. Why does this seem odd?  Because in this age of " multi-role " jet fighters, when even the F-22 Raptor is equipped for ground attack , The Foxhound is decidedly single purpose:  Interception. MiG-25 "Foxbat". Developed from the legendary MiG-25 "Foxbat", the MiG-31 was conceived as a sort of a "Super Foxbat" with better detection abilities, longer range, and the ability to engage low flying targets.  The MiG-25 itself was developed to counter the threat of  the B-58 Hustler and (soon to be aborted) XB-70 Valkyrie bombers.  Oddly enough, early exag...