One of the toughest lessons that the U.S. military learned during the Vietnam War was what could happen if you allow yourself to get complacent, which can very easily happen when you’ve got the latest and greatest aircraft, equipment, and weapons. The early model F-4 Phantom II’s didn’t even have guns mounted anywhere on the plane.
Why?
Because they now had AIM-9 Sidewinder and Aim-7 Sparrow missiles, which were at the time the latest air-to-air weapons in the inventory. The theory was that since we now had such long-range air-to-air missiles, the need for close-range air-to-air dogfighting was now obsolete.
Unfortunately, the early AIM-9 and AIM-7 missiles weren’t as reliable as they would eventually become and the North Vietnamese pilots hadn’t read the manuals explaining. How modern air-to-air missiles gave the Americans such an advantage. There would still be close-in air-to-air for some time to come, and the TOPGUN and Red Flag schools were born as a result.
What we realized in that little scenario is that the oldest of the old techniques of winning are still just as important as the newest of the new. Today’s fighter aircraft have weapons and BVR detection systems that allow the U.S. to completely dominate the skies; and yet…we still mount guns on our fighters.
Even though the F-22 and the F-35 still have yet to score a kill, our pilots still continuously train as though that first kill is just around the corner…because it may very well be!
Who knows where the next threat to our country will come from, but we keep our eyes wide open on the development of China’s J-20 fighter and other new weapons systems. And although there aren’t many experts who think that a J-20 would last very long against an F-22, these ‘experts’ aren’t the ones who will be in that cockpit facing down that J-20…YOU will be!
As a member of our exclusive Afterburner Club, you will be well on the road to making your way into the cockpit of a plane that very well may have to face down a J-20 someday, and that means that we need to get you prepared for the winning strategy now! You will learn the principles of winning that will get you into the cockpit of your dream jet. And on the way there, you will be able to apply these same principles to win in a power projection class such as TOPGUN or Red Flag and even against an enemy aircraft!
Training and preparation are the key to success. The sooner you start, the surer you are to win. Don’t wait for boot camp; start your training NOW!