WASHINGTON : The US Air Force has had a "wake-up call" as a result of mock air-to-air engagements with India earlier this year that showed the United States can no longer take air superiority for granted in a conflict, a top US general said on Wednesday.

A study of the "Cope India" air exercise, conducted by the US and Indian air forces in Gwalior, India last February, is secret, said General Hal Hornburg, head of the air force's Air Combat Command.

"But we have to learn a lot of things from that," he told reporters. "We have to learn if we want air superiority it doesn't come cheap and it's not automatic."

The Russian-made SU-30s are reported to have bested the F-15s in a majority of their engagements, much to the surprise of the organisers.

It was the first time the two top-of-the-line US and Russian-made fighters have flown against each other in an exercise, an air force spokeswoman said.

It pitted F-15Cs from the air force's 3rd Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska against a variety of Indian fighters, not just the SU-30s. They included Russian-built MiG-21s, MiG-29s and French-made Mirage 2000s.

The US fighters flew with certain restrictions that handicapped their effectiveness. Nevertheless, the performance of the Indian fighters exceeded expectations.

"In general, we may have learned some things that suggest we may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we once thought we were," Hornburg said.

He said the results of the exercise showed the need for the F/A-22 Raptor and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Both aircraft are stealthier than the F-15, but the F/A-18 also has greater range and speed than the air force's existing fighters.

The air force has been battling the perception that the costly new fighters are a luxury at a time when the United States has dominance in the air.

"I thought it was a wake-up call for some things that we've been talking about before, and it provided validation," Hornburg said.

The trade journal Aviation Week and Space Technology reported last month that the exercises showed the SU-30s had a clear advantage over the F-15C in a long-range fight.

The US and Indian aircraft were seeing each other at the same time with their radars but the SU-30 pilots were able to fire their AA-10 fire-and-forget Alamo missiles first, the weekly said. - AFP

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp...w/91683/1/.html

This is the Aviation Week article.

The tone of the conversations was sharpened by a still-unreleased report about the series of air combat training engagements earlier this year between Indian air force Su-30MKs and F-15Cs from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; the latter were equipped with the U.S.' newest long-range, high-definition radars.

Those who have read draft copies of the report say the Su-30MKs and F-15 pilots were seeing each other at the same time with their radars, but the Indian pilots were getting off the simulated first shot with their AA-10 Alamo missiles and often winning the long-range engagements. The Indian pilots also had more flight time in the previous year than the U.S. pilots, roughly 300 hr. compared with 250 hr., the pilot said.

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/chan...ws/05244wna.xml

Yes another article to "justify" the F/A-22

like it or not, there is no other choice for the USAF. The JSF cannot be deployed now. The only hope is the raptor.

Yes no choice... but once in a while the USAF needs to "remind" the politicians why they are paying USD100mn plus for 1 single seat figther!

what is wrong with a single seat fighter?