Which country has the best fighter pilots?

The fact that they were sabotaged is a fact, by whom is not exactly clear, but my bet would be the departing US technicians since they had expert knowledge of the systems and used that knowledge to sabotage specific components and I highl doubt Iranian peronnel would just sabotage off their own back because of some loyalty to America and revolutionaries have nothing to fear from air to air missiles and would have trashed the planes rather than strategically sabotage them.

Edited by Zagros - 10-Mar-2007 at 10:29

Sabaotage? The planes are still flying! If the technicians wanted to sabotage the planes all they had to do was take an axe to the fuselage and the planes would never fly again.  It would take all of 30 seconds.

Originally posted by Sparten Sabaotage? The planes are still flying! If the technicians wanted to sabotage the planes all they had to do was take an axe to the fuselage and the planes would never fly again.  It would take all of 30 seconds.

Edited by Zagros - 10-Mar-2007 at 22:21

I did not say the Iranians couldn't operate them, obviously they can since they are still in service. However the Iranians were clearly unable to perform the maintainence of the Tomcats and its associated weapon systems without the support of the Americans (which is why they had "operated them without problems for several years"), which of course explians why the Tomcats were made flight worthy by cannibalising half the fleet.

Greek and Turkish pilots have too much experience in dogfighting,right Hellios

Dude, when u sit in F 22, no need of skills, just basic ones are enough. Also, those comiecaze guys hitting the World Trade Center are the best as far

Hmm..two pages and not a squeak about the PAF even from Sparten the military buff. I dunno about now but in the 60s, 70s and 80s the Pakistani Air force was top notch. Mainly because of the quality of its pilots but also because the fighter jets were among the best in the world(back then not now).

In the 1965 Indo-Pak war 104 Indian Air force planes were downed while 19 PAF aircraft were lost in combat.

In the 67 Arab-Israeli war PAF sent its pilots[but not its own planes] to war against Israel. They scored a 10 to 0 kill ratio. Eizer Weizman, then Chief of Israeli Air Force said once about PAF Air Marshal Noor Khan : "...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani and not Egyptian..."

http://www.scramble.nl/pk.htm


71 Indo-pak war which was sort of a civil war too PAF downed 51 Indian aircraft versus 17 of its own. This is what US Gen Chuch Yaeger had to say about the paki air force, he himself counted all the kills they made:

Originally posted by Chuck Yeager "This airforce(the PAF), is second to none"

Originally posted by Chuck Yeager "The air war lasted two weeks and the Pakistanis scored a three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made Indian jets and losing thirty-four airplanes of their own. I'm certain about the figures because I went out several times a day in a chopper and counted the wrecks below." "They were really good, aggressive dogfighters and proficient in gunnery and air combat tactics. I was damned impressed. Those guys just lived and breathed flying. "

Afghan war in the '80s had 8 Afghan/Soviet Aircraft shot down with a loss of one PAF F16 which was rumored to be friendly fire. 2000 Sorties were flown by Afghans and Soviets into Pakistani territory. Planes were scrambled for each incursion I presume and in most cases the Afghan/Soviet planes must have flown back after being warned by their bases to come back.

Couple of tail fins from that war, kept as trophies:

Yes PAF did very well in 65 and 71 and the Afghan wars. But, in my defence I was talking mostly about Iran.

Originally posted by Cezar 10 to nil against the IAF in 67!? How many PAF pilots were there and how many aircraft they shot down? It looks like propaganda to me.

So the 10 to 0 is propaganda most likely. Its more like 3 to 0 and that is still pretty good. I would assume that the 8 pakistani pilots that were flying for Syria in the '67 war were cream of the crop since firstly they had been on training missions before in Syria and secondly they must have clocked a lot more than the 350 hours per year PAF average which would put their skill level way up in the top 10% of the PAF. Maybe even higher. The pilots they downed were most likely just average or below average by IAF standards.