If aerial dogfighting is obselete, why do pilots still train for it and why are planes still built for it?

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I have seen comments over and over saying traditional dogfights are over, but don’t most pilot training programs still emphasize dogfight training? The F-35 is also still very much an agile plane. If dogfights are in the past, why are modern stealth fighters not just large missile/bomb/drone trucks built to emphasize payload?

In: Engineering

14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Missiles can hit targets beyond visual range. Theres no point in closing to make visual contact when your weapons can fire and forget.

Pilots still train to dogfight as a last ditch scenario and planes need to be agile enough to evade.  

Here’s a video of a simulator running a fictional scenario with weapons having rumored specifications. This isn’t a real life scenario but give an idea of how these operations work. 

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