I only have 2 fox 1 missiles (R3R) and guns. I initially forgot that I did not have any R-60m's (fox 2). That's why I kept putting the pipper over the targets, to no avail.
You may be interested in this. Keep in mind that in the era a Fishbed would have been intercepting a -52, that Buff probably still woulda had guns and it would have been right off the deck. There's video, somewhere on the internet, of an F-15 trying to lock up a B-52, at Red Flag and the pilot had a heck of a time. Mig-21s have very short endurance and the Soviets operated off a fairly rigid Ground Control Intercept model; there would be a very limited time for a Mig pilot to make a successful intercept on a B-52. I'm curious as to what you think. czcams.com/video/9O-LQZRMlOU/video.html
I agree about the short endurance of the mig 21. I guess fuel and or bomber escorts would dictate how long the mig 21 could pursue. In my case I had external center & wing tanks and only 2 fox 1 R3R missiles. I forgot I had no fox 2's. Hence trying unsuccessfully to pick an IR signature. I be interested in seeing that video of the f-15 having a hard time locking the b-52. The Eagles have a pretty potent radar system.
I remember that one. czcams.com/video/UGVtmsWWH-c/video.html I wish that we had a guns-equipped B-52D or -G model for just this reason - it would make these sort of Cold War intercepts much more challenging. Especially if its properly modelled as a radar-guided 20mm Vulcan. That said, a bomb & fuel laden B-52 at low altitude is going to have a rough go, even with a tail gun. The MiG will be able to climb up out of the gunners cone and hang out there, waiting for a chance to make a slashing gun attack, and the B-52 will be a much bigger target than a diving MiG-21.
@madaxe606 thanks for finding that. I guess if I hadn't misremembered I'd have put F-16 in the search terms. I hear what you're saying about the loading, but that would only apply if the -21 was actually able to find the -52. At low level, at night, with 1 of 3 acting just as a jammer/EW ship, the -21 wouldn't have a long time to hang out. And the -52 would maneuver much more sharply with just a few special weapons on board.
@@BradPanoff That's true. However, the MiG-21 was designed to operate hand-in-glove with an IADS system. The odds of success would have depended on how thoroughly the area was covered by the EWR net, and how dialed-in the IADS/GCI operators were. In theory a MiG-21 pilot would have been steered onto an optimized intercept course by GCI and wouldn't need to rely on any of his own sensors until the very last stages of the engagement. During Linebacker II the North Vietnamese were able to burn through the jamming to steer S-75's onto a good many B-52's, so they weren't invulnerable. It would be interesting to see if they could have guided a MiG-21 into a position where it'd have picked up an IR signature for a missile launch on a low-flying B-52. The PVO trained to do exactly that, so who knows. Interesting thought experiment for sure.
Nice video 😀
You may be interested in this. Keep in mind that in the era a Fishbed would have been intercepting a -52, that Buff probably still woulda had guns and it would have been right off the deck. There's video, somewhere on the internet, of an F-15 trying to lock up a B-52, at Red Flag and the pilot had a heck of a time. Mig-21s have very short endurance and the Soviets operated off a fairly rigid Ground Control Intercept model; there would be a very limited time for a Mig pilot to make a successful intercept on a B-52. I'm curious as to what you think. czcams.com/video/9O-LQZRMlOU/video.html
I agree about the short endurance of the mig 21. I guess fuel and or bomber escorts would dictate how long the mig 21 could pursue.
In my case I had external center & wing tanks and only 2 fox 1 R3R missiles. I forgot I had no fox 2's. Hence trying unsuccessfully to pick an IR signature.
I be interested in seeing that video of the f-15 having a hard time locking the b-52. The Eagles have a pretty potent radar system.
I remember that one. czcams.com/video/UGVtmsWWH-c/video.html I wish that we had a guns-equipped B-52D or -G model for just this reason - it would make these sort of Cold War intercepts much more challenging. Especially if its properly modelled as a radar-guided 20mm Vulcan.
That said, a bomb & fuel laden B-52 at low altitude is going to have a rough go, even with a tail gun. The MiG will be able to climb up out of the gunners cone and hang out there, waiting for a chance to make a slashing gun attack, and the B-52 will be a much bigger target than a diving MiG-21.
@madaxe606 thanks for finding that. I guess if I hadn't misremembered I'd have put F-16 in the search terms.
I hear what you're saying about the loading, but that would only apply if the -21 was actually able to find the -52. At low level, at night, with 1 of 3 acting just as a jammer/EW ship, the -21 wouldn't have a long time to hang out. And the -52 would maneuver much more sharply with just a few special weapons on board.
@@BradPanoff That's true. However, the MiG-21 was designed to operate hand-in-glove with an IADS system. The odds of success would have depended on how thoroughly the area was covered by the EWR net, and how dialed-in the IADS/GCI operators were.
In theory a MiG-21 pilot would have been steered onto an optimized intercept course by GCI and wouldn't need to rely on any of his own sensors until the very last stages of the engagement.
During Linebacker II the North Vietnamese were able to burn through the jamming to steer S-75's onto a good many B-52's, so they weren't invulnerable. It would be interesting to see if they could have guided a MiG-21 into a position where it'd have picked up an IR signature for a missile launch on a low-flying B-52. The PVO trained to do exactly that, so who knows. Interesting thought experiment for sure.
@@madaxe606 Thank you. I never would have found that. Thats a good watch.