James Forsyth James Forsyth

America rules the skies

Mark Bowden’s piece in The Atlantic on American air superiority and the danger of it waning is well worth reading. It is quite remarkable that no American solider has been killed by an enemy air attack since 1953. But the statistic that really grabbed my attention was this one:

“The F‑15, the backbone of America’s air power for more than a quarter century, may just be the most successful weapon in history. It is certainly the most successful fighter jet. In combat, its kill ratio over more than 30 years is 107 to zero. Zero. In three decades of flying, no F‑15 has ever been shot down by an enemy plane—and that includes F‑15s flown by air forces other than America’s.”

Can Coffee Housers think of any other weapon that can claim such a success rate?

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