In the spring and summer of 1968 there occurred what would come to be called "The America Debacle" — because most of the aircraft involved flew from USS America (CV-66). On the morning of May 7, five MacDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs from the aircraft carrier Enterprise engaged two North Vietnamese MiG-21s. Two radar guided Sparrow missiles were fired without result. But to add injury to insult, one of the outnumbered MiGs managed to shoot down one of the F-4s. Fortunately, both the pilot and the radar intercept officer (RIO) ejected and were recovered by Search and Rescue units. Two days later another engagement occurred between two Enterprise fighters and three MiG-21s. The two Phantoms fired four Sparrows, claiming one "probable" and one "possible" kill, but neither were officially credited. On June 14, two Phantoms from the carrier America, fired four more Sparrows at two MiG-17s without result. Two days later two more America F-4s engaged two MiG-21s, shooting four more Sparrow missiles, again without result. However, the MiGs were more fortunate and another Phantom was shot down. The pilot became a prisoner of war and the RIO was listed as Killed In Action. So far, 14 Sparrows, at a cost of $150,000 apiece, had been fired in a little over a month. Additionally, two Navy fighter planes, costing $4 million a copy, had been lost. But not a single aerial victory had been achieved. Three more times in June, Enterprise and America Phantoms engaged North Vietnamese MiGs. They fired 13 more Sparrow missiles, again they got no hits. Finally, on July 10, an F-4 got a kill. Roy Cash, Jr. and Joseph Edward Kain, Jr. shot down a MiG, but with a Sidewinder heat seeking missile. The victory upped the Navy Phantom kill ratio to ten MiGs for five F-4s - 2 to 1. In World War II and Korea the Navy's kill ratio had been five to eight times higher. Then on August 17, the worst happened. While dogfighting with two MiG-21 a Constellation Phantom shot down his own wingman with a Sidewinder. The pilot and RIO ejected safely, but became POWs. The America Debacle was the final straw for the Navy; for one kill, over thirty Sparrow missiles had been fired, and two Phantoms had been lost. The debacle led eventually to the creation of a fighter weapons school, and that school, which became known as "Top Gun," would dramatically improve the performance of Navy fighter pilots over Vietnam. Source: Robert K. Wilcox, Scream of Eagles (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: New York, 1990), pgs 95-96
In Vietnam the U.S. military struggled in air combat against North Vietnamese MiGs. The services were relying primarily on the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, which did not have a gun, until later versions of Air Force Phantoms were modified to include one. The Phantom had to rely on radar guided and heat seeking air-to-air missiles, as it was designed to do, but the Rules of Engagement (ROEs) required visual identification of the target before the missiles could be fired, and the early versions of the Phantom's missiles had relatively narrow parameters for targeting and shooting. After a particularly notable failure of the Phantom in air-to-air combat (see the OP), the U.S. Navy established its fighter weapons school, also known as Top Gun, to teach pilots how best to use the Phantom's missiles. Graduates of Top Gun improved the Phantom's scores in the air over North Vietnam, even with the Navy version which still did not have a gun. The F-4 Phantom has since been described as an excellent dogfighter -- proponents of the F/A-18 Hornet argued that this aircraft had the same dogfighting ability when they were selling it to the Navy in the 1970s and 80s. But others have called the Phantom a "fast bus," suggesting that the aircraft wasn't that maneuverable. Certainly the Phantom was not as nimble as the MiGs it faced in the skies over North Vietnam. At Top Gun, the Navy faced Phantom pilots off against disimilar aircraft that had similar nimble qualities as the MiGs, a practice continued after the F-14 Tomcat entered service, and continuing today. The Air Force has also used this method in training at its equivalent fighter combat school. The lesson here is not about how well a U.S. fighter can maneuver in aerial combat, but how that fighter can use its strengths to cancel out the strengths of the enemy aircraft -- or using tactics to maximize strengths while minimizing weaknesses. A significant part of U.S. doctrine regarding fighter combat, going all the way back to World War II is to identify strengths and weaknesses of American and enemy aircraft and develop tactics that use your strengths against their weaknesses. Thus the F4F Wildcat was able to gain a positive kill ratio against the more maneuverable A6M Zero. Aircraft quality does matter, but tactics and training might matter more.
"A significant part of U.S. doctrine regarding fighter combat, going all the way back to World War II is to identify strengths and weaknesses of American and enemy aircraft and develop tactics that use your strengths against their weaknesses." For example, the Thach Weave:
The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program is the descendant of the Fighter Weapons School, more popularly known as Topgun. The program teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers, who return to their operating units as surrogate instructors. Established as the Fighter Weapons School on March 3, 1969, at the former Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, the school was merged into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, in 1996. In 1968, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer ordered Captain Frank Ault to research the failings of the U.S. air-to-air missiles used in combat in the skies over North Vietnam. In May 1968, the Navy published the "Ault Report", which concluded that the problem stemmed from inadequate air-crew training in air combat maneuvering (ACM). This was welcomed by the F-8 Crusader community, who had been lobbying for an ACM training program ever since Rolling Thunder began. Among its wide-ranging recommendations to improve air combat performance, the Ault Report recommended that an "Advanced Fighter Weapons School" be established at Naval Air Station Miramar to revive and disseminate community fighter expertise throughout the fleet. CNO Moorer concurred. According to the 1973 command history of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, the unit's purpose was to "train fighter air crews at the graduate level in all aspects of fighter weapons systems including tactics, techniques, procedures and doctrine. It serves to build a nucleus of eminently knowledgeable fighter crews to construct, guide, and enhance weapons training cycles and subsequent aircrew performance. This select group acts as the F-4 community’s most operationally orientated weapons specialists. Topgun’s efforts are dedicated to the Navy’s professional fighter crews, past, present and future.” Its objective was to develop, refine, and teach aerial dogfight tactics and techniques to certain fleet air crews, using the concept of dissimilar air combat training, or DACT, which uses stand-in aircraft to realistically replicate expected enemy aircraft and is widely used in air arms the world over. At that time, the predominant enemy aircraft were the Russian-built transonic MiG-17 "Fresco" and the supersonic MiG-21 "Fishbed". Topgun initially operated the A-4 Skyhawk and borrowed USAF T-38 Talons to simulate the flying characteristics of the MiG-17 and MiG-21, respectively. The school also used Marine-crewed A-6 Intruders and USAF F-106 aircraft when available. Later, the T-38 was replaced by the F-5E and F-5F Tiger II. During the halt in the bombing campaign against North Vietnam (in force from 1968 until the early 1970s), Topgun established itself as a center of excellence in fighter doctrine, tactics, and training. By the time aerial activity over the North resumed, most Navy squadrons had a Topgun graduate. According to the USN, the results were dramatic. The Navy kill-to-loss ratio against the North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) MiGs soared from 3.7:1 (1965–1967)[citation needed] to 13:1 (after 1970). The U.S. Air Force, which had not implemented a similar training program, actually had its kill ratio worsen for a time after the resumption of bombing. The success of the U.S. Navy fighter crews vindicated the fledgling DACT school's existence and led to Topgun becoming a separate, fully funded command in itself, with its own permanently assigned aviation, staffing, and infrastructural assets. Topgun graduates who scored air-to-air kills over North Vietnam and returned to instruct included Ronald E. "Mugs" McKeown and Jack Ensch. The first U.S. aces of the Vietnam War, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Willie Driscoll, received no official Topgun training, but had, during F-4 training with VF-121, flown against Topgun instructors. It was not until after the war in Vietnam ended that the Air Force initiated a robust DACT program with dedicated aggressor squadrons. The Air Force also initiated a program to replicate an aircrew's first ten combat missions known as Red Flag, and the USAF Weapons School also increased emphasis on DACT. The 1970s and 1980s brought the introduction of the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet as the primary fleet fighter aircraft flown by students, while Topgun instructors retained their A-4s and F-5s, but also added the F-16 Fighting Falcon to better simulate the threat presented by the Soviet Union's new 4th-generation MiG-29 'Fulcrum' and Su-27 'Flanker' fighters. However, the specially built F-16N developed cracks in the airframe and was retired. Largely due to the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the Topgun syllabus was modified to include more emphasis on the air-to-ground strike mission as a result of the expanding multi-mission taskings of the F-14 and F/A-18. In addition, Topgun retired their A-4s and F-5s in favor of F-16s and F/A-18s in the Aggressor Squadron. In 1996, the transfer of NAS Miramar to the Marine Corps was coupled with the incorporation of Topgun into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) at NAS Fallon, Nevada. In 2002, the Navy began to receive 14 F-16A and B models from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) that were originally intended for Pakistan before being embargoed. These aircraft (which are now designated F-16N/TF-16N) are operated by the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) for adversary training and, like their F-16N predecessors, are painted in exotic schemes. Topgun instructors currently fly the F/A-18A/B/C/D/E/F Hornet and Super Hornet as well as the undelivered Pakistani F-16A/B Fighting Falcon. In 2011, the Topgun program was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
