Which country has the best air defence.

[Air Marshal]

From my observation United States & Sweeden has the Best Air Defence.

[aircop38]

The US would deem it necessary to win any and every conflict for the purpose of popular support; it has been proven how strong public opinion can be in a war effort. This compared  to Israel's need to simply survive, let alone hold any ground in world opinion..

Israel is at the knifes' edge all the time, but could not stand a massed coordinated attack by its combined neighbors( which due to Israels fighting skills , and distrust by its neighbors of one another, will probably never happen).Israel fights like the U.S. only faster- they gain superiority in the air right away,then beat their enemies faces bloody,'til the aggressors quit-Israel never fights  with intents of invading ,but rather an aggressive/ proactive defense.given the fact that a regional enemy could drive into Televiv in a few hours or fly over Israeli airspace in a matter of minutes, you'd have to be set like a loaded gun with the hammer back.but because they are so small, they can be overwhelmed-Thank God it has never happened

[aircop38]

funny ,but i recently read a discussion that bragged about how the U.S. air force was "BEATEN" by India in a joint exercise; i later read the the reason the US forces were "Defeated" was beacuse they were playing the role of a defender against an attacking force that was superior in #s and using a tactics not trained for-guess the U.S. got caught with their pants down ,and if this subject has already been discussed ,I'm sorry. What was funnier was that the writer of the article was an indian defense analyst who proclaimed that the exercise was a good training op, but not realistic.it seems that the U.S. prefers "air dominance" over attrition in the air,meaning ,it uses its tactical edges to destroy the enemy(like stealth attacks on radar and AAA systems,mass bombing with the B-52s ,then mop ups with ground attack acft like the f-16,F/A-18, and CAP with the F-15) If the gulf conflicts are any measure of what a future shooting war will be, there really won't be much time for long drawn out air battles, as either the conflict will be a brief violent flash,then a stand off and peace is declared ,or a total domination,with minimal  combat loss and death.The best can only be related to in terms of training,equipment and power projection,as well as a countries ability to maintain that force.but considering the prohibitive cost of waging combat( so much easier to threaten and posture,then later peacefully negotiate)why would any country wnat to find out whose the "best"? ,especially when a$500,000 unmanned missile can destroy a $20-30 million acft and the pilot(s) inside who probably represent another 2 million in training and equipping costs...................

[Webmaster]

Indeed, already discussed in other topics. I always doubted these first "BEATEN" articles/claims. The USAF surely was surpised and impressed. But the exercise has little meaning to compare the two forces (or aircraft), especially if what you say about the exercise is true. Another thing I know is that the F-15s were not relying on AWACS as of course they would have done when in a real battle. And I think it was only WVR...not BVR, the main fighting arena for the US. The Su-30s involved were not even of the latest MKI standard, so the capability gap between the two would not be that different to determine the outcome. So it's either tactics and/or the above mentioned reasons.

[Cobra2]

I think its the U.S. because we give our pilots good training and our fighter and bombers are very good.

like the B-2, F/A-22, new F-18Es and Fs, F-15Es, F-117 etc.

Russia has good fighter planes and bombers also....like the Su-37, Tu-160, Su-27, MiG-29, and others.
But i heard that Russia doesn't have very much fuel for there airforce...can someone correct me if im wrong...however I did hear it on the History Channel...but it may have meant in previus years.

[Cobra2]

And Isreal has a very good airforce aswell....and when I said that we give our pilots good training i meant not only us but other countries aswell..but including the U.S.

[Webmaster]

Well with 'no fuel' they probably mean 'no money'... each flight hour costs not only fuel, but also all the other costs. My impression is that the cuts are almost complete, and Russia can now streamline the organisation and start upgrading aircraft. However their pilots are still not flying and training as much as their US and European counterparts. I think there are only some exceptions, I think the Tu-160 bomber unit was doing quite well, because they are the main long range weapon and deterrent, and therefore get the neccessary funding. But that's not air defence... I think that was way better in the days of the PVO, even though the systems that can be deployed are more advanced now.

Back on the US... if you consider that air defense should be integral network of defenses, and you consider the results of the investigation of the air traffic control and NORAD on 9/11, it tells me two things. First that the air defense of the USA was probably weaker than we expected, because of the old equipment and communication systems. Secondly, that it should be the best, or one of the best, air defense system in the world, once all measures taken to prevent a similar chaos should such an event repeat itself. STARWARS project is very nice, but without the proper communications doesn't make a good air defense.