re: #85 Gus

The old Cold War standard was essentially based on suicide missions. Some of which included catching up with Russian strategic bombers and firing of a nuclear Genie missile then escaping that and coming hime, ditching out over sea or somewhere in friendly territory in Europe.

The 50s and 60s was mostly because raw speed and climb, running on the idea that fighters would be primarily used as interceptors to knock out high-flying intercontinental bombers. Then the 70s saw more emphasis on maneuverability as the art of dogfighting came back in vogue. And the 80s distilled all that, plus started adding stealth in order to regain the edge lost to increasingly faster and smarter enemy fighters.