*** Posted by Rapier ***
[Hi RUN
The Cobra maneuver can be used to make an opponent to overshoot and to disappear from the radar screen due to Doppler effect. Am I right?
Do you think you can find another use for The Cobra maneuver ?
How you compare in terms of maneuvrability Su-27 and F-16?
TIGER
]

Hi Tiger,

The Cobra does look cool at airshows but dont let this manuver fool you. It gives the illusion that it will make an attacking fighter overshoot. A pilot who's chasing could probably tell when the SU is going to do this but the speed loss is so great that it would leave the SU in a very bad situation because the plane is litrally hanging in the air for you to take pot shot's at it either with cannon or an AIM missle. I have never beleived this manuver is good although it looks impresive.

I dont think the Cobra was designed as an air to air combat manuver, I just think it was designed to test how far the thrust vectoring system could be pushed as it was invented by a famous russian test pilot. The cobra can only be performed at a certain speed so if an attacking pilot was to hang back slightly and predict when the manuver is performed it would be an easy target.

Dont get me wrong I think the SU-27 is great and if you compare the SU and F16 well this is a tough question. The SU-27 has massive power plants giving it awsome power but it needs this because of it's weight because it is an all metal aircraft so it's heavier than the F-16. The SU-27 is probably better at manuverability but the F-16 has superior avionics.

Hope this helps

Rapier