[Fireminer]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

I kept meaning to answer this, but well, shit happened, so better late than never.

Generally, without knowing the specifics and full details, all this is conjecture.

Having said that, it's only the USSR that was so keen on export versions. US fighters weren't as badly hobbled as their Soviet counterparts - though that's partly because as I understand it, the US was mostly selling to NATO and allies, whereas the USSR was selling to client states and keeping the good stuff for itself.

As to whichever pairing is better, my bias is towards the US teen fighters rather than Soviet, simply because US is in a better position to provide TSFs and support than the Soviets.

Also, depending on the size of your forces, as a general rule a force with less than about 300 or so airframes will prefer to go for a single type to simplify logistics. The US, which has thousands of TSFs, can go with a Hi-Lo mix and further segregate/specialise, as opposed to other nations which aren't able to maintain that level of economic and logistical support, and so go for a multirole approach.

Thanks! But that raise another question: Does the new trend of multi-role TSF like F-35 are the learning and conclusion of the US from USSR, not only in design but also about logistic, doctrine, etc? Or it's simply because we are only recently able to pack many abilities to a single TSF now?