Convair F-106 Vs Dassault Mirage IIIEA?

Question

It is really no contest? The F-106 climbs faster (10,600 fpm) when compared to the Mirage III. So the the F-106 has the edge in the vertical. The F-106 is faster down low and up high (37mph/65 mph). The F-106 has a heavier and larger airframe so it bleeds off speed faster in a turn when compared to the Mirage. The Mirage turns tighter. The Mirages has 30mm compared to the F-106 20mm. So firepower goes to the Mirage.

So, if the F-106 stays out of a turning fight with the Mirage, takes it to the vertical and uses his speed advantage. The Mirage is toast, correct?

Answer 1

This is a great question.  I looked into the two aircraft and found some great sites.  First one concerns the F-106 of Sixes to the many that flew the delta winged beauty.  Scroll down toward the bottom. This comment was made by a former pilot with 3300 hours of stick time in a Six.

"The F-106 proved its ultimate performance capabilities in providing aggressor "enemy" delta-wing familiarization training to the Navy's best pilots during the time they were implementing TOP GUN. The Navy jocks learned valuable lessons  that the Delta winged 106 was almost unconquerable in the dogfight arena, with guns in the air-to-air environment, which you read so little about in the Navy publications.  Wing loading of 43 lbs/sq ft and a .8 -1 TWT put it in a class of its own against the A4s, F-104s, F4B,C,D, F-105, F-100, F8 fighters of its time.....not to mention the many many '14s and '15s that blew engines in attempting to fight when it took them above 40,000 feet,  to a guns-only environment.  Good thing they finally fixed those great fighters to handle the altitudes the 106s formerly ruled."

Info on the Mirage is a little harder to come by.  Israel used Mirages during the '67 Six Days war.  

Much of this argument boils down to the skill of the pilot.  During the Cold War, US pilots accumulated a lot of stick time.  Lots of training.

Answer 2

The 106 without a doubt, The Mirage IV was not a good turning fighter, it was underpowered, and its cannon are junk. Its universally accepted by everyone that only the skill of Israeli pilots gives the Mirage such a good record, since even the French themselves hated it and replaced it with a conventional  fighter after only a few years. Even Harriers made easy prey of the IV.

The 106 had incredibly low wing loading, exceptional turning, exceptional acceleration, better radar systems, and it has the ultimate cannon, the Vulcan. Nothing beat the Vulcan. Period.

This is a non contest.

If you were making a comparison, it would be comparing the Mirage 2000 to the 106, since the 2000 was designed as an interceptor, but it is also over 15 years newer, so you really cant. The F-106 would hold its ground better than most.

Answer 3

Well a few things, The F-106 was designed as a bomber interceptor, ADC aircraft. It carried (or could carry) the AIM-2 Genie Nuclear weapon in the rear of its weapons bay (@1.2 Kiloton's a truly frightening weapon) it also carried the Falcon Air-To-Air missiles. The 20MM gun was not installed for Fighter to Fighter duels, but rather for close in work on low and slow bombers ( firepower edge to the F-106 as the Gatling gun rate of fire far surpassed the 30mm Aden cannon on the Mirage) The 106 was actually considered as a dog-fighter, and could probably have out maneuvered the Mirage.  As the F-106 mission was to destroy incoming bombers, it would have been able to knockdown the Mirage, especially with the Ground control radar, which could, with no communications from the pilot, guide and control the F-106 right onto a target.