The U.S. Air Force prefers upgrades over clean-sheet designs because they’re faster, cheaper, and preserve fleet size—think B ...

Phantom crews engaged in numerous dogfights with North Vietnamese MiGs ... The Navy retired its last Phantoms in 1986, while the Air Force continued using RF-4 reconnaissance variants into the 1990s.

Flight Lt Sekhon, a fighter pilot posted in Srinagar during the 1971 war with Pakistan, was martyred in a dogfight with enemy aircraft.