The concept of high-low pairing was proposed by the US Air Force shortly after the release of the third generation fighter jet. The reason is that the price of third-generation fighter jets is much higher than that of second-generation fighter jets. The price of the third-generation heavy fighter F15 is almost 2.5 times that of the second-generation heavy fighter F4. Even the wealthy United States can no longer afford the cost of replacing all F4 fighter squadrons with F15s on a one-to-one basis.

Therefore, the US Air Force proposed the idea of "high-low pairing", using a smaller number of high-end heavy fighters paired with a larger number of low-end light fighters to deal with enemies. High end heavy fighters such as the F15 perform air superiority missions, while low-end fighters such as the F16 act as fighter bombers, carrying out ground attack missions such as air interception.

In the concept of the US Air Force, the F15 with air superiority configuration has a long radar detection range, making it easy to use four heavier and larger AIM7F/M semi-active mid-range air-to-air missiles such as the Sparrow series to strike enemy fighter jets beyond line of sight. After the sparrows entered line of sight combat aerial combat, the F15 still had four AIM9L/M third-generation "Sidewinder" infrared guided air-to-air missiles available, and the F15 had the highest thrust to weight ratio among the third-generation aircraft, coupled with low wing payload and strong combat capabilities. At that time, the F16 mainly carried AIM9L/M infrared air-to-air bombs, and after dropping the bombs, it could easily join the air combat.

However, please note that the so-called low-end of F16 is only relative to F15. Compared with other fighter jets such as the F4, the F16 is still an unbeatable third-generation fighter jet due to its comprehensive use of advanced technologies such as wing strips, belly inlet, wing body fusion design, fly by wire control, high thrust turbofan engine, leading edge flaps, etc. It has a constant disk rotation speed of over 20 degrees per second, good supersonic acceleration, and high angle of attack flight capability. In fact, due to its strong close range air combat capability, the F16 has been provided to NATO allies such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway as the main fighter jet for their air forces, undertaking not only ground attack missions but also air superiority missions.

In terms of mid-range air combat, early versions of the F16 did indeed have the ability to launch and guide AIM7F, but due to the better conditions of the F15, it was basically not used. Americans probably think that F15 can be used when it is not enough, but it is not its main business after all. After entering the 1990s, the improved F16 had the ability to guide AIM120 active medium range air-to-air missiles and was used for the first time to shoot down Iraqi fighter jets over the no fly zone in Iraq. So he quickly became a versatile fighter with a shoulder to shoulder in the air, and also a hot commodity in the global fighter jet market. The relationship with the United States is still acceptable, and potential customers with two more dollars in their pockets have formed a long queue.

The idea of "high-low pairing" has been proven to be the right approach in reality. In the Gulf War, the US Air Force deployed four squadrons of F15C, two squadrons of F15E, and nine squadrons of F16C. The F15C built a tight eagle wall over Iraq, shot down 33 Iraqi military aircraft, and gained control of the Iraqi sky.

Under the cover of F15C and Wild Weasel tactical electronic warfare aircraft, the F15E and F16C fleets set fire to and bombarded everywhere. However, because the onboard equipment of the F16C was relatively simple at that time, apart from launching the Maverick missile, it could only throw iron shell bombs. Therefore, the search and attack of high-tech tasks such as the Iraqi "Scud" launch vehicle was entrusted to the more sophisticated onboard equipment of the F15E. Due to the fact that unguided weapons such as iron shell bombs are mainly used in air raids, the F16C is indeed the undisputed first main force. F15E mainly hits high-value point targets during adverse weather conditions at night or during the day, and in terms of quantity, it cannot be compared to F16C. In short, the concept of "high-low pairing" has indeed demonstrated good cost-effectiveness in practical combat, not only widely used in third-generation aircraft, but also adopted by users of fourth generation fighter jets.

Source: Military of Strong Countries