What's A Kill?

So it's been widely advetised for decades now: The F-15 Eagle is the only fighter in all of history to have a perfect killing record of over 100:0. That means there have been over 100 confirmed kills by the F-15. Andnone have been "killed" in combat them selves.

Now, as much as I love the F-15 Eagle, I'm forced to constantly say in my mind... "Really?"

I mean, you gotta admit- that's an AMAZING record. And you see it touted all over the net. So what does it really mean? Or in other words, How can we call this statement into doubt through over-analyzation?

Yeah, I saw the spelling quirp. Just move on.

Let's start out with, "Just what is a kill?" This is important because a kill is not the same as a damaged or probable. In WWII, Korea (a.k.a. WWII.5) and Vietnam, jets were seen zooming off into clouds streaming smoke and fire but their impact into the ground was never witnessed or recorded, so they couldn't be officially recorded as "kills"

In the book "Israeli F-15 Units In Combat" as well as in "Eagle Engaged", there are two stories told of IAF F-15s that got hit- bad- and were forced to leave the fight. One got a stitch of 23mm rounds across its wing and the other took an A-to-A missile up its tailpipe. Both of these planes had to get the @#$ out of Dodge and recover at a friendly base so their pilots could live and fight another day. Many other damaged planes and close calls are hinted at.

So, these planes were badly damaged and forced from the fray. They were rendered combat ineffective by direct enemy fire. Isn't that a kill? They couldn't contribute to offensive actions anymore, could they? No, they had to go emergency land. So they left. They were dead. That should count as a kill.

Welll, not so fast. Let's compare this to a gunfight between Smith & Wesson- armed human beings. If someone gets shot, and they limp or get away, but live, they haven't been "killed." They're still alive. They might not come back to fight. They might. But if their heart is still beating, their would-be murderer is not a murderer, just a really big meanie. An evil-doer. A bad guy. Not a killer.

Welll, it just so happens in both these cases of the IAF F-15s, the jets were repaired and returned to service. Within... weeks. The one who took the missile even got another A-to-A kill. Later in the war. Hmm... going back to our S & W metaphor, those planes definitely didn't die. They limped away (quite smartly at that, I might add- what Syrian pilot didn't see a lumbering, smoking F-15 trying to be small as it limped helplessly away from battle?) and came back, full of mischief, even. I'm calling those.... not kills. But they still shoulda gotten medals from their governments for even getting that close enough to an Eagle to give it an explosive suppository, no? I think yes, give those men medals.

OK... but after I dug deeper, I did find a reference to an IAF Eagle that flew out over the Sea trailing smoke and fire. It was claimed it never landed, and that that was the last that particular jet was ever seen again. So, it was killed- pilot ejected over water and the jet sank in the deep blue. Witnesses over the beach said they saw it. They said they saw an Israeli fighter trailing smoke and fire fly out over the sea, eject its crew member then plummet into the water. Oh, and there were stacks and piles of witnesses.

Only one problem: all of Israel's jets are listed and accounted for.

So, no kill.

Record stands.

Good job: USAF, IDF/AF, and McDonnell Douglas designers.

P.S. NO- THE JAPANESE TRAINING BLUE ON BLUE SHOOT DOWN DOESNT COUNT. SHUT UP.