Statistics are important when the abilities of aircraft are analyzed

 Statistics are important when the abilities of aircraft are analyzed

When we are analyzing what fighter-aircraft is the best in the world, we should see are the opponent aircraft shot down by other aircraft, air defense -missiles or destroyed at airfields? 

There is a possibility that the 6th generation fighters and multirole aircraft are already in use. The thing is that when the newest generation fighters are faced with the lower generation fighters the newer generation fighter has always been superior. When the 1st generation F-86 has faced the 2nd. generation MiG-21 the MiG has been shot F-86 down by using IR-guided missiles. The reputation of the MiG-21 has been taken over Vietnam and Indo-Pakistani wars in 1966 and 1971. 

This thing bases the data, what is collected from the Indo-Pakistani war in 1965. But the fact is that the records of that war are not very accurate. In that war, both sides used western and eastern aircraft. And the aircraft types that got victories and what are lost are not mentioned. In the 1971 war, many of the F-86s were destroyed on the ground. The problem with the records of those wars is that there are no statistics, are the aircraft destroyed by air-defense missiles or AA-flak, on the ground, or at air combat. 

Indo-Pakistani Wars:

1965: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965

1971: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971

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And the notes of the four first-generation combat aircraft are: 

1st Generation: Jet propulsion

2nd Generation: Swept wings, range-finding radar, and infrared-guided missiles

3rd Generation: Supersonic flight, pulse radar, and missiles that can engage opponents from beyond the visual range

4th Generation and beyond: High levels of agility, some degree of sensor fusion, pulse-doppler radar, reduced radar signature, fly-by-wire, look down/shoot down missiles, and more.

(https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/what-capabilities-make-a-6th-generation-fighter/)

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There is a difference is the aircraft destroyed on the ground or are they destroyed in air combat or by air defense missiles. 

During the Vietnam war, many U.S aircraft shot down by the Soviet-made missiles. The same situation was repeating in Yom Kippur War 1973 when Soviet origin SA-6 missiles shot down Israeli aircraft. The radar homing missiles caused the U.S airforce started the development of the stealth fighter in the project "Have Blue", and the faith of one of those F-117 light stealth bombers was the traditional AA-artillery by the Serbian army, and that thing is the only reported loss of the F-117 in a combat situation. 

So the complete records are necessary, for analyzing what type of aircraft is the best. The statistics that are telling that some aircraft have been destroyed or shot down by other aircraft or AA-flak would tell about things that the makers of the tactics and aircraft solutions. If we are thinking that western aircraft are superior to MiGs we might be confused because of the Six-Day War in 1967. In that war, the Israeli air force surprise raid against the Egyptian air force destroyed many of the allied Arab Air forces planes on the ground, and that means that in those cases MiG has not faced Mirages in air combat situations. 

Six-Day War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War

Yom Kippur War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War