American airpower was supposed to be untouchable in Vietnam. Instead, U.S. pilots found themselves struggling against smaller, more agile MiGs and losing more often than anyone expected. The decline in America’s air-to-air kill ratio revealed weaknesses that would change how the U.S. fought in the skies. The U.S. lost over 2,000 fixed-wing aircraft during the war. Unlike World War II and Korea, where American aviators boasted an 8-to-1 kill-to-loss ratio, Vietnam saw that number fall; sometimes