American fighters long ago became very un-maneuverable, they are simply, bullets in the air that you can take off and land with.

If they miss their target, they will not be turning around anytime soon, hence the reason for the heat-seeking missiles.

PS, the instructors at Top Gun always win, always.

The “sound barrier” was first broke by a physical device by Robert Hutchins Goddard in New Mexico in the 1930s. It was not acknowledged till afterwards because it was hard to tell how fast his experimental rockets were going in that era. Especially since most crashed as intended.

Since no one was in them they are not used for speed records of any kind, but what is odd here is that even when Yeager (et al) came to do their flights, there were still “experts” saying that it was impossible to break the sound barrier. Goddard’s primitive devices were public knowledge by then and many of his rockets went faster than sound even at low altitudes. “Experts” do not read enough news!