“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
- John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961

With these words, the newly elected 35th President of the United States laid down a gauntlet at the feet of the imperialistic socialist state, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Our war on expansionist Communist states would be unlike the devastating world-wide and regional conflicts of the previous two decades. Rather than suffering further losses from head-to-head combat, this new "Cold War" would be fought by the bean-counters in the Congress and Politburo, feeding billions of dollars to their respective military/industrial complexes. In a years-long game of technology leap frog, battles would be won by developing complex and deadly weapons to meet both known and unknown threats from weapons development on the other side. And as in traditional battles, strategy would play an important role. Was the rumor of a new high-altitude, supersonic bomber true, or was it a clever feint? If it was, what would need to be procured to address the threat, and more importantly, what would it cost? More than anything, this war would be won by budgets rather than bullets.

While this technological battle occured in all facets of military procurement, none was as intriguing as the battle for presumptive air supremacy. Emerging from the virtual air battle were timeless airplanes such as the YF-12, originally built as a supersonic interceptor but later converted to the SR-71 reconnaissance plane. In fact, during my own Cold War years in the US Air Force, I worked on the powerful ground mapping radar system housed in the nose of the Blackbird. On the Soviet side, the US threat was matched with the powerful MiG-25 Foxbat and nimble Su-27 Flanker. In turn, these fighter/interceptors were countered with the American F-15 and F-16.

When it comes to PC military simulators, this historical period is almost completely ignored. Until now, that is. Graffiti Entertainment, a division of Signature Devices which is itself a development house that specializes in 3D graphics hardware and software, has released a flight simulator named Red Jets. As described on the box, Red Jets "pulls you back in time to a day and place where the Cold War defined right and wrong... You find yourself in the cockpit of the notorious Soviet MiG fighter and watch history take a spin as it opens the door to an alternative line of events, and the Cold War heats up!"

Sounds good, doesn`t it? It continues: "Red Jets is a 3D combat jet plane game (note the use of `game` rather than `simulator` - that will be important later) inspired by the Cold War conflict and a USSR Air Force in its prime. The line of events may be pure fiction but the environment and the atmosphere is as authentic as can be, and as you dive into a world of military discipline, honor, and love of Mother Russia, the lines of right and wrong begin to blur..."

"Red Jets` is built on In...