Are Wonderbolts really useful as an air force?

[RainbowMau 292]

I still haven't watched the Twilight's Kingdom episodes to tell how good were the Wonderbolts trying to defeat Tirek, but according to what I quickly read about them (you know, to avoid spoilers) I'm wondering if they're really an air force to Equestria more than an achrobatic team or at least if they're useful enough.

 

You know, the're pegasi, they can only fly and don't have any other magic apart from their power to stand on clouds, and most important not other similar to Elements of Harmony, and let's add that they don't seem to use any weapon, so?

 

Ps. Edited title, but still, I remind them trying to defeat the Giant Spike and they failed too.

Edited October 20, 2014 by RainbowMau

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Equestria is in a time of near endless global peace, so standing militaries are not really needed for it. In the episode you do see some from of "pegasi milita" going against tirek, and that is most likely how Equestria works its military. It has a small standing force that is mainly for parades and shows, and raises a miltia when actual military threats arrise (not counting the changeling invasion, as that only happened within the span of one day, as opposed to the almost week long Tirek crisis). So as for combat effectiveness they are lower on the scale compared to human armies as they are mainly a preformance group like the real world blue angels.

[PROJECT: Simon 3,955]

Rainbow Dash MUST join them. 

[Celli 4,349]

Well, they've been shown to be incompetent at times, manipulative (looking at you Rainbow Falls). So, I'm not so sure.

[ggg-2 3,555]

I'm not so sure, I mean a team of THREE Pegasi couldn't even hold their own against a greed fueled SPIKE.

[DubWolf 18,543]

Yeah they're useless I think. All they did in Secret of my Excess was fly towards Spike, then get encased in a water tower. What were they planning on doing? Pinching him? Are they even capable of dealing any damage? I doubt punching anyone would be effective on serious matters like that one.

[kanashimi purinsesu 244]

Couple things I can see them doing is making a massive tornado to encase some big threat and possibly drive it away from Ponyville  or Cloudsdale/Canterlot/wherever the threat is.

 

lol this is a good question

[Fractured 2,684]

I'd go so far as to say that nobody in the equestrian military is useful right now. But its not their fault. Literally the only trouble Equestria gets at the current time is world-ending threats and massive calamities; they hardly even get petty crimes. There's literally nothing that they can do.

 

If there's a war, you can bet they'll be there to fight it. Until then, Equestrian military is basically a waste 

[Guest]

I've always seen them as a decorative force, maybe a superficial remnant of an older, more potent tradition. That's just my 2 cents obviously.

[CheeryFox 23,824]

Yeah...they seem more superficial than what they actually stand for. 

 

 

[Cloud Yeller 69]

I always saw them as an acrobatics group like the Blue Angels, not a fighting outfit.  Due to the lack of warfare the military seems to consist of the royal guard.  That force is like the Swiss Guard of the Pope.  Technically military trained but are not really there to fight a full scale war.

 

Now if they wanted to use pegasi for an air force they could do a lot of weather manipulation for attacks.  They can fly at fast speeds makes tornados, or force the clouds to rain to muddy the roads to slow travel and shoot lightning bolts as attacks.   They can engage in hoof to hoof combat of other aerial units as well.

 

But from the way everything is portrayed in the show, there really isn't a full military, just a small Honor Guard for the Princesses.

[Jeric 46,880]

I though that Testing 1,2,3 confirmed that they were a military force not a decorative team? They were established after _____ specifically to ______?

 

You will be graded. Go find your study secret.

 

 

---

 

Ok, They have been show to be either unlucky or unprepared more than incompetent. Military readiness is likely not optimal. 

[boiteporte 591]

They are a military force. But, they are about as useful in dealing with threats as the Earth Alliance is in dealing with The Shadows (subtle reference to another TV series, lol ).

Rainbow Dash obviously think that joining them is a great honor, but due to their lack of efficiency, I am not so sure about that......

[Princess-Sunbutt 268]

No, we've never seen them succeed at anything ever. In my opinion Rainbow Dash is too good for them 

[Shanks 10,817]

The Wonderbolts to me seem like a combination of the Blue Angels the National Guard and the Air Force. They have all these ceremonial duties like all these performances and are in many ways the equivalent of pro athletes but have also been shown numerous times throughout the series to also be used in cases of emergency like rescue operations and military functions.