I think also som eof it may have changed with the change in tactics. The advent of SAMs forced pilots down on the deck...where the Earth-aircraft interface chances greatly increased!
I can remember inthe early 1980s when the Air Force and Army were brushing up AirLand Battle doctrine. It was almost a daily occurence to see 2 F-16s scream across the landscape at abouit 200 feet practicing what was called Battlefield Area Interdiction....sort of an H&I fires at 500 mph. And you would also see Jaguars, Phantoms and F104s(
) doing the same thing. This may have also caused some of the casualties as well.