Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT 171
eration and decrease altitude, both of which will reduce the bogey's maximum
firing range. Viable alternatives include pulling up and extending
away toward the sun, as well as ducking into a cloud, either of which
should preclude a heat-seeking missile shot.
The retreating energy fighter pilot should not attempt to avoid a missile
firing by turning to increase AOT, as this results in arcing, which may
allow even a slower opponent to close the range and force reengagement. If
a missile is fired at what appears to be near max-range, the target pilot
should employ all available defensive countermeasures short of maneuvering
(flares, chaff, power reduction, etc.) first, while watching the progress
of the missile. A defensive break turn should be made only when the
target pilot cannot stand to wait any longer. Even then, such a turn should
be continued only as long as absolutely necessary before resuming the
extension. If the break is delayed, the missile may run out of poop. The first
indication of this is often oscillations of increasing magnitude in the
missile's flight path.
The Angles Fight: All-Aspect Missiles Only
Essentially all the comments pertaining to the angles fight between similar
fighters equipped with all-aspect missiles are relevant in this dissimilar-fighter
scenario. The tactics discussed in relation to Figure 3-11 are
particularly effective in this case because of the turn-performance advantage
of the low-wing-loaded fighter. One complication might be the loss of
energy resulting from the hard prefiring turn (between times "2" and "3"
in Figure 3-11). After firing the missile, or if he does not take the shot for
some reason at time "3," the pilot of the angles fighter should relax his
turn and accelerate to regain some of this lost energy before the next pass.
The subsequent maneuvering might resemble that depicted in Figure 3-3,
and it could be followed by another nose-to-tail turn attempt.
The Energy Fight: All-Aspect Missiles Only
This is a very unenviable scenario for a high-wing-loaded fighter. The
extension/pitch-back technique may be workable against a heat-seeking
missile, provided the pitch-back is made into a high sun. The shot provided
the .energy fighter pilot by this tactic generally will be forward-quarter,
looking almost straight down on his target, as he comes over the top of his
vertical maneuver. Without proper sun protection, the energy fighter will
be vulnerable to the bogey's missile during the pitch-back, as the lowwing-loaded
fighter will reach a firing envelope first. Against a radarmissile-equipped
opponent, this tactic is probably suicidal. Essentially the
same comments apply to engaging with an initial energy advantage, as
depicted in Figure 4-5, except that this method may be safer than extension/pitch-back
tactics when the sun is extremely high.
Level nose-to-tail turns should be avoided, since these result in precisely
the situation shown to be optimum for the angles fighter in this
scenario. The nose-to-nose series introduced in the last chapter (Figure 3-4)
and amplified in the discussion of energy tactics earlier in this chapter may
be viable here. Nose-to-nose geometry keeps aircraft separation to a mini-