Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

188 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT
duck for nearly any weapon in the enemy's arsenal, either air-to-air or
surface-to-air. (The Doppler radar-guided AAM is a notable exception to
this rule.)
For a conventional fighter opposing a V/STOL, angles tactics usually
will be more appropriate. The angles fighter pilot must be mindful of the
V/STOL bogey's ability to generate overshoots and be ready to quarter roll
away and pitch off high in case the V/STOL slaps on a "bat-turn." In such a
case the bogey pilot has most likely forfeited his vertical capability for
increased turn performance, so the angles fighter pilot should find a safe
sanctuary at higher altitude, provided he has practiced good energy management
himself. If the pilot of the angles fighter allows himself to get well
below vertical-maneuvering speed, such an overshoot probably will result
in a flat scissors, placing him in deep and serious kimchi. The rolling
scissors also should be avoided unless the V/STOL bogey is obviously low
on energy, like after a magic turn; and a defensive spiral must be rejected at
any cost. In short, the pilot of the conventional fighter often will obtain the
best results from the early use of careful angles tactics to keep pressure on
the V/STOL bogey and deplete its energy. Then, when the V/STOL pilot
decides to use his VIFFing ability for slow fighting, the angles fighter pilot
can revert to energy tactics. If the engagement cannot be ended quickly,
and the bogey is allowed to regain its energy, it may be necessary for the
pilot of the conventional fighter to resume angles tactics once more.
Helicopters versus Conventional Fighters
Although helicopters generally have not been considered air-to-air
machines in the past, many current attack helos are heavily armed and can
offer some interesting problems to fixed-wing fighters. When compared
with conventional jet fighters, helos are so slow they can't get out of their
own way, so they simply do not have the capability to seek out and
offensively engage faster aircraft. Therefore, engagements are most likely
to occur while the helo is out minding its own business, or making life
miserable for enemy ground forces. Although the helo probably will be the
attackee rather than the attacker at the start of the engagement, a wellflown
helicopter is far from defenseless.
The primitive can also be a weapon.
Lt. General Adolph Galland, Luftwaffe
One of the helo pilot's first defensive actions when he is faced with a
fixed-wing attack is to dive to as low an altitude as possible and accelerate
to max-speed while turning toward the attacker. This reaction serves
many purposes. Very low altitude operation degrades the bogey's weapons
systems by denying its pilot the look-up necessary to optimize radar
operation and the guidance capabilities of heat-seeking and radar-guided
missiles. Simply flying at low level is sufficient to defeat most pulse-type
radars, which cannot distinguish the target from the ground return (clutter).
Although sophisticated pulse-Doppler (PD) radars are theoretically
capable of detecting and tracking a low-flying target, their operation usually
will be degraded by a "jamming" effect inherent to the helicopter