Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-ONE 209
MiG-15s against U.S. F-86 Sabres in Korea. The MiGs would stay very fast,
near the maximum speed of both aircraft types, so the attacking Sabres
could not achieve a significant energy advantage. Since the MiG had a
substantial T/W advantage over the guns-only Sabres, the MiG splitting
high was usually in little danger of being caught in its zoom.
In general, the high/low split should not be attempted against an allaspect
missile threat, or when the section is attacked by a fighter nearly
equivalent in zoom capability. The relative merits of the sandwich
(fighters turn in the same direction) and the split (fighters turn away from
each other horizontally or vertically) depend on several factors. One of
these is the range at which the attack is detected. To be effective, the
sandwich (Figure 5-4) requires that the attacker be approaching a range
approximating the lateral separation between the defending fighters and be
firmly committed to one target. If the attack is discovered early, it may be
possible to delay defensive maneuvering until just prior to the bogey's
open-fire point, to allow the range to close and the target to be determined.
A slight miscalculation here, obviously, would be unfortunate. The long
range of an attacker's AAM also may preclude this option. Under such
circumstances the defensive split (Figure 5-5), either the level or the
high/low variety, may be more appropriate.
It is apparent that the sandwich and the high/low split, which place the
free fighter in a threatening position within 90° to 180° of turn, are more
efficient than the left/right horizontal split, which typically requires 270°
to 360° of turn before a firing position can be achieved. Another disadvantage
of the level defensive split is the great separation generated between
the fighters (several miles at today's speeds), which easily can cause the
free-fighter pilot to lose sight of the fight, with disastrous results. The
high/low split, when appropriate, reduces this separation significantly.
Another tactic is something of a combination of the sandwich and the
split. The "half-split," as illustrated by Figure 5-6, involves one pilot
turning hard away from his wingman, who in turn extends straight ahead.
In practice the pilot of the extending fighter may need to turn slightly to
keep sight of his wingman and the attacker, and he may also choose to
climb or dive while extending.
At time "1" the section (in combat spread) detects an attacker behind it
closing fast, but still out of range. The pilot of the southern fighter turns
left (away from his wingman) using sustained-G levels to conserve energy
and separate from his wingman. The pilot of the northern fighter, meanwhile,
extends essentially straight ahead and watches the bogey and his
wingman. In this case the bogey pilot chooses to attack the southern
fighter, a fact that becomes evident before time "2." The defender now
tightens his turn to defeat the attack, while the wingman comes back hard
to sandwich the attacker. Figure 5-7 illustrates how the section can counter
if the bogey attacks the extending fighter.
In this scenario the positions at time " 1" are the same as for the previous
example, and the section employs the same half-split. This time, however,
the bogey follows the extending fighter. When the situation becomes clear,
at time "2," the pilot of the southern fighter reverses his turn direction