Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

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FIGHTER WEAPONS 5 gun as the fighter's primary armament. The feeling was that the high speeds of jet fighters and the heavy armament of new bombers made the gun obsolete, particularly for night and all-weather missions. During this period many fighters were not equipped with guns at all; their air-to-air weapons package consisted entirely of unguided rockets, and then of guided missiles (which are discussed later in this chapter). This trend was reversed in the 1970s, after further combat experience had once again demonstrated the value of the gun and the limitations of some of the more exotic weapons. Table 1-1 is a collection of statistics on many of the guns which have been important in American combat aircraft, and it is fairly representative of the armaments of other nations, as well. A good indication of the technological development of a gun is the weight of the projectiles that it can fire in one minute (assuming barrel limitations and ammunition supply allows). In this table weight of fire is measured by the factor WF. Tremendous progress can easily be seen here by comparing the post-World War I Browning .30-cal M2 machine gun with the 20-mm M61 Catling gun of the 1950s. Improvement in this area has been one of the leading factors in the lethality increase of airborne gun systems. The lethality of a gun can be measured by multiplying the destructive power of its projectile and the number of hits. For nonexplosive bullets, destructive qualities are generally proportional to kinetic energy: half the mass of the projectile times the square of its velocity. To be more technically correct, the velocity used should be the relative impact velocity, but for comparison purposes, muzzle velocity will do. The factor FL in Table 1-1, a measure of the lethality of the gun, is proportional to the kinetic energy of each projectile and the rate of fire. FL should be roughly indicative of the lethality of a nonexplosive bullet fired at the specified rate from a given gun. Cannon are a somewhat different case, since much of the lethality of these weapons is derived from their explosive shells. Therefore FL is a fairly accurate relative assessment of the destructiveness of machine guns, but it underrates the cannon in comparison. Likewise, it can be used to compare cannon of the same projectile size, but it would slight larger guns in comparison with smaller ones. Even with its limitations, FL can give a qualitative feel for the incredible increase in fighter gun-system lethality over the years. For example, the combined FL of the two .30-cal-class synchronized machine guns typical of fighters at the end of World War I would be on the order of FL = 2, while the six wing-mounted .50-cal guns of the World War II P-51D fighter would rate about FL = 38. In addition, a much better gunsight on the P-51 and many other fighters of its day greatly increased the probability that hits would be scored. A further lethality increase can be seen in the gun systems of some present-day fighters, such as the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F-18, which mount a single M61 Catling gun. Ignoring the increased lethality of the explosive shell and even better gunsights, these aircraft would rate about FL = 145. Such technological advances, combined with inherent
Table 1-1. American Aircraft Guns Type • Machine Guns .30-cal M2 .50-cal M2 .50-cal M3 Cannon 20-mm M2 20-mm M3 20-mm M39 20-mm M61 37-mm M4 — Operational Date • " 1929 1933 1947 1941 1944 1953 1957 1941 Bullet Weight llbsj .02 .10 .10 .30 .30 .22 .22 1.34 - — Rate of Fire (rounds/mini 1,200 800 1,200 650 800 1,500 6,000 135 . Weight of Fire WF jlbs/min} 25 81 121 196 241 332 1,330 181 Muzzle Velocity ; — Lethality VM (ft/sec) FL fWf x VJA x ID' 8 ) 2,600 2,810 2,840 2,850 2,750 3,330 3,300 2,000 1.7 6.4 9.8 15.9 18.2 36.8 144.8 7.2
Page 2 and 3: Fighter Combat TACTICS AND MANEUVER
Page 4 and 5: Preface ix Acknowledgments xv Abbre
Page 6: CONTENTS Vll Single-Side Offset 353
Page 9 and 10: X PREFACE tactics varied greatly, a
Page 11 and 12: Xll PREFACE current void of informa
Page 14 and 15: Acknowledgments Much of the credit
Page 16 and 17: Abbreviations AAA anti-aircraft art
Page 18: Fighter Combat TACTICS AND MANEUVER
Page 21 and 22: 2 FIGHTER WEAPONS although fixed to
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Page 39 and 40: 20 FIGHTER WEAPONS We were both fly
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Page 51 and 52: 32 FIGHTER WEAPONS Missile Propulsi
Page 53 and 54: 34 FIGHTER WEAPONS Missile Guidance
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Page 61 and 62: 42 FIGHTER WEAPONS Since CW radars
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56 FIGHTER WEAPONS will exhibit lar
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58 FIGHTER WEAPONS (RWR), that an e
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60 FIGHTER WEAPONS barrel-rolling a
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2 Basic Fighter Maneuvers I fly clo
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64 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS the comb
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66 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS himself
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68 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS speed ad
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70 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS pursuit
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72 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS Figure 2
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74 Figure 2-7. Low Yo-Yo BASIC FIGH
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76 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS The pote
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80 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS In case
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82 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS capitali
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84 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS one (the
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86 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS his exte
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90 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS the boge
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92 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS subseque
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94 Figure 2-22. Defensive Spiral BA
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96 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS usually
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3 One-versus-One Maneuvering, Simil
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100 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, SIM
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140 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DIS
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1 70 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DI
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196 SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-ONE
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206 SECTION TACTICS. TWOVERSUS-ONE
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210 SECTION TACTICS, TWO-VERSUS-ONE
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226 SECTION TACTICS/ TWOVERSUS-ONE
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Section Tactics, Two-versus-Two The
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238 SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-TWO
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256 SECTION TACTICS, TWC-VERSUS-TWO
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7 Division Tactics The essence of l
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268 DIVISION TACTICS design began t
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270 DIVISION TACTICS so called beca
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272 DIVISION TACTICS "4." At time "
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274 DIVISION TACTICS Figure 7-8. Se
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276 DIVISION TACTICS Lieutenant Eug
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278 DIVISION TACTICS away, the free
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280 DIVISION TACTICS cloud) is now
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282 DIVISION TACTICS Figure 7-13. G
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284 DIVISION TACTICS defensive look
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286 DIVISION TACTICS In a dog-fight
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288 DIVISION TACTICS Americans empl
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8 Unlimited-Aircraft Tactics Of cou
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292 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS seve
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294 UN LIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS the
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296 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS beca
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298 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS I de
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300 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS post
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302 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS many
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304 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS poss
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306 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS posi
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308 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS may
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310 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS inte
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312 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS A go
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314 UNLIMITED-AIRCRAFT TACTICS doct
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Fighter Missions To use a fighter a
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318 FIGHTER MISSIONS Scenarios Sinc
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320 FIGHTER MISSIONS altitude, deta
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322 FIGHTER MISSIONS agency and the
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324 FIGHTER MISSIONS As previously
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326 FIGHTER MISSIONS cruise missile
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328 FIGHTER MISSIONS pattern gives
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330 FIGHTER MISSIONS have to coordi
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332 FIGHTER MISSIONS can be turned
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334 FIGHTER MISSIONS the enemy. Suc
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336 FIGHTER MISSIONS aircraft, and
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338 FIGHTER MISSIONS point for a di
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340 FIGHTER MISSIONS become major t
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342 Figure 9-3. Fighter-Escort Miss
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344 FIGHTER MISSIONS Figure 9-6. Fi
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10 Tactical Intercepts Confront the
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348 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS Figure 10-1
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350 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS desired alt
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352 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS If the turn
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356 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS range). If
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358 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS ment, and t
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360 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS Advantages
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364 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS leader thro
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366 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS immediate l
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368 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS awareness),
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370 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS and positio
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372 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS low, traili
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376 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS also have t
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378 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS Visual Scan
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380 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS Likely thre
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382 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS be best for
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384 TACTICAL INTERCEPTS target on t
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Appendix Fighter Performance Perfor
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APPENDIX Figure A-l. V-n Diagram di
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APPENDIX 391 Figure A-2. Aircraft T
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APPENDIX 393 Figure A-4. Instantane
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APPENDIX 395 neuverability may be d
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APPENDIX 397 Figure A-7. Engine Thr
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APPENDIX 399 tends to reduce pressu
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APPENDIX 401 Figure A-11. Typical H
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APPENDIX 403 cause the Ps = 0 line
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APPENDIX 405 In theory the energy t
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APPENDIX 407 aircraft surfaces. In
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APPENDIX 409 Outside the zero-Ps li
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APPENDIX 411 factor," which is the
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APPENDIX 413 this condition occurs,
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APPENDIX 415 speed control. Many of
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APPENDIX 417 short or swept wings a
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420 BIBLIOGRAPHY Johnson, Robert S.
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422 INDEX Canard controls, 32, 398
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424 High yo-yo. See Yo-yo, high H-M
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426 INDEX Pursuit: curves and traje
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428 INDEX Turns (continued] 191, 20
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Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

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