Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

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SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-ONE 233 single fighter also desperately needs to reacquire and track the free bogey visually. This may be difficult, since sight will most likely be lost temporarily at the overshoot occurring at time "3," but reacquiring sight is important for determining the point at which the singleton must switch off the engaged bogey and defend against the free bogey. Even if the free bogey is not visually reacquired, however, its pilot's task is not a simple one. He has a long way to go to rejoin the fight, and an engaged bogey pilot who is fighting for his life cannot make the single fighter predictable. The free bogey will also likely have a large speed advantage as it reenters the action, which makes attack timing critical and difficult for its pilot. In addition, guns tracking an aircraft in a scissors, particularly a rolling scissors, is next to impossible, and lobbing a missile into a slow-speed scissors is like flipping a coin to decide which aircraft is the target. A kill is a kill. Anonymous Figure 5-16 shows how the singleton pilot might respond to the free fighter's attack later in this engagement. At time "4" the singleton has gained a good advantage on the engaged bogey in the scissors but has not been able to deliver the coup de grace. Meanwhile the free bogey is reentering the fight from the south. The pilot of the single fighter sees the free bogey and determines that a reversal to continue the scissors would place the attacker at too great an advantage. Therefore the singleton switches off the engaged bogey to defend against the free bogey, generating an overshoot at time "5." At this point the defender has the option of attempting an escape (the broken flight path to point "6"') or continuing the engagement by reversing as shown by the flight path to point "6." Against much faster bogeys the first option may not be available, and if it is attempted the defender must watch the bogeys carefully to determine whether they have had enough or intend to press their attack. The second option is essentially a repeat of the previous phase of the engagement; namely, hassling one bogey (in this case the one that just overshot) while keeping track of the other. If all-aspect missiles are carried by the bogey fighters, they can make switches such as that shown in Figure 5-16 very hazardous. In this case close proximity to the engaged bogey may be the singleton's best protection against the free bogey. The engaged bogey might be used as a shield until the free bogey reaches min-range for its missile, and then the singleton can perform a switch more safely. The F-4 had a hotter afterburner heat source than the MiGs, and with both MiG and wingman in my sight, it was difficult to fire, lest the missile kill my "wingie." Commander Randy "Duke" Cunningham, USN Returning to Figure 5-15 for a moment, and assuming the bogeys are more maneuverable but slower, the singleton simply cannot afford to get tied up one-versus-one with the engaged bogey as just outlined. Success in
234 SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-ONE Figure 5-16. One-versus-Two Engaged Maneuvering such an endeavor requires energy tactics. As described in earier chapters, energy tactics involve a rather protracted process of very predictable turns to deplete the opponent's energy, then some sort of zoom climb at a critical moment to convert an energy margin into a position advantage. Against bogeys using double attack doctrine, this process may be allowed to continue for a while, since the engaged bogey usually will appear to be winning the fight in the early stages. The free bogey in this case can be expected to stay out of the fight, but it will have the opportunity to conserve its energy. Energy tactics require the pilot of the singleton to devote very close attention to the engaged bogey and his own performance, which hinders keeping track of the free bogey. When the proper time for the zoom is reached,the high-energy free bogey may very well be in a position to threaten. Almost superhuman technique and lots of luck would be required for the pilot of the single fighter to time his zoom consistently so as to be immune from both bogeys. Bogey missiles make this process even more hazardous, as the bogeys' look-up shots against a very slow speed target are likely to be superior to the singleton's look-down opportunities. It is also very difficult to mask an aircraft in the sun against two widely separated bogeys. If the bogeys employ loose deuce techniques, the very predictability and time involved in energy tactics will usually allow a well-flown free bogey to reach an effective offensive position, often undetected. In light of these realities it is not recommended that the high-wing-loaded fighter attempt
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Fighter Combat TACTICS AND MANEUVER
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Preface ix Acknowledgments xv Abbre
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CONTENTS Vll Single-Side Offset 353
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X PREFACE tactics varied greatly, a
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Xll PREFACE current void of informa
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Acknowledgments Much of the credit
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Abbreviations AAA anti-aircraft art
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Fighter Combat TACTICS AND MANEUVER
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2 FIGHTER WEAPONS although fixed to
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4 FIGHTER WEAPONS some firing range
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Table 1-1. American Aircraft Guns T
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8 FIGHTER WEAPONS angle is also dep
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10 FIGHTER WEAPONS the ballistics o
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12 HGHTER WEAPONS often bars of lig
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14 FIGHTER WEAPONS This system has
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16 FIGHTER WEAPONS required firing
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18 FIGHTER WEAPONS With a disturbed
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20 FIGHTER WEAPONS We were both fly
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22 FIGHTER WEAPONS The predictor LC
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24 FIGHTER WEAPONS The next best th
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26 FIGHTER WEAPONS tracking G, shor
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28 FIGHTER WEAPONS defender's inten
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30 FIGHTER WEAPONS and acrobatic ma
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32 FIGHTER WEAPONS Missile Propulsi
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34 FIGHTER WEAPONS Missile Guidance
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36 FIGHTER WEAPONS straight path. T
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38 FIGHTER WEAPONS target to correc
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40 FIGHTER WEAPONS sensor systems,
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42 FIGHTER WEAPONS Since CW radars
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44 FIGHTER WEAPONS Missile Fuzes Th
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46 FIGHTER WEAPONS prised of many i
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48 FIGHTER WEAPONS The maneuvering
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50 FIGHTER WEAPONS racy being about
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52 FIGHTER WEAPONS then slowing the
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54 FIGHTER WEAPONS Shooter and targ
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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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Page 201 and 202: 182 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DIS
Page 215 and 216: 196 SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-ONE
Page 225 and 226: 206 SECTION TACTICS. TWOVERSUS-ONE
Page 229 and 230: 210 SECTION TACTICS, TWO-VERSUS-ONE
Page 245 and 246: 226 SECTION TACTICS/ TWOVERSUS-ONE
Page 251: 232 SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-ONE
Page 255 and 256: Section Tactics, Two-versus-Two The
Page 257 and 258: 238 SECTION TACTICS, TWOVERSUS-TWO
Page 275 and 276: 256 SECTION TACTICS, TWC-VERSUS-TWO
Page 285 and 286: 7 Division Tactics The essence of l
Page 287 and 288: 268 DIVISION TACTICS design began t
Page 289 and 290: 270 DIVISION TACTICS so called beca
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Page 293 and 294: 274 DIVISION TACTICS Figure 7-8. Se
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Page 297 and 298: 278 DIVISION TACTICS away, the free
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Page 301 and 302: 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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