Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

Fighter Missions
To use a fighter as a fighter-bomber when the strength of the fighter arm is
inadequate to achieve air superiority is putting the cart before the horse.
Lt. General Adolph Galland, Luftwaffe
The primary mission of fighters is air superiority; that is, ensuring use
by friendly aircraft of the airspace over critical surface areas, and denying
use of that airspace to the enemy. Control of the high ground has always
been one of the fundamentals of warfare. Airspace control allows strategic
and tactical bombing, close air support of troops and armor, airborne or
surface reinforcement and supply, reconnaissance, and other missions
vital to the success of any military operation. Although no war so far has
been won solely on the basis of air power, the advent of nuclear weapons
certainly lends credence to this possibility for future conflicts.
The value of air power became evident in World War I, when airplanes
were in their infancy. The airplane did not play a pivotal role in the
outcome of that conflict, but by the early days of World War II it was
inconceivable that any major military operation could succeed without
first achieving air superiority. This evolution was brought about primarily
by the quantum increases in firepower and destructive capabilities of the
aircraft that were developed between the wars.
The most important branch of aviation is pursuit, which fights for and gains
control of the air.
Brig. General William "Billy" Mitchell, USAS
During World War II, the devastating tactical bombing and close air
support by the German Luftwaffe during the blitzkrieg attacks on Poland,
the Low Countries, and France provided early evidence of the effectiveness
of air power. The importance placed on air superiority is obvious in the
German decision to cancel the invasion of England after the RAF could not
be defeated during the Battle of Britain. The value of air superiority was
shown again by the ability of the American bombers to prosecute daylight
strategic bombardment of Germany and Japan late in the war. Since that