Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

FIGHTER WEAPONS 61
varies with range. An out-of-plane maneuver performed too early will have
little effect, while one begun late just may be too late. When in doubt,
however, a slightly early response is usually preferable.
Waiting for a proper moment to begin my evasion tactic was agonizing. Panic
rose up in my throat, urging loss of reason. At the last moment I pulled up
with eight Gs after breaking down and starboard. The missile couldn't take
the turn, going off a thousand feet below.
Commander Randy "Duke" Cunningham, USN
One example of the value of visual sighting and timing is a forwardquarter
missile shot at relatively close range. Generally the rule is to turn
away from such threats, but if the defender determines that intercept will
occur before he can generate a beam aspect and commence an out-of-plane
maneuver, another tactic may be preferable. A break turn toward the
threat, actually pulling it across the target's nose, will require a large lead
correction on the part of the missile. Depending on the missile's maneuver
capabilities, such a correction may not be possible in the short time
available because of high forward-quarter closure. If this tactic is used and
the defender sees the missile correcting, presumably within sufficient
time, a rapid reversal should be made back toward the missile, pulling it
back across the nose from the other direction. If started soon after the
missile begins its first correction, this reversal will often produce a wide
overshoot in the direction of the initial break turn, since missile guidance
corrections will lag target maneuvers and produce out-of-phase missile
responses. A variation on this tactic is a rolling-turn maneuver that causes
the target's nose to inscribe a circle around the missile (i.e., a barrel roll).
Again, this move causes the missile to make continuous large lead corrections.
This variation is usually most effective when the missile is 30° to 60°
off the target's nose. Both tactics can be expected to produce best results
against larger, less maneuverable missiles and at higher altitudes, where
missile-control reaction time is usually increased.
Missile defense often requires instant analysis and rapid reactions. The
tactics to be employed in any conceivable situation must be predetermined
and practiced often so that they become automatic. Once the
missile is launched, it is too late for leisurely development of a response.
Notes
1. John T. Godfrey, The Look of Eagles, pp. 79-80.
1. Ibid., p. 81.
3. Ibid., p. 85.
4. Alan C. Deere, Nine Lives, p. 90.
5. Edward H. Sims, Fighter Tactics and Strategy, 1914-1970, p. 245.