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Air Combat Basics 123
Fight Missiles with Aspect
Most modern missiles fly lead as opposed to pure-pursuit paths to the target. That
means each time the target changes course, the missile changes course as well.
A lead-pursuit missile will attempt to hold a constant lead angle enroute to the
target and appear to remain stable on your canopy relative to the horizon. A purepursuit
missile will appear to remain pointed directly at you, but its position will
drift back toward the back of your aircraft. For the most part, if the missile appears
in a relatively constant position while steadily growing larger, it’s successfully
tracking your aircraft. If the missile appears to be rapidly moving across your
canopy, it’s probably going to miss you (or is tracking somebody else).
hIf a missile appears stationary on the canopy while growing steadily
larger, it is probably on intercept course. If it’s rapidly moving across the
canopy, it probably won’t hit you.
Since missiles, like aircraft, need energy to maneuver and bleed speed while
maneuvering, you want to make the missile maneuver as much as possible. The
more you maneuver, the more work the missile must perform and the more
energy it will bleed trying to adjust to your maneuvers. This forces the missile to
fly a curved path to the target, bleeding speed and energy along the way.
Beaming an Inbound Missile
Begin by “beaming” the target; that is, executing a corner-speed, turn toward the
missile to place it exactly 90° off your nose (to either your 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock
position). Once you have the missile directly on your 3/9 line, pull just enough g-
load to keep it there. The missile has a limited field of view, much like the beam of
light emitted from a flashlight. If you pull a continuous 9 g turn in the middle of
that “beam,” the “flashlight” will fly up and punch a hole through your aircraft.
Instead, you want to fly toward the edge of the beam, known as the gimbal limit
moving as fast as possible across the missile’s field of view. By maneuvering to the
edge of its field of view, you force it to make the largest corrective maneuvers. In
the best case, you might move out of its field of view; in the worst case, you make
the missile bleed as much energy as possible. Keeping the missile directly on the
3/9 line also points your hot engine exhaust away from an IR missile’s seeker.
Beaming may also present problems for Doppler radar systems, although
remember that you’re beaming the missile, not the launching platform.
Like the aforementioned flashlight beam, the missile’s field of view grows wider
at longer range. Consequently, at long range you’ll pull minimum g. As the missile
gets closer, you increase the g-load as necessary to keep it stationary on your 3/9
line. If the missile appears to move toward your nose, you’re pulling too much g
and basically turning inside the missile’s field of view.