Fighter Combat

BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS 91attacker) will use the same tactics as before—that is, continuously pullingtoward the defender. But this time, rather than rolling toward the attackerbetween times "2" and "3," the defender continues to pull straight up intothe vertical. Once vertical, this fighter rolls quickly, placing its lift vectorahead of the attacker's position (lead pursuit), just as shown in Figure 2-19.Unlike the example in Figure 2-19, however, the opponent (i.e., the attacker)here is not restricted to horizontal maneuvering, and so he pulls upobliquely toward the high fighter, reducing the flight-path separationgenerated by the vertical maneuver of the defender.The direction chosen by the defender to stop his roll at time "3" iscalculated so that the inverted, wings-level pull-down will place him atpoint "4," the peak of the maneuver, with his nose aimed at a point almostdirectly above the bogey's predicted position at that time. Again returningto Figure 2-19, this situation is analogous to time "3" in that example. Thehorizontal depictions (i.e., top views) of both these examples show thateach is essentially a nose-to-nose maneuver to this point. The highfighter's vertical move has created vertical separation, and pointing itsnose directly at the opponent (as viewed from above) as quickly as possiblehas maximized its angular advantage. The next phase of the high fighter'smaneuver will be designed to take advantage of its separation, by use ofnose-to-tail geometry and a gravity assist, and to convert to the greatestposition advantage.In Figure 2-21, the F-5E passes directly over the MiG at time "4" andpulls down vertically into the MiG's rear hemisphere. This maneuvercauses the MiG pilot to reverse his turn, rolling to the left in order to keephis lift vector on the high fighter and also to help maintain sight. Theserequirements deny him the opportunity to go purely vertical, and he isforced to keep his flight path in an oblique plane, which increases hisforward speed across the ground relative to that of his opponent.The important thing in [tactics] is to suppress the enemy's useful actions butallow his useless actions. However, doing this alone is defensive.Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)Japanese Samurai and PhilosopherMore Than 60 Victories in Hand-to-Hand CombatBy selecting a lead roll at time "3" and maintaining a constant maneuverplane until time "5," the high fighter has in effect "averaged out" theopponent's position during that time. Lead pursuit is being employedduring the first half of the inverted pull-down, and lag pursuit resultsduring the last half, which has nearly the same effect as pure pursuit (i.e.,keeping the lift vector on the bogey) throughout the pull-down. Thistechnique maximizes the angular gain as well as the energy efficiency ofthe high fighter.Approaching position "5," the F-5E pilot determines that insufficientseparation has been generated to avoid an overshoot. Therefore, in a purelyvertical dive, he performs another lead roll and pulls wings-level throughthe bottom of his maneuver, passing as closely as possible behind thebogey. This portion of the maneuver is analogous to the reversal and