Fighter Combat

230 SECTION TACTICS, TWO-VERSUS-ONEand run unless one bogey is destroyed quickly or the singleton has asignificant advantage in weapons, performance, or pilot training.Defensive ManeuveringGenerally speaking, unless the single fighter has a tremendous performanceor weapons advantage, prolonged maneuvering with a section ofwell-coordinated opponents can be very unhealthy and is not recommended.The element of surprise and an offensive advantage should besought in an effort to reduce the odds quickly to a more manageableone-versus-one situation. If this goal cannot be achieved, the object of thesingleton pilot should be to disengage and live to fight another day.Speed is life.Israeli Tactics ManualThe luxuries of surprise and offensive advantage are not always available,however, so the well-dressed fighter pilot should have some techniquesin his wardrobe to survive an attack by an adversary section until anescape opportunity can be generated or until help can arrive. The generaltheory here is to keep both bogeys in sight, or to have one in sight and havea good idea of the other's position and threat potential, and attempt toavoid critically defensive situations. As a rule, energy should be conservedreligiously, but there are occasions when energy must be traded for position.The following examples should serve to illustrate some of thesetechniques.In Figure 5-14 the single fighter is approached by a hostile section thatbegins an offensive split north and south at time "I" in an attempt tobracket, as shown in Figure 5-3. The singleton pilot picks one side of theenemy formation and turns sharply (but not depleting energy) in thatdirection, trying to get outside the bracket (time "2"). In choosing a turnFigure 5-14. Defending against a Bracket: Case 1