Fighter Combat

TACTICAL INTERCEPTS 353and closing speed are changing continuously during this procedure.Another danger is presented by the conversion turn itself, which is a long,blind turn in close proximity to the target. The pilot is exposing theinterceptor's belly to the whole world and daring someone to shoot. If thereare other undetected bogeys in the area, the fighter pilot may never completethis intercept. It is usually good practice in any event to pause for abelly-check about halfway through the conversion turn. Generally sternconversions are not recommended in an unknown environment.Although fighter speed is not critical to the conduct of a FQ intercept, aninterceptor speed advantage over the target is highly desirable for the sternconversion. In general, the greater the interceptor's speed advantage, themore room there is for error in the conversion process. At co-speed, or withan interceptor speed disadvantage, timing and geometry must be nearlyperfect or the fighter pilot is likely to complete the conversion too farbehind the target for a successful attack.Another drawback of the stern-conversion technique is the interceptor'svulnerability to chaff while it is in the target's beam region. It isdifficult for most radars to discriminate between chaff and the real targetwhen they are viewed from the target's flank, since closing velocity is sonearly identical. This situation often results in the interceptor pilot losingcontact with the target at a critical time or completing an intercept on thechaff. Doppler-type radars are also susceptible to losing track of targetswith beam aspects.The FQ and stern-conversion intercepts comprise the basics of almostall tactical intercepts. The tactics presented in the remainder of thischapter apply these fundamentals to multiple-fighter scenarios. Althoughthe examples depicted here usually show two fighters opposing twobogeys, each aircraft of either formation can be considered to be an elementof any desired number, and the tactics can be applied to an encounter ofessentially any size.Today it is even more important to dominate the . . . highly sophisticatedweapon systems, perhaps even more important than being a good pilot; tomake the best use of this system.Lt. General Adolph Galland, LuftwaffeSingle-Side OffsetDescriptionThe single-side offset places all interceptors on one side of the targetformation, and the fighter leader performs either a FQ intercept or a sternconversion, as shown in Figure 10-4.In this example the fighter section detects the bogey formation roughlyhead-on, and the leader offsets to the north beginning at time "I," possiblyto take advantage of prevailing environmental conditions. Ideally the firstpilot with radar contact becomes the tactical leader throughout the intercept.The wingman, initially located on the south side, dives below theleader to increase speed, and then crosses the leader's flight path to emerge