Fighter Combat

370 TACTICAL INTERCEPTSand positioning of the sweep and bracket options gain tactical advantage atthe expense of defensive mutual support. In addition, the FQ or sternconversiongeometry allows greater enemy raid penetration than head-onor collision geometry. The intercept mechanics for this geometry are alsomore difficult and complex, and they are more vulnerable to bogey jinks atlong range. Late bogey jinks tend to confuse the attack geometry andtiming, but an attack might still be salvaged by fancy fighter footwork,provided the jink can be detected quickly.Break-AwayWith an inferior weapon system you cannot fight a superior one. You canhave surprise success but not success for a long time.Lt. General Adolph Galland, LuftwaffeDescriptionIn the game of air combat, the break-away is what might be called a"stunt" or a "trick" tactic. Its purpose is to deceive and confuse enemyfighter and GCI radars, to degrade the bogey's situational awareness at themerge, and to get at least one fighter into the merge unobserved. Onevariation of this tactic is depicted in Figure 10-14.At time "1" the fighters are in a fairly tight formation so that, on theenemy's airborne and GCI radars, they appear as only one target outsidevisual range of the bogeys. The maximum allowable separation may beonly a few feet, or it may be many hundreds of feet, depending on thecharacteristics of the specific threat radars. This tactic should induce somedoubt in the enemy as to just how many fighters they will be engaging.Once the bogeys are detected, the fighters turn as necessary to establishcollision geometry. If there is sufficient range, either head-on or FQ intercepttechniques may be employed instead. At time "2" the fighters are stilloutside the bogeys' visual range, but they are approaching the final stagesof the intercept, where the enemy can be expected to be taking radar locksfor their attack. This typically occurs by the time the fighters are withinone minute to intercept, but the timing can vary widely. The fighters'Figure 10-14. The Break-Away