Fighter Combat

FIGHTER WEAPONS 23second) should be used until the shooter is fairly certain of his firingsolution, then let 'er rip. "Hosepiping" tracers at a target with long burstsis generally ineffective and severely reduces ammunition endurance.Effective training in air-to-air gunnery techniques necessitates a gunsightcamera for debrief purposes. Video cameras are ideal for this purpose sincefilm-processing time is eliminated.I gained in experience with every plane shot down, and now was able to fire ina calm, deliberate manner. Each attack was made in a precise manner.Distance and deflection were carefully judged before firing. This is notsomething that comes by accident; only by experience can a pilot overcomefeelings of panic. A thousand missions could be flown and be of no use if thepilot had not exchanged fire with the enemy.Major John T. Godfrey, USAAF16.33 Victories, WW-IIGuns DefenseIn discussing defenses against any weapon it is useful to look at the weaponas a system. Each component of this system must work effectively if it is tosucceed in its mission. Defeating any one component will defeat thesystem, and the more subsystems degraded, the less the chances of systemsuccess. The components of a gun system are the gun and ammunition, thegun platform (aircraft), the sight, and the aircrewman firing the guns.The gun/ammunition combination largely determines the maximumeffective range of the system at various aspects about the target. Some ofthe factors involved are muzzle velocity, rate of fire, dispersion, bulletaerodynamics, and fuzing characteristics. Probably the best defenseagainst a gun is to remain outside its effective range. This may be accomplishedif the defending aircraft has speed capability greater than that of theattacker and the attacker is detected far enough away (depending on aspectand overtake) to allow the defender to turn away and outrun him. Whenthis situation exists and the defender does not wish to engage, he can makea maximum-performance turn away from the attacker to place him asclose to dead astern as possible, accelerate to maximum speed, and fly asstraight a line as possible until he is no longer threatened. If the defenderdoes not put the opponent close to the six o'clock position, the attackermay continue to close to guns range because of the geometry. Turningduring the run-out (arcing) allows even a slower fighter to close the rangeby flying across the circle. Under some circumstances it may be desirableto keep the attacker in sight during this maneuver or to change thedirection of the run-out after it has begun. To maintain sight and to reducegeometric closure to a minimum, the attacker should be kept near thedefender's aft visibility limit. A series of small, hard turns can be made inthe desired direction (allowing the attacker to be kept in sight), and eachturn can be followed by a period of straight-line flight until the attackerdrifts back to the aft visibility limit; this process can be repeated until thedesired heading is reached. Sight can be maintained after this point bymaking a series of these small turns alternately left and right of the desiredcourse. This technique is often called an "extension maneuver."