Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

1 74 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT
its missiles, while the energy fighter has optimum look-up. Off-boresight
firing capability can be quite valuable here in the attempt to get off the first
shot. It may be necessary to reduce power during the reengagement turn to
delay the bogey's heat-seeking missile-firing opportunity, if it is so
equipped. Full power can be reapplied after the bogey reaches min-range;
but even so, this defensive tactic will result in great loss of energy, leaving
the high-wing-loaded fighter very vulnerable if the bogey is not destroyed.
Dissimilar Weapons
Just as the performance of the two opposing fighters may be dissimilar,
their weapons capabilities also may vary. In addition to the similarweapons
scenarios for the aircraft-performance pair already discussed,
there are at least twenty possible combinations of aircraft performance and
weapons loads. Obviously, covering all these possibilities would become
rather tedious and is probably unnecessary. Instead, only a couple of the
more likely combinations are addressed.
Until the 1950s, guns and unguided rockets were essentially the only
air-to-air weapons available. At about that time the RQ heat-seeking AAM
became operational. Some existing fighters were retrofitted to carry this
weapon, and other new fighters were designed for its employment. Many
of the new designs stressed high T/W for supersonic speed capability at the
expense of wing loading and turn performance. It was theorized that the
great speeds of these new fighters would preclude the classic turning
dogfight, so turn performance was no longer important. Likewise, the gun
would not be an effective weapon in this environment, so it was eliminated
from some new designs in favor of missiles. These trends eventually
resulted in combat between older, low-wing-loaded fighters equipped only
with guns, and newer high-T/W fighters having guns and missiles or only
missile armament.
The addition of RQ missiles for the high-T/W fighters has little effect in
the sterile one-versus-one guns-only scenario already discussed. In actual
combat, however, the AAM provides several important benefits. The most
likely time for satisfying RQ missile-firing parameters remains those
instances when the low-wing-loaded bogey pilot does not have sight of the
attacker, loses sight, or attempts to escape. Under these conditions the
missile affords greater lethality than the gun and usually enables a quicker
kill since it does not require running the bogey down. Firing the missile
also requires less time and concentration than gun shots do. All of these
factors combine to make the high-T/W fighter less predictable and less
vulnerable in a hostile environment. Whether or not the high-T/W missile
fighter has a gun, energy tactics are considerably safer and more workable
against a guns-only bogey, as the inherent high speeds and greater aircraft
separation common with these methods make the opponent's task more
difficult. The missile shot may be more difficult for the energy fighter to
obtain, but attempting it is less risky. A missed gun shot against a lowwing-loaded
opponent can leave the energy fighter slow and very defensive.
For this reason (endurance and environment permitting) it may be
more prudent for the energy fighter pilot to wait for the missile shot rather
than to attempt a quick guns kill.