Advanced Fighter Tactics

Defensive

You are not sure what went wrong, but there he is - a blood-hungry National Socialist at your 6 o'clock. Before you reach for the ejection handle, let's discuss your options. Defensive BFM is a very easy concept to grasp in the TIE. It's superior handling gives you the upper hand most of the time, so all that's really necessary is... A will to survive is the most essential ingredient needed. The geometry of the defensive fight is very simple, and the maneuvers are equally straightforward. You must be able to execute them, however, while you are under pressure and enduring the physical duress of violent, high-G maneuvering. Defensive maneuvering requires patience, stamina and optimism. Keep asking yourself, "Self, am I still alive?" If the answer is "yes" - keep fighting.

Maneuver and ECM

The first thing you need to do defensively is to create BFM problems for the bandit. You know how difficult it is to stay behind a hard-turning bandit; to give the enemy the same trouble you had, execute the following procedures for these defensive situations:

Missile Launch: Pay close attention to the Threat Indicator; if you see or hear a missile launch indication at any time, stop what you are doing and execute the following procedures:

  1. Dispense chaff and flares and turn on your jamming device if you have one.

Don't try to figure out which type of missile the enemy is firing; you will have plenty of time to ponder that in POW camp if your defensive reactions don't work.<p> 2. While you are using your countermeasures, you must also put maximum Gs on your TIE as quickly as possible to give the enemy missile a difficult target.
Again, don't sweat which way to turn; just do it. <p>If you get a lock-on indication before you get a launch, dispense chaff only and turn the jamming device on. In this case, you have more time to maneuver the TIE against the bandit.

Bandit on your six: When the bandit is at your 6 o'clock and you get a lock-on indication or no indication, look at the Threat Indicator to figure out the direction of your defensive turn. Then execute the following steps:

  1. If the bandit is on the right side of the scope, turn right; if he is on the left, turn left. 
 In the rare instance when you actually can see the bandit, turn towards him.</p>

  2. Roll to set your wings at approximately 80-90deg of bank and start a hard turn into the bandit at maximum G. 
 Turn with as much G as the jet will give you.</p>

  3. Next, look at the Threat Indicator and note the direction of movement of the bandit.</p>

* If the bandit is approaching your 12 o'clock position, your turn is working. You are giving him a problem he can't solve, and he is moving out in front of you. Keep turning until he gets to your nose and your radar locks on. Then you are no longer on the defensive but are probably flying offensive or head-on BFM.

* If you turn hard into the bandit and he does not move to the 12 o'clock position on the Threat Indicator, you are in for a real tussle. First check your airspeed. If you are flying faster than 65-75 percent throttle, slow down to give your TIE a tighter turn circle, (anything above that and you may also run the risk of tearing your fighter apart or suffering from some form of fighter fatigue like blackouts or a total KO...). If you are slower than 45 percent throttle, you may need to speed up to keep the bandit from taking an early advantage by use of hit and run tactics.

Hopefully, one of the above steps will solve your problem and put the bandit moving near the 12 o'clock position on the Threat Indicator. If not, these is nothing more you can do except keep turning and hope he runs out of gas or makes a mistake. I wish I could give you a "magic move" that would put the bandit out in front of you, but unfortunately that move doesn't exit. Just remember that a X-Wing at 6 o'clock is better than no X-Wing at all to a confident and aggressive fighter pilot.

Head-on BFM

This BFM is flown after passing the bandit head-on. At this point, you could keep going away from the bandit or you could turn and "duke it out" with him. Head-on BFM is very easy to execute but difficult to understand. The following steps will help you take a head-on situation and convert it into an offensive one.

  1. Use the Threat Indicator, the HUD and the Radar Scope to point at the bandit. 
 The goal is to place him at your 12 o'clock position.
  2. When you get an in range /IN RNG/ indication in the HUD, shoot a missile. 
 If the missile doesn't work, switch to guns and shoot when you get inside two miles.
  3. Stay heads up for a missile launch indication on your Threat Indicator as the bandit approaches. If you get a launch indication, respond as described in the defensive BFM section. There should be no doubt in your mind that when somebody shoots at you, you're defensive.
  4. When you see the bandit fly past you or the Threat Indicator shows the bandit moving toward your 6 o'clock, start a hard turn at 5-7 Gs in the direction of the bandit. 
  5. After starting a hard turn into the bandit, keep the turn coming until you get the bandit in your HUD again. At this time, analyze the aspect angle. If it is high /above 120 deg/, you are still in a head-on fight. Go back to step one. If the aspect angle is medium or low, you are winning the manly contest of head-on BFM. Just keep pulling hard in the direction of the bandit and you will soon be behind it.
  6. Anytime you get confused, remember this: always turn in the direction of the bandit. If you can't think of anything else to do, just keep turning into him, using the Threat Indicator as a reference. 

One last point about head-on BFM: you can execute a hard turn into the bandit in the vertical plane as well as the horizontal. If you go into the vertical, just remember to keep on pulling all the way through until you are pointing at him again. In an F-16 you should always drive the fight into a tight, high G circle because you can get around that circle faster than any other jet in the sky.

The goal of maneuvering in offensive, defensive and head-on situations is the same: to survive the attack of the bandit and shoot him down. To do this you need weapons.

Why fighter pilots were born

Flying BFM or 1-versus-1 air combat in the F-16 is a wonderful thing! The F-16 is a small, highly maneuverable fighter that can dominate most other jets in a fight. You must be aware, however, that maneuvering at high Gs to get to the bandit's 6 o'clock is not the objective of the fight. Fighter pilot were born to kill the enemy and to survive. To kill the enemy, you must use your weapons. The best air-to-air engagements are brutal ambushes of the enemy. One minute the bandit is flying along nice and relaxed - the next minute your missile hits him and his body parts are flying formation with pieces of his jet. A sustained maneuvering fight can be very unhealthy in modern aerial combat. As you go around and around with the bandit, other pilots are attracted to the fight like moths to a flame. You may be winning the fight you are aware of while you are losing a fight you don't even know you're in. For this reason, you should shoot every time you get in parameters on the enemy and end the fight quickly. The life you save will be yours.

Air Combat Tactics /ACT/

ACT are used when more than two aircraft engage. All ACT is built on BFM tactics; the bottom-line in ACT is always to use your best 1-versus-1 tactics first - before you consider the other aircraft in the fight. For example, once you make a decision to kill a bandit out in front of you, fight your best 1-versus-1 offensive BFM to kill him - regardless of how many other bandits are in the area or what your wingman doing. The crucial parts of this example are making the decision to engage and deciding how long to stay in a turning fight. Trying to kill that bandit may be suicide if the air is filled with enemy jets and the engagements requires you to be anchored in a sustained turning flight. On the other hand, offensive BFM may require that you turn for only a few degrees to get a kill. The point is that ACT involves tactical decision. Once keep in mind that ACT is only an extension of single ship BFM.

One-versus-many

Single ship combat against multiple enemy aircraft is one of the most challenging air-to-air engagements a fighter pilot will ever face. One-versus-many tactics are difficult to execute but straightforward conceptually. We will discussion of one-versus-many tactics into offensive, defensive, and head-on situation.

* You are on the offensive in 1-vs-many situation if the bandits you are fighting are all out in front of your aircraft. Keeping the bandits out in front is the difficult part. It is important to shoot as soon as possible at the nearest bandit and then maneuver to stay in control of the fight. If you shoot a missile at the nearest bandit and hit him, you improve the odds and change the mind-set of the surviving enemy fighters. If you miss your shot, then the maneuvering is even more critical because you have angered them and they still outnumber you.

• A rule-of-thumb for maintaining control of the fight is to keep the bandits on one side of your jet. This makes it much easier to keep the bandits in sight and makes it harder for them to sandwich you. In addition, you should also try to keep all of the bandits either above or below you in altitude to make it easier to keep track of the bandits and keep you from getting trapped.
• The question may come up: "What do I do if there are more than two bandits in a fight and I do not kill one before they all see me and start a turning engagement?" The answer is simple - separate from the fight. The way to do this is to pass the bandits as close as possible at 180deg of heading crossing angle at the speed of heat.

*A rule-of-thumb is that if you are alone and there are more than two bandits, do not turn more than 90deg to get a shot and do not let your airspeed bleed off below 400 knots. After 90deg of turn or when you are reaching 400 knots, get out of the fight. Separating from fights is an art more than a science, and it is a critical fighter pilot's skill.

• A defensive 1-vs-many fight starts when a bandit gets behind your 3/9 line with nose position. Remember, bad stuff can happen to you when the bandit puts his nose on your within range of his weapons! When this occurs, fight your best 1-vs-many defensive BFM. It makes no difference how many bandits are in the sky around you; the rule-of-thumb on defense is to fight 1-vs-1 BFM against the most immediate threat. When you have defeated this attack, you will probably have another bad guy saddling up on you so get ready to fight the next one. When you are fighting multiple bandits, remember that one may leave you in order to give the change to kill you to another one who is in better position. If you see one bandit disengaging, keep checking six because you may be about to be engaged by his wingman. If this does not occur, then keep accelerating and separate from the area.
• A head-on 1-vs-many fight has a very simple scenario. If you pass multiple bandits head-on, plug in the afterburner and keep on going. It is very foolhardy to start a 1-vs-many fight from a head-on pass. In fact, the only way you should initiate a 1-vs-many fight is from an offensive position.

Two-versus-many

2-vs-many fights are conceptually very similar to 1-vs-many engagements. The difference is that your wingman can even up the odds and give you several additional options that you do not have single-ship. The presence of a wingman, however, does not mean abandoning the principles of 1-vs-many air combat. Your wingman could be blown up or engaged by a SAM, and you'd be in a bad position. For this reason, always fight your best 1-vs-1 BFM and follow the rules for 1-vs-many that we discussed. The biggest advantage of having a wingman is that you can stay in a turning fight longer to achieve a kill.

This does not mean that you can disregard your "escape window". The presence of a wingman does mean. However, that you can delay a separation and spend more energy in the form of airspeed and altitude because your wingman can pick off any other bandits that try to enter the fight. Just remember: in 2-vs-many fights your wingman will probably become engaged soon after the merge, and you will be thrust suddenly into a 1-vs-many fight.

Directive commentary

Break left/right: A break turn is a maximum G turn into a attacking bandit. It is performed to keep an enemy fighter off your back. You would direct your wingman to "break" if you detected a bandit at his 6 o'clock closing into a firing position or if a missile is in the air. Break high/low: This is the same except it is in the vertical. Use it if a bandit is coming from high or low. Roll out and fly straight and level: Use this directive when you notice that your wingman is starting to do something that does not fit into your current scheme of maneuver. Bypass the current waypoint: This will tell your wingman and the rest of the fighters in your flight to skip the current waypoint and head for the next one. Return to provious waypoint: This is opposite of the last command. All the aircraft on your flight will start to head back to the last waypoint you reached. Maintain radio silence: If you want your wingman /and others in your flight/ to shut up when you're engaged in a dogfight, you can tell them to keep radio silence. This works two ways, however. You won't be able to hear their cries for help, but by the same token you won't get their warning messages, either.

Execute the right/left arm of a bracket: A bracket is a pincer move used by fighters to intercept a bandit formation from two sides and is usually executed outside of 15 miles. The idea of a bracket is to give the bandit two choices - both of which are lethal. Be advised that when you execute a bracket, you will lose a visual on your wingman. Another thing to keep in mind during a bracket is that you should not attempt a bracket if the aspect is less than 160deg at 20 miles. If you try at a lower target aspect, one arm of your bracket will not get outside the bandit. Drag left/right: The drag command /also called a "pump" by fighter pilot/ is used to decoy the enemy and have him engage a fighter which is leaving the fight. Normally this is done so that another fighter can get an easy shot at an enemy formation. The above figure shows a drag maneuver. There is one very important thing to remember about a drag: It must be initiated before you get within 10 miles of the bandit. If you try to drag inside this range, you risk getting speared with an enemy medium range missile. Disengage: The disengage command is used when you want to "get out of Dodge." I you see your escape window closing down and you want to separate from the fight, you can direct your wingman to separate using the disengage command. The figure above shows a situation where this might occur. Engage: When you direct your wingman to engage, you are asking him to enter a turning fight with the closest bandit.