History Made Every Day™

DOGFIGHTING -

A dogfight or dog fight is a common term used to describe close-range aerial combat between military aircraft. The term originated during World War I, and probably derives from the preferred fighter tactic of positioning one's aircraft behind the enemy aircraft. From this position, a pilot could fire his guns on the enemy without having to lead the target, and the enemy aircraft could not effectively fire back. The term came into existence because when two fighter aircraft circle each other trying to achieve this position, it resembles two dogs chasing each other's tails.

Military aviation appeared in World War I with aircraft being used to spot enemy movement. Soon the need to stop enemy aircraft from completing their mission became a necessity, and this rapidly led to the creation of a class of aircraft designed specifically to destroy enemy aircraft: fighter aircraft. It was soon noticed that the best armament for such an aircraft was fixed, forward-firing guns. With such armament, the pilot just had to point his aircraft at the enemy and open fire.

In order to achieve firing position while not being threatened by the enemy's guns, the best technique was to get behind the enemy aircraft. This is known as getting on an aircraft's six o'clock, or on his tail, plus a wide variety of other terms, usually coined by aircrews. During World War I, Oswald Boelcke, a German fighter ace, was the first to write down basic rules for aerial combat maneuvering. He advised pilots to attack from the direction of the sun (towards which the defending pilot could not see), or to fly at a higher altitude than the opponent. Most of these rules, know as the Dicta Boelcke, are still as valuable nowadays as they were a century ago.

Today's air combat is much more complicated than those of older times, with newer inventions like air-to-air missiles and RADAR being used operationally on virtually all modern fighter aircraft. However, close range fighting with IR guided missiles like the AIM-9 Sidewinder and aircraft cannons still obeys to the same general rules laid down in the skies over Europe in the early 20th century. The master rule is still the same: do not let your opponent get on your six o'clock, while attempting to get on his.

Close-range combat tactics vary considerably according to the type of aircraft being used and the number of aircraft involved. The main quality of perhaps the most important fighter of the war, the P-51 Mustang, was not that it was fast or maneuverable, but that after it was fitted the Merlin engine it had the range to escort B-17 bombers all the way into Germany and back, thus achieving air superiority over the enemy homeland.

AIR COMBAT MANEUVERS -

Modern terminology for aerial combat between aircraft is air-to-air combat and air combat maneuvering, or ACM.  Military aviation came into its own during the Second World War. The increased performance, range, and payload of contemporary aircraft meant that air power could move beyond the novelty applications of World War I, becoming a central striking force for all the combatant nations.

The American Volunteer Group, or Flying Tigers, led by Claire Chennault were among the first Allies to successfully counter Japanese fighters. Chennault interviewed Chinese pilots carefully and learned all he could about Japanese tactics and methods. He advised pilots to work in teams rather than alone. The P-40 Warhawk had pilot armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, sturdy construction, powerful machine guns, and a faster diving speed. It could defeat Zeros by remaining out of range and fighting on the dive and climb. By using speed and resisting the deadly error of trying to out-turn the Zero, eventually cannon could be brought to bear and a single burst of fire was usually enough. In a time when most of the news was of defeats, the AVG was officially credited with 297 enemy aircraft destroyed, with author Daniel Ford discounting the total to 115.

Another important maneuver was called the "Thach Weave", named after the man that invented it, then-LtCdr John S. "Jimmy" Thach. It required two planes, a leader and his wingman, to fly about 200 feet apart. When a Zero would latch onto the tail of one of the fighters, the two planes would turn toward each other. If the Zero followed its original target through the turn, it would come into a position to be fired on by the target's wingman. This tactic was used at the Battle of Midway in 1942, and helped make up for the inferiority of the US planes until new aircraft types were brought into service.

In the 70s and 80s it became clear that speed and altitude was not enough to protect a bomber against air defences. The emphasis shifted therefore to maneuverable attack aircraft that could fly 'under the radar', at altitudes of a few hundred feet. Even in the jet age, modern air-to-air combat often develops into dog fights. A fighter can evade a supersonic missile by turning and outrunning a missile under certian circumstances, or "beaming" an incoming missile - potentially escaping its field of view - if the pilot has excellent situational awareness and a good anticipation of the attacker's moves. Supersonic head-on closure with the enemy while evading further missile flights may eventually achieve a visual dogfight with Gatling guns at a range of less than one kilometer.

Superiority in a dog fight can depend on a pilot's experience and skill, and the agility of his fighter when flown at minimum air speeds approaching loss of control (causing a danger of stalling); the winner typically plays to the strengths of his own aircraft while forcing his adversary to fly at a design disadvantage. Dogfights are generally contests fought at low airspeeds, while maintaining enough energy for violent acrobatic maneuvering, as pilots attempt to remain within air speeds that maximise their plane's turn rate and radius: the so-called "corner speed" that often lies between 300 and 400 knots, depending on conditions. Therefore a dogfight has nothing to do with supersonic speed, but much to do with the engine power that makes supersonic flight possible. The $280M F-22 Raptor can stand on its steerable nozzles at less than 100 knots airspeed, yet quickly maneuver to bring its M61 Vulcan cannon to bear on a nearby evasive target.

The continued importance of maintaining dogfighting proficiency was demonstrated during the Vietnam War. American pilots flew aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom II, equipped with long-range AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. However, air crews were frequently unable to fire AIM-7 Sparrow missiles at radar targets without having visually identified the target first, thus losing this technological advantage. The AIM-7 missile was also not very reliable, making heavy use of delicate components such as vacuum tubes which had to endure the SE Asia climate, carrier takeoffs, and high stress maneuvers. Additionally, early versions of the F-4 (prior to the E model) relied solely on missiles, having no guns nor lead-computing Gyro gunsight, and were therefore very vulnerable in the gun-range combat that could ensue.

Lightweight, short-endurance, point-defense fighters such as the MiG-17 and MiG-21 are typically far more agile than heavy, long-range, fighter-bombers (see the F-105 Thunderchief). Still, using superior tactics, the AIM-9 Sidewinder short range missiles, and cannon fire, American pilots were able to gain significant victories in the air over North Vietnam, especially after the US Navy instituted the Top Gun program to restore dogfighting capability to its pilots.

With modern air-to-air AMRAAM guided missiles greatly extending the general engagement range of jet fighters, some experts hypothesize that dogfighting may be headed toward extinction, but others cite the occurences in Vietnam as evidence otherwise. However, it is worth noting that there have been a great number of Beyond Visual Range (BVR) kills occurring during and after the Persian Gulf War. This was due to the improved reliability of BVR missiles, radars, and most importantly, the integration of C3I assets such as AWACS aircraft into the realm of aerial warfare. This provided Coalition forces with a superior picture of the battlefield, and in conjunction with airspace management allowed utilization of BVR weaponry.

Despite this, the improvement of all-aspect IR missiles coupled with helmet-mounted sights has removed the necessity of tail-chase attacks. In addition, Russian development of tail-mounted radar and rear-firing missiles has reduced the vulnerability to tail-chase attacks.

Yet because this feature is only present on the most modern jets, and missiles are a finite resource, The US Navy (TOPGUN) and Air Force (Red Flag) continue to teach postgraduate level classes in air combat maneuvering engagements. Russian aircraft manufacturers heavily emphasize superagility and dogfight capabilities in fighter design, with aircraft such as the Su-37 or the Su-30MKI demonstrating advanced thrust vectoring systems to achieve these goals.


An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2006 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws are prohibited.