The following is a chapter from a book published in 1943
Soviet Fighter
Tactics
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Part II
Text from
the book is reproduced here not in its entirety, and has been modified to
correspond to today’s grammar
Attacking in pair
should be performed in a pair formation, with the two planes having a distance
of 100 to 300 meters long with 20 to 50 meters wide. Wingman should follow the
leader in his dive as otherwise he will lose sight of the lead plane. Wingman
should however dive at a smaller angle to stay above the leader; both planes
exit the dive simultaneously.
Both pilots must be
familiar with each other to successfully attack in pairs. This can be achieved
by having the same pairs of pilots grouped together at all times, especially
during training. No attack should be initiated when the two planes are close
by, as this way the wingman cannot attack enemy fighters that may be attacking
his lead.
The most
favorable position for attacking a Me-109 is 6 o’clock low or 6 o’clock level,
as it places the attacker in the defender’s blind spot. The picture below shows
the exact technique for boom-n-zooming the Me-109. Attacking from 6 o’clock
high allows the altitude advantage to be kept, but it also leaves very little
time to aim and fire and requires a great deal of deflection; all those factors
cause the attacker’s fire to lose accuracy.
Moreover, coming in
from enemy’s 6 o’clock high causes your plane to approach the German from the
direction he can see very well, effectively causing the element of surprise to
be lost.
Attacks from 6
o’clock level do not have such disadvantages. They ensure element of surprise,
give enough time to aim and do not require any deflection to speak of. Therefore,
requirements for an accurate shot are lowered and the enemy is much more likely
to be hit. However, attacker’s airspeed during a level attack is much lower
than during boom-n-zoom. Wouldn’t it be possible to combine the advantages of
the two types of attack outlined above? If attack is performed as outlined on
the diagram below, the answer is yes.
This attack is called the “Up and Under
Attack”. It combines advantages of both the 6 o’clock high and 6 o’clock low
attacks. Its only major disadvantage is its relative difficulty.
If a dive is started too far from the enemy,
then by the time you are in the firing distance your airspeed and climb rate
are greatly reduced.
If the attack is initiated too late, then the
attacker will be forced to end the firing pass before it even began, as
leveling after dive too late will cause his plane to pop up right in front of
the enemy.
However, you may not
always be in the position where the Up and Under Attack is possible. Simple
boom-n-zoom is better in this case as it doesn’t have such strict requirements.
You must be able to execute both the Up and Under Attack and the Boom-n-Zoom.
Both attacks, especially the Up and Under Attack require the pilot to be
specially trained. Difference in altitude as well as in airspeed should be
considered to determine the exact trajectory for the firing pass. Air units
commanders should train their pilots on such attacks, as otherwise performing
them will be useless and even dangerous.
What could an enemy
do to defend against such attack? In most cases, other planes from the
defender’s formation will notice the attack run as they will be watching each
other’s sixes. We therefore must expect to be counter-attacked by other planes.
To prevent such counterattacks, the following action is recommended: parallel
attack of both flanks of the formation. In such situations the following
scenario will occur: left- and rightmost planes of the schwarm will both see
the threat to their mate but will think that they themselves are out of danger.
This will cause both pilots’ attention to temporarily shift away from their own
safety, and from controlling their airplane which will make them better targets
for our attack. Of course, enemy pilots can communicate the impending attack
over their radios, but that will take time – and even a second can decide the
outcome of a dogfight.
To make enemy
counter-attack even less likely, the planes at the back of the formation should
be attacked. This will leave a slight chance that, if both planes are shot
down, front of the formations will continue flying straight and level unaware
of being attacked. If the enemy planes are stacked up in the echelon formation,
higher planes should be attacked first.
The Up and Under
Attack is of course not the only offensive maneuver used by fighter pilots. All
manners of attacks are possible in a dogfighter, with a wide variety of angles
and distances as, for example, high deflection shots from inverted position at
an enemy diving from above, etc. A fighter pilot should always be ready to
attack, but the initial firing pass should be performed as described above. Of
course, the above description covers nothing but the initiation of the
engagement; it is futile to try to describe all possible situations from then
on.
Pilot’s actions in a
dogfight are dictated by his own imagination. Only common rules for air battles
can be dictated here. Some of them have been mentioned above, namely the
importance of having altitude advantage, and the Up and Under Attack. The only
important thing to keep in mind is, to counter enemy tactic’s we must use
teamwork, support each other and fully give in personal interests to the
group’s success.
Fighters should at
all times stay in the designated formation, not pursue single targets and stay
close to their flight. Planes under enemy attack should defend so that they
bring the enemy towards other friendly planes and not away from them. If for
any reason a part of the flight is separated from the main group, they should
do everything possible to get back in formation. Wingmen should not necessarily
try to find the leader they had at take-off. They can get on any plane’s wing,
as long as it’s a friendly plane and as long as the flight is together.
Plane you should
choose for your attack is the one attacking your comrade. Every fighter pilot
can find himself in a very advantageous position over an enemy plane, but then
see a friend being attacked by an enemy plane about to open fire. What should
you do in this situation? Go on with your attack, score a kill and leave your
comrade in danger, of forfeit a certain victory and try to save him? A true
fighter pilot should have no doubts about this: leaving everything behind to
save your comrade is the only right answer.
These are the ground
rules that ensure the above principle is complied with:
- Situational awareness at all
times. Even during a firing pass you should know what’s going on around
you, and not just fixate on the enemy fighter.
- Stay with your flight. Only engage
far away enemy fighters when directed by the flight leader.
- Maintain radio discipline. All
planes should have working radios, and all communications should be brief
and clear.
- Flight leader takes care of
others. His primary role is to direct the group. He should point out
threats to others and manage counterattacks with organized forces of his
own and other planes. Flight leader does not get involved in long
dogfights, but only makes brief boom-and-zoom attacks.
Enemy fighters
should not only be watched by friendly fighters, but own ground troops should
warn the pilots of any enemy activity. A covering flight should protect the
main group from sudden enemy attack by staying above the rest of the flight.
The same covering flight should also be used for attacks when friendly planes are
outnumbered. Thus, the covering flight fulfills two roles, being the reserve
and the escort for the main formation.
Fighter strength
should be concentrated. If fighter planes fight in small groups, they should be
united by flexible command, uniting the groups in common tasks. Well-organized
and reliable radio communication should be ensured both between the planes and
the ground.
Tactical errors are
possible from both sides during battle. Sometimes an enemy will inexplicably do
something to place himself right in front of your guns. Don’t be surprised and
take time to wonder why; use any opportunity you have to punish the enemy for
his mistakes. Younger enemy pilots will make mistakes more often; you can
always tell right away if you’re dealing with an ace or a rookie.
Not only you must
use enemy’s mistakes to your advantage; you should also try to make none of
your own. Below is the list of things that help you with this:
- Good tactical training. Reading
about it won’t do much. Spend time discussing past engagements. Replay all
events and think about different actions you might take in situations your
comrades encountered.
- Situational awareness. Do not rely
on your own eyes; looking for enemy fighters should be a well organized
effort, practiced by the whole flight.
- Good command. Flight leader must
be able to manage the engagement for his flight’s advantage, not his own.
You can see what
great importance is placed on the flight leader. Flight leader should always be
protected by other member of the flight. He himself must keep in mind that his
bravery and superior flying skills are important for the whole group. He must
not get tangled up in dogfights, leaving his mates to their own
discretion. This is especially true for
a squadron or regiment commander. His goal is to control the amassed effort of
his subordinates and increase their tallies, not his personal ones.
Chasing an extra
star on your fuselage and leaving your squad mates alone is the worst thing a
fighter pilot could do. Of course, a squad or regiment leader should attack
enemy planes, but he should only do it in such matter as to allow himself to
return to controlling other planes as soon as possible.
Naturally, you must
also consider the enemy commander’s importance. He will most often fly the lead
of the lowest of covering schwarm. All efforts must be taken to attack his
airplane; sometimes it’s a good idea to designate a specific group tasked with
his destruction or at least preventing him from commanding other planes.
Where do you turn
during the battle? Obviously, you cannot fight in one vertical pane and you
must turn when you fight. Picking the right direction is extremely important.
The diagram below
displays several real life situations illustrating the “turn into the enemy”
rule. This rule dictates that you turn into the enemy to create an opportunity
for yourself to fire, or at least make his attack more difficult by making it
shorter, or increasing the deflection needed.
Secondly, other
fighters of your flight should be considered when picking the direction of your
turn. When being attacked, it is best to place the attacker under your mates’
fire; you must try however to fly towards friendly planes at higher altitudes
that are not themselves engaged in battle.
Position of the sun
should also be considered. A split-S should ideally be performed towards the
sun, for example.
You should at all
times also try to turn towards friendly territory. Consider friendly and enemy
anti-aircraft position. Try to lead the engagement towards areas covered by
strong friendly ground fire.
More often than not
the conditions listed above will conflict with each other when you are picking
a direction for the turn. It is impossible to say in advance which one is the
most important. One of the most important qualities of a good fighter pilot is
being able to consider all variables in the situation and make the right
decision in a matter of moments.
Young fighter pilots
often wonder what they should do if they ever have an enemy plane on their six,
and the attacker is firing. This, of course, is a very dangerous scenario and
authors of this book would not wish for any of their readers to appear in it.
You must always watch the skies around you and try to notice any enemy attack
while you still have time to maneuver away. If you detect the attack early
enough you may even be able to place yourself in a position to attack.
Unfortunately, there
are often cases of a fighter pilot becoming careless for a second, only to find
enemy tracers going past his cockpit. It’s a tough situation, but not
everything is lost yet. You must immediately escape enemy fire by a snap turn
or other quick maneuver. There have been occasions of a pilot going into a
barrel roll from this situation and literally “hanging” his airplane in the air
by cutting the throttle or even extending landing gear. That would sometimes
even result in a kill for the defender, as surprised attacker would fly ahead
of him and become a target himself. This maneuver is very risky, but it’s
better than nothing in such a dangerous situation.
Enemy fighters can
sometimes employ something called “defensive circle”, i.e. a formation when
fighters are in a continues turn after one another. Supposedly, each plane
covers the others and this formation is attributed magical invulnerability.
Defensive circle has
several distinct disadvantages, and it’s advantages are mostly a myth. Of
course, no formation is invulnerable; all the planes in a defensive circle are
very vulnerable to attack from above. There are no defensive maneuvers for the
planes in the circle that wouldn’t cause them to break it. The are also
incapable of shooting down attackers from the circle. A fighter plane that
cannot shoot enemy fighters is nothing but a target. The only invisible fighter
is the one that destroys all enemies, not the one setting himself up for an
attack by entering the circle.
If our fighters find
themselves attacked by superior numbers of enemy planes, they must act as the
figure below shows, trying to shoot down enemies off each other’s tails. This
method should not turn into simple scissors, as it’ll cause your airspeed to
drop and set you up to be attacked by other enemy fighters that have the energy
advantage. Maneuver should consist of flying in a straight line for a short
period of time followed by sharp turns. You should try to gain altitude during
this maneuver and simultaneously pull the enemy towards friendly AAA. Also, use
your radio to call for support. This maneuver requires a lot of practice and
precise radio guidance from the fighter leader.
Flying a plane in a
dogfight has its specifics. Rapid changes of airspeed, direction and sudden maneuvers can cause a lot of strain
on your body. You will often struggle to keep your plane from stalling. All of
the above requires the pilot to know his plane’s capabilities very well, and be
able to push it to its limits. It is most important for the pilot to master
rapid climbs, snap turns and yo-yos at different speeds and in minimal time.
As we’ve stated many
times before, altitude advantage has the utmost importance in a dogfight. How
do you gain such advantage? The seemingly right answer is to fly as high as
possible. However, it is not correct in many cases. When your plane is too high
above you can easily miss low flying enemy planes.
Based on our
experience, a formation that makes the most sense is a stacked up echelon.
Squadron can fly in such formation with up to three groups of fighters in
different altitudes. Upper echelon should fly higher than any enemy fighters
expected in the area. Enemy fighters will be threatened by attack from the
higher echelon, whereas our fighters from the lower altitudes will be covered
by their higher squad mates.
Fast, reliable radio
link between the echelons is of foremost importance when flying in such
formation. It is also best when all levels of the formations can see each
other.
In summary, the
first thing that is needed to guarantee altitude advantage is a correctly
stacked up echelon formation.
Second thing needed
to keep altitude is making sure maneuvers during the dogfight keep you higher.
No maneuvers should be used that cause drastic loss of altitude, like sharp
turns, barrel rolls, etc. Every second should be spent trying to gain altitude.
Airspeed should also
not be forgotten, as it is basically a reserved altitude. Airspeed is the third
component of altitude advantage.
Fighter pilots often
wonder about the correct airspeed during offensive patrols. If airspeed is
high, fuel is used up quickly and fighters don’t stay up in the air as long as
they could. If airspeed is lower to preserve fuel, edge is lost in a dogfight.
Airspeed during a fighter sweep should be determined based on several factors.
Airspeed should be higher if high flying enemy fighters are likely to appear.
If, however, our fighters are at altitude above any expected enemy planes, or
our fighters can have an advance warning from outside their formation of the
enemy approaching, then there is no
need to keep the airspeed high. Also, high airspeed is not necessary when
flying directly under cloud cover.
Battalion and
division COs should make a concentrated effort to ensure that our planes always
outnumber the enemy. Large formations are not the answer to this; rather, well
orchestrated small groups communicating with each other and the ground.
Commanders of large groups of fighters should always have a group of reserve
fighters on the ground ready to take off within two minutes of receiving an
order. Battalion and Division headquarters should always be precisely aware of
the location and situation of all their fighters. Headquarters should also have
good communications with other airfields in the area to support, if needed,
each other’s planes in the air.
It should also be
pointed out that the outcome of a battle is not dictated by the numerical
superiority. It is rather a combination of the following elements: element of
surprise, pilot training, formations and many other factors. Fighters, more so
than any other military arm, fit the old Russian proverb that battles are won
“with skill, not numbers”
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