P 1289 PDF

NAVAL AIR TRAINING COMMAND
NAS CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS CNATRA P-1289 (REV. 2-07) PAT
AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING
FLIGHT TRAINING INSTRUCTION

T-45TS, ADV, and IUT
2007
T-45 FLIGHT TRAINING INSTRUCTION
CHANGE SUMMARY PAGE
CHANGE DATE
NUMBER ENTERED CHANGE DESCRIPTION INITIALS
(2-07) Original Page i

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.
Page ii (2-07) Original

ACM Flight Training Instruction List of Effective Pages

LIST OF EFFECTIVE PAGES
EFFECTIVE PAGE EFFECTIVE PAGE

PAGES NUMBERS PAGES NUMBERS
ACMFP-FTI
Original i thru xiv

Original 1 thru 156
(2-07) Original Page iii

ACM Flight Training Instruction List of Effective Pages
Page iv (2-07) Original

FOR
AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING
T-45
(2-07) ORIGINAL
(2-07) Original Page v

Page vi (2-07) Original

Air Combat Maneuvering Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ vii
FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... xi
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1
BASIC AERODYNAMIC REVIEW .............................................................................................................. 3
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS ..................................................................................................... 5
ENERGY MANEUVERABILITY .................................................................................................................. 7
TURN PERFORMANCE NUMBERS ......................................................................................................... 11
T-45 GOUGE NUMBERS ......................................................................................................................... 12
APPLIED EM CONCEPTS ....................................................................................................................... 13

QUICKEST 180-DEGREE TURN .......................................................................................................... 13
SMALLEST 180-DEGREE TURN .......................................................................................................... 13
MANEUVERING OUR AIRCRAFT ........................................................................................................... 13
VERTICAL MANEUVERING ................................................................................................................. 13
TACTICAL VERTICAL FIGHT ............................................................................................................... 14
VERTICAL EXTENSION ....................................................................................................................... 14
REVERSAL TECHNIQUES ................................................................................................................... 14
LONGITUDINAL PULL .......................................................................................................................... 18
UNLOADED PUSHOVER ..................................................................................................................... 18
1 V 1 ACM ................................................................................................................................................ 19
ACM PROBLEMS ................................................................................................................................. 19
ACM CUES ........................................................................................................................................... 19
ACM TOOLS ......................................................................................................................................... 19
ACM TRAINING RULES ....................................................................................................................... 20
GENERAL .......................................................................................................................................... 20
WEATHER ......................................................................................................................................... 22
1 V 1 ACM EXECUTION .......................................................................................................................... 22

OFFENSIVE ACM ................................................................................................................................. 22
OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................... 22
EXECUTION ...................................................................................................................................... 23
OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE ................................................................................................................. 24
BUBBLE ENTRY ............................................................................................................................. 25
THE ATTACK WINDOW ................................................................................................................. 28
PULL TO CONTROL ZONE ............................................................................................................ 28
MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES ...................................................................................................... 30
RATE WAR (OFFENSIVE) ............................................................................................................. 31
REDEFINING THE RATE WAR ...................................................................................................... 31
STARTING FROM INSIDE THE DEFENDER’S BUBBLE ............................................................... 32
DEFENDER REDEFINES ............................................................................................................... 33
OFFENSIVE DECK TRANSITIONS ................................................................................................ 33
FLAT SCISSORS ............................................................................................................................ 34
(2-07) Original Page vii

ROLLING SCISSORS ..................................................................................................................... 36

BUG RECOGNITION/COUNTER ................................................................................................... 39
TACADMIN ........................................................................................................................................ 40
SNAP SHOT DRILL (SSD) ............................................................................................................. 42
FLAT SCISSORS ............................................................................................................................ 46
6,000-FT PERCH SET .................................................................................................................... 49
BREAK TURN EXERCISE .............................................................................................................. 50
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 52
DEFENSIVE ACM ................................................................................................................................. 53
OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................... 53
EXECUTION ...................................................................................................................................... 53
ATTACKER OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE ............................................................................................. 55
ATTACKER PURSUIT CURVES ..................................................................................................... 56
ASSESS ATTACKER’S OFFENSIVE BREAK TURN ...................................................................... 57
MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES ...................................................................................................... 57
RATE WAR (DEFENSIVE) ............................................................................................................. 58
REDEFINE/REVERSE .................................................................................................................... 59
DEFENSIVE DECK TRANSITIONS ................................................................................................ 61
DECK REVERSAL CRITERIA ........................................................................................................ 62
FLAT SCISSORS MANEUVERING (DEFENSIVE) ......................................................................... 63
ROLLING SCISSORS MANEUVERING (DEFENSIVE) .................................................................. 65
SEPARATION/BUG ........................................................................................................................ 66
ATTACKER INSIDE BUBBLE ......................................................................................................... 67
GUNS DEFENSE ........................................................................................................................... 68
LOST SIGHT GAMEPLAN .............................................................................................................. 69
TACADMIN ........................................................................................................................................ 70
SSD ................................................................................................................................................ 70
FLAT SCISSORS ............................................................................................................................ 72
6,000-FT PERCH ............................................................................................................................ 74
BREAK TURN EXERCISE .............................................................................................................. 75
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 77
HIGH ASPECT ACM ............................................................................................................................. 79
OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................... 79
HIGH ASPECT CONCEPTS .............................................................................................................. 80
FLOW ............................................................................................................................................. 80
CONTROLLING MERGES ............................................................................................................. 81
VERTICAL MERGES ...................................................................................................................... 82
ENGAGEMENT MINDSET ............................................................................................................. 83
GAME PLAN DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................................................... 84
EXECUTION ...................................................................................................................................... 87
FIGHTER NOSE HIGH ................................................................................................................... 87
FIGHTER NOSE LOW ................................................................................................................... 88
FIGHTER TURNS LEVEL ............................................................................................................... 89
DECK TRANSITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 89
HIGH ASPECT BUG CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................................................... 90
TACADMIN ........................................................................................................................................ 91
SSD ................................................................................................................................................ 91
NEUTRAL SETS ............................................................................................................................. 91
BVR ............................................................................................................................................... 92
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 93
Page viii (2-07) Original

THREE-PLANE ACM ............................................................................................................................ 94

OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................... 94
STRATEGIES/TACTICS .................................................................................................................... 94
EXECUTION ...................................................................................................................................... 96
FORM ............................................................................................................................................. 96
FLOW ............................................................................................................................................. 97
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES .................................................................................................. 98
COMM ............................................................................................................................................ 98
TACADMIN ........................................................................................................................................ 99
EN ROUTE EXERCISE ................................................................................................................ 101
REAR-QUARTER ATTACKS ........................................................................................................ 103
NO-SWITCH SCENARIO ............................................................................................................. 103
SINGLE-SWITCH SCENARIO ..................................................................................................... 103
MULTI-SWITCH SCENARIO ........................................................................................................ 105
COUNTERFLOW .......................................................................................................................... 113
ABEAM VISUAL IDENTIFICATION EXERCISE (ABEAM VID) ...................................................... 119
BEYOND VISUAL RANGE (BVR) ................................................................................................. 123
KNOCK IT OFF AND RETURN TO BASE .................................................................................... 129
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 129
SAFETY/EMERGENCY CONSIDERATIONS ......................................................................................... 131

RELATIVE MOTION/EXCESSIVE CLOSURE .................................................................................... 131
SITUATIONAL/SPATIAL AWARENESS .............................................................................................. 131
GOOD START ..................................................................................................................................... 131
LOST SIGHT/LOOKOUT .................................................................................................................... 132
OUT-OF-CONTROL DEPARTURES ................................................................................................... 132
AIRCRAFT LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................... 132
SELF-TEST ............................................................................................................................................ 133
APPENDIX A .......................................................................................................................................... 137
APPENDIX B .......................................................................................................................................... 141
GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................ 147
INDEX .................................................................................................................................................... 155
(2-07) Original Page ix

Page x (2-07) Original

Air Combat Maneuvering Figures
FIGURES
Figure 1: AERODYNAMICS FORCES ACTING UPON AN AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT ........................... 3

Figure 2: ANGLE OF ATTACK VS CL ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 3: TURN RATE ADVANTAGE COMPARISON ........................................................................ 6
Figure 4: GENERIC E/M DIAGRAM .................................................................................................... 8
Figure 5: TURN PERFORMANCE - 10,000 FEET ............................................................................ 11
Figure 6: VERTICAL MANEUVERING - THE EGG ........................................................................... 13
Figure 7: FLIGHT PATH OVERSHOOT ............................................................................................ 15
Figure 8: 3/9 LINE ............................................................................................................................. 16
Figure 9: PURSUIT CURVES ........................................................................................................... 24
Figure 10: CONTROL ZONE ENTRY ................................................................................................. 26
Figure 11: BUBBLE ENTRY ................................................................................................................ 27
Figure 12: ATTACK WINDOW ENTRY .............................................................................................. 29
Figure 13: MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES ......................................................................................... 30
Figure 14: OFFENSIVE BREAK TURN EVALUATION ....................................................................... 32
Figure 15: FLAT SCISSORS ............................................................................................................... 34
Figure 16: ROLLING SCISSORS ........................................................................................................ 37
Figure 17: ROLLING SCISSORS POSITIONS ................................................................................... 38
Figure 18: SNAP SHOT DRILL ........................................................................................................... 43
Figure 21: STARTING INSIDE THE BUBBLE ..................................................................................... 49
Figure 22: BREAK TURN EXERCISE ................................................................................................. 51
Figure 23: ANGLE OFF-TAIL RECOGNITION .................................................................................... 55
Figure 24: ATTACKER BUBBLE ENTRY ............................................................................................ 56
Figure 25: MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES ......................................................................................... 58
Figure 26: FLIGHT PATH OVERSHOOT ............................................................................................ 60
Figure 29: SNAP GUNS EXERCISE ................................................................................................... 71
Figure 32: STARTING INSIDE THE BUBBLE ..................................................................................... 74
Figure 33: BREAK TURN EXERCISE ................................................................................................. 76
Figure 34: ONE-CIRCLE FLOW ......................................................................................................... 80
Figure 35: TWO-CIRCLE FLOW ........................................................................................................ 81
Figure 36: VERTICAL MERGES ......................................................................................................... 82
Figure 37: ACM ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................................... 83
Figure 38: FIGHTER NOSE HIGH VS. OPPONENT HI/LEVEL/LO .................................................... 87
Figure 39: FIGHTER NOSE LOW VS. OPPONENT HI/LEVEL/LO ..................................................... 88
Figure 40: FIGHTER LEVEL VS. OPPONENT HI/LEVEL/LO ............................................................. 89
Figure 41: BUTTERFLY SET .............................................................................................................. 92
Figure 42: ONE-CIRCLE (MULTI) SWITCH SCENARIO .................................................................. 105
Figure 42A: MULTI SWITCH SCENARIO ........................................................................................... 107
Figure 42B: MULTI SWITCH SCENARIO ........................................................................................... 108
Figure 42C: MULTI SWITCH SCENARIO ........................................................................................... 109
Figure 43: DISENGAGEMENT BUGOUT (HAWK) ........................................................................... 112
(2-07) Original Page xi

Air Combat Maneuvering Figures
Figure 44: COUNTERFLOW EXERCISE .......................................................................................... 113

Figure 45: COUNTERFLOW FREE FIGHTER 90-DEGREE CHECKPOINT .................................... 114
Figure 46: COUNTERFLOW ............................................................................................................ 114
Figure 47: VFQ - SETUP (SKULL) .................................................................................................... 117
Figure 48: VFQ - BANDIT FLOW ...................................................................................................... 119
Figure 49: VFQ - KNOCK IT OFF FLOW (TIGER) ........................................................................... 120
Figure 50: VFQ - OVERALL FLOW TO FOX-2 ................................................................................. 122
Figure 51: BVR - BANDIT ABEAM THE SECTION (HAWK) ............................................................. 125
Figure 52: BVR - BANDIT IN-PLANE/IN-PHASE TWO-CIRCLE FLOW ........................................... 125
Figure 53: CLASSIC TWO-CIRCLE FLOW ...................................................................................... 125
Figure 54: FREE/ENGAGED FIGHTER INITIAL MOVE (HAWK) ..................................................... 126
Figure 55: BVR - ONE-CIRCLE FLOW (HAWK) ............................................................................... 126
Figure 56: BVR - FIGHTERS USE “THREAT” INFORMATION (HAWK) .......................................... 127
Figure 57: BVR - LATE FIGHTER MANEUVER ................................................................................. 127
Figure 58: BVR - LATE FIGHTER MANEUVER - UNKNOWN BANDIT TARGET ............................ 128
Figure 59: BVR - BANDIT SWITCH POST-MERGE (HAWK) ........................................................... 128
Figure 60: BVR - BANDIT UNSEEN ENTRY (HAWK) ...................................................................... 128
Figure 61: BVR - COUNTERFLOW DEFENSIVE ............................................................................. 128
Figure 62: SYMBOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 154
Page xii (2-07) Original

Air Combat Maneuvering How to use this FTI
HOW TO USE THIS FTI
This Flight Training Instruction (FTI) is your textbook for the Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) stage
of your Jet Pilot Training and is the source document for all procedures related to ACM. In addition,
it includes suggested techniques for performing each maneuver and making corrections.
Use your FTI to prepare for and afterward to review lessons and flights. This information will help
you effectively prepare for lessons: know all the procedures in the assigned section(s), review the
glossary, and be prepared to ask your instructor about anything that remains unclear. Then you can
devote your attention to flying the T-45A. After a flight, review the FTI materials to reinforce your
understanding and to clarify any difficult maneuvers or procedures.
Note that this FTI also contains information on emergencies related to this stage. This section of the
FTI amplifies but does not supplant the emergency procedures information contained in the T-45A
NATOPS manual.
Reading requirements for flight procedures lessons (lectures) are listed in Appendix A, “Lesson
Preparation,” along with the course learning objectives. The end-of-stage exam will be based on
these objectives. Complete the required reading prior to each lesson (lecture).
(2-07) Original Page xiii

Air Combat Maneuvering How to use this FTI
NOTES
Page xiv (2-07) Original

Air Combat Maneuvering Introduction
INTRODUCTION
This Flight Training Instruction (FTI) is your textbook for the Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) stage of
your Jet Pilot Training and is the source document for all procedures related to ACM. In addition, it
includes suggested techniques for performing each maneuver and making corrections.
Use your FTI to prepare for lessons and flights and afterward to review. In order to effectively prepare for
lessons you should: know all the procedures in the assigned sections, review the glossary, and be
prepared to ask your instructor about anything that remains unclear. You can then devote your attention
to flying the T-45. After a flight, review the FTI materials to reinforce your understanding and to clarify
any difficult maneuvers or procedures.
Note that this FTI also contains information on emergencies related to this stage. This section of the FTI
amplifies but does not supplant the emergency procedures information contained in the T-45 NATOPS
manual.
.
Undeniably, 1 v 1 Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) training is fun, but there are a number of other
reasons why it is important that strike-fighter aircrew continue to study and train in 1 v 1 air combat.
• Combat Lessons Learned – Despite operating in an era of all-aspect, beyond visual range
missiles, history has continuously proven that the majority of air battles are fought and won in
the visual arena. Even in the largest furball or multi-plane engagements, for that brief moment
when the decision is made to engage an opponent, we are involved in a 1 v 1 engagement.
Strike-fighter aircrew MUST be proficient at 1 v 1 ACM to minimize time-to-kill and ensure they
leave merges unscathed.
• Develops Fundamental Tactical Skills – Through ACM we are allowed to practice briefing,
debriefing; stick, rudder and throttle mechanics and tactical decision-making. The develop-
ment of these core tactical skills and the confidence we gain in maneuvering our aircraft
throughout its flight envelope improves our ability to perform and maintain situational aware-
ness in other strike-fighter missions.
The fundamental tactics and maneuvers of air combat have changed little in the last 70 years. In this
stage, we will introduce the classic fighter versus fighter maneuvers and discuss how to employ them in
staged and dynamic situations. It is incumbent upon all strike-fighter aircrew to have a sound under-
standing of 1 v 1. The 1 v 1 ACM discussion will use a building block approach, progressing from basic
aerodynamic review, to a look at the capabilities of our aircraft and to a 1 v 1 game plan development and
execution.
(2-07) Original Page 1

Air Combat Maneuvering Introduction
Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the infamous Red Baron of World War I, once described the basic scope
of air combat maneuvering (ACM) as fighter pilots roving in an area allotted to them, spotting an enemy,
attacking, and shooting him down. The mission statement is grossly over-simplified when you take into
account all the principles of today’s section engaged maneuvering, along with modern technology and
sophisticated weapon systems. The statement does, however, point out two key concepts in ACM:
1) the basics of ACM have not changed since the early days of aviation, and 2) a fighter pilot must
maintain constant aggressiveness for success.
As you move through ACM, you will expand on the basic tactical maneuvers learned in TacForm. You
will first review the basic performance of low/high yo-yos and displacement rolls, and then be introduced
to additional basic ACM maneuvers. Unlike previous blocks, your success will be gauged not on how
well you perform particular maneuvers, but on how well you integrate them with tactics and strategies to
win one-versus-one against an enemy. Finally, you will be introduced to coordinating your flying with a
wingman and practicing section engaged maneuvering against a single bandit. What you learn here will
go with you throughout your career in tactical aviation.
By the time you complete ACM, you will not be an expert. That happens only in time through constant
coaching, practice, and experience. Next to CQ, ACM probably will be your most demanding phase of
flight training, requiring immense concentration and attention to your instructors. You must go beyond
just mastering the procedures and concepts presented in the classroom or simply applying them in the
air. ACM is in many ways an art form—the ultimate art form of aviation. How well you assimilate those
principles, maneuvers, tactics, and strategies will depend upon an open mind and your willingness to
never give up.
Page 2 (2-07) Original

Air Combat Maneuvering Background
BASIC AERODYNAMIC REVIEW
The forces acting on an aircraft in flight are thrust, weight, lift and drag (Figure 1). The interactions and
changes between these forces define the motion of an aircraft through the air.
FIGURE 1: AERODYNAMIC FORCES ACTING UPON AN AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT
During ACM, because thrust is usually at the maximum (MRT or Full Afterburner) and weight change is
negligible at any given moment, thrust and weight will be considered constant during the aerodynamics
review. This leaves the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag as the primary variables to consider when
analyzing an aircraft’s maneuvering performance.

We will introduce some definitions for our discussion.
• LIFT – Lift is created by the resulting pressure differential as air flows over a wing.
• Coefficient of Lift (CL) – A non-dimensional constant that is based on the shape of the wing. It is
a function of angle of attack (AOA), which is the angle between the airfoil chord line and the
relative wind. Figure 2 depicts the relationship between CL and AOA.
FIGURE 2: ANGLE OF ATTACK
As AOA is increased, lift is also increased up to CLMAX. The steep drop in CL at high AOA’s indicates the
point at which a portion of the wing stalls. CLMAX occurs at 21 units AOA. At the lift limit the aircraft will be
in heavy buffet. Lift and performance quickly diminish when pulling beyond CLMAX.

BACKGROUND
• Lift versus Drag (L/D) – The ratio between CL and CD is the lifting efficiency of the wing and is
dependent on AOA. This ratio is maximized at L/DMAX, which in jet aircraft corresponds to
maximum endurance AOA. L/DMAX for the T-45 is 14 units. A more efficient wing (greater L/D
ratio) at all AOA’s results in better performance throughout the flight envelope.
• Total Drag – The forces of drag acting on an aircraft are a combination of induced, parasitic and
Mach Drag and act parallel to the relative wind.
• Induced Drag (DI) – A direct by-product of lift and is associated with wingtip vortices. In general,
induced drag is the predominant drag contributor at lower airspeeds. At higher airspeeds, when
pulling high g, the DI curve flattens and DI may actually become the predominate form of drag.
• Parasitic Drag (Dp) – Drag created by skin friction and frontal area. Parasitic drag increases with
external stores loading (higher drag count) and is more pronounced at higher airspeeds.
♦ Mach Drag (Dm) – Since air accelerates over an airfoil to produce lift, the local velocity will
become supersonic at some free airstream Mach number less than 1.0 IMN. This airspeed is
defined as critical Mach (Mcr). At Mcr, drag sharply increases due to local shock wave formation
across the airfoil.
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS
Aerodynamic theory is an important tool and you need to have a working understanding of your aircraft’s
performance characteristics. Applying a basic knowledge of aerodynamics, the pilot must be able to
identify and compare the factors that will have the greatest influence on tactics. These include:
• Wing loading
• Instantaneous g
• Thrust-to-Weight
• Sustained g
• Acceleration
• Turn Rate
• Turn Radius
Knowing where these factors are optimized for the aircraft and that of the adversary’s should have a
direct impact on how to fight.
Turn Rate – The rate at which an aircraft changes direction in its plane-of-motion (POM). Higher g
available, especially at lower airspeeds, will increase the turn rate of an aircraft. Turn rate differences as
low as 1 degree per second are tactically significant.

Figure 3 shows three comparisons between two aircraft turning at different rates. In this example, when
fighter B’s turn rate is 1 degree per second greater, the positional advantage after 360 degrees of turn is
24 degrees. Furthermore, with 3 and 6-degree turn rate advantages; the positional advantage is 84 and
216 degrees after 360 degrees of turn respectively. Over time, just a few degrees per second advantage
can result in a huge positional advantage.
Turn Radius – Turn radius is the distance that an aircraft displaces in a turn. An aircraft that can pull high
g at low airspeeds will have a small turn radius. Moving towards the right side of the Turn Performance
diagram (increased airspeeds), the turn radius rapidly increases. To minimize separation between
aircraft and keep a fight collapsed, attempt to remain towards the left side of the diagram.
Fighter A Fighter B Advantage Advantage
Rate deg/sec Rate deg/sec After 180 of Turn After 360 of Turn
15 16 12 24
13 16 42 84
FIGURE 3: TURN RATE ADVANTAGE COMPARISON
Acceleration – To maximize acceleration, we need to minimize drag and maximize thrust. Our practical
application of this is achieved by selecting MRT and unloading at 0 g. If 0 g is good, is -1 g better? The
answer is no because -1 g actually creates lift is the opposite direction thus developing induced drag.
Total Energy - The total energy of an aircraft is a combination of potential energy (altitude) and kinetic
energy (airspeed). Due to different weights and configurations of various aircraft, it is more useful to
apply derivations of Total Energy – Specific Energy and Specific Excess Power – for accurate maneuver
performance comparison.
Specific Energy (Es) – ES is defined as total energy divided by aircraft weight expressed in units of feet.
Specific Excess Power (PS) – By deriving the change in ES over time, aircraft performance can be related
to energy. In other words, the energy gained or lost can be determined for the performance. PS depends
on the relationship between thrust and drag. If thrust is greater than drag, then PS is positive and energy
is added. If thrust is less than drag, then PS is negative and energy is bled. PS also allows the pilot to
measure an aircraft’s ability to pull g’s and transfer energy into turn performance. Comparing aircraft at
various performance parameters (turn rate and radius as a function of airspeed and g) and the corre-
sponding PS values give an indication of how an engagement might evolve.

ENERGY MANEUVERABILITY
Energy maneuverability (EM) is a comparison technique initially developed by Major John R. Boyd, USAF
and Mr. T. P. Christie in 1966 to explain what had been observed in Southeast Asia between the F-4C
and MIG-21C and to provide a game plan for F-4 aircrew. EM must be used in conjunction with other
comparison techniques to fully develop a winning game plan. An EM diagram charts the specific
maneuverability of an aircraft based on its energy state. From the EM diagram we can derive many
useful ACM parameters.
• Corner Speed
• Minimum Instantaneous Turn Radius
• Maximum Energy Addition Rates
• Turn Rate Capability: Instantaneous and Sustained
• Turn Radius Capability: Instantaneous and Sustained
• Load Limit
• Lift Limit

The EM diagram (Figure 4) is only accurate for a specific altitude, configuration and power setting.
However, in the T-45 that is typically around 10,000 ft, clean at MRT. Your fleet airplane will take into
consideration the use of high lift devices (maneuvering slats and flaps) as well as combat weapons loads.
FIGURE 4: GENERIC E/M DIAGRAM

The lift limit line is indicative of slow speed handling, and effective wing loading. Wing loading may not
be as simple to derive as it used to be because of the modern fighter’s tendency to possess high lift
devices, machines, strakes, and other aerodynamic improvements. The T-45, however, is pretty
straightforward. Corner velocity is the lowest airspeed at which maximum “G” is available and as such
equates to the instantaneous best turn the aircraft is capable of performing. This is not to say that you
can be doping along at corner velocity, put the stick in your lap for a break turn and expect to get 7.33
“G’s” from the jet. Note the high Ps value on the generic diagram. This equates to a large airspeed
bleed-off. The T-45 does not necessarily have this problem. It sustains energy very well, but this
equates to a fairly large turn radius. We will see this when we examine the T-45 Turn Performance
diagram. The large turn radius of the T-45 would be a definite detraction in some cases, but in the
Training Command you will only fight other T-45s, so the disadvantage is negated.
Take a look at the Ps=0 line. Ps=0 is really only significant on the deck where you can’t trade altitude for
airspeed. The peaks of the various lines of constant Ps indicate our best speed for energy addition.
Lift Limit Line – As discussed earlier, for a given Mach number, lift can only be increased by increasing
AOA to CLMAX before the wing stalls. This lift limit capability is represented on the maneuvering diagram
as the left hand boundary to the maneuvering envelope. At the lift limit, the aircraft performance and load
factor capability are aerodynamically limited.
Limit Load Factor – The available load factor is limited by the structural (maximum g) capability of an
aircraft. This structural limit determines the upper boundary of an aircraft’s performance envelope.
Q-limit – Total dynamic air pressure, or maximum Q, defines the right hand boundary of the maneuver-
ing envelope.
PS = 0 Line – One of the most important and overlooked comparison tools on the Em diagram. The top
indicates an aircraft’s maximum sustained turn rate. The intersection along the horizontal axis is the
maximum turning and level airspeed the aircraft can sustain.
Corner Airspeed - Corner airspeed is the lowest airspeed at which maximum “G” is available. For
comparison, four parameters should be noted at the aircraft corner velocity:
• Turn Rate
• Turn Radius
• KCAS/KIAS
• Bleed Rate
While the maximum instantaneous turn rates at corner airspeed may appear impressive, realize that the
EM diagram depicts a snapshot in time. In a level, maximum performance turn, airspeed will quickly
decrease.

Best 1-G Acceleration – The best energy addition rate for an aircraft occurs beneath the highest value
positive PS contour depicted on the graph and is normally associated with an airspeed or Mach number.
This corresponds to the velocity where drag is minimized.
Altitude Effects on Maneuverability - For our discussions, we will use a 10,000 ft as a basis for all our
EM discussions. Realize that sustained and instantaneous turn rates will increase approximately 2-3
degrees/second for every 5,000 ft of altitude loss.

TURN PERFORMANCE NUMBERS

Before considering how to effectively perform our aircraft in the 1 v 1 arena, be absolutely familiar with
the performance of your own machine throughout the flight envelope. Because it would be impractical to
reference an EM diagram throughout the flight envelope, commit some gouge performance numbers to
memory. These numbers are required information. Don’t show up to fight without them.
FIGURE 5: TURN PERFORMANCE - 10,000 FEET

T-45 GOUGE NUMBERS
Target AOA’s
• Break Turn - 19-21 units
• Hard Turn - 17 units
• Sustained -Turn 14 units (PS = 0)
• Unload - 5-10 units

Airspeeds
• Corner Airspeed - 410 KIAS
• Max Instantaneous Turn Rate - 410 KIAS at max g
• Sustained Turn Rate Band - 300-330 KIAS
• Maximum Sustained Turn Rate at 10,000 ft - 230 KIAS
• Minimum Radius Airspeed Band - 130-150 KIAS
• Minimum Vertical Airspeed - 300 KIAS
• Best Acceleration - 0 g

Air Combat Maneuvering Flight Procedures
APPLIED EM CONCEPTS
QUICKEST 180-DEGREE TURN

To consider our quickest turn, focus on getting our nose turned around as quickly as possible (Turn
Rate). If our best instantaneous turn rate occurs at 410 KIAS and maximum g, we will start there. When
we pull, we want to use whatever altitude we have above the hard deck to keep our speed up, thus giving
us more energy available to obtain a faster turn rate. This means we will overbank and descend
throughout the turn. From 15,000 ft we can overbank initially to 135 degrees while pulling Max. g. As we
slow and descend we will adjust our Lift Vector (LV) and nose to avoid hitting the deck while keeping our
knots up. We should pull nibble of buffet until we run out of altitude and hit our best-Sustained Turn rate
airspeed band (230 KIAS/300-330 KIAS) at 10,000 ft.
SMALLEST 180-DEGREE TURN

On the deck, we can see that our smallest radius of turn occurs just below 0.3 Mach, which is around
145 kts. We start there and select MRT. Pull hard enough to fly 145 kts level. This will give you max lift
and keep our airspeed in the min. radius band.
MANEUVERING OUR AIRCRAFT
VERTICAL MANEUVERING
The following diagram (Figure 6)
represents another theoretical loop in
the vertical plane at constant TAS and
constant indicated g. Unlike a purely
horizontal turn, your turn performance in
a purely vertical turn is affected
differently depending upon where you
are in the turn.
When the aircraft lift vector is above the

horizon (at the bottom of the egg), radial
g decreases because gravity opposes
the load factor of the aircraft, resulting in
a larger turn radius and a lower turn
rate. When the lift vector is below the
horizon (at the top of the egg when the
fighter is inverted), radial g increases
because gravity assists the load factor
and lift, resulting in a smaller turn radius
and faster turn rate. When the aircraft is
pure vertical (side of the egg) the load
factor is parallel to the horizon and,
therefore, equals radial g, indicating an
intermediate turn performance. So
when your lift vector (load factor) falls
below the horizon, gravity assists your
FIGURE 6: VERTICAL MANEUVERING - THE EGG
turn performance.

TACTICAL VERTICAL FIGHT

No longer do we need excessive airspeed to perform a simple loop. While some techniques vary, the
T-45 can generally go over the top with any speed 300 KIAS or greater. As we come over the top, we
need to keep an eye on our airspeed. As it approaches 100 KIAS, it’s prudent to think about engine
conservation and select idle. If we start some vertical move at airspeeds less than 300, we should
probably consider some attitude less than pure vertical. REMEMBER, IF WE SLOW BELOW 85 KIAS,
WE ARE NO LONGER FLYING AND ARE THUS A TARGET TO GET KILLED.
You should have seen some techniques to execute vertical maneuvering on your OCF syllabus. In
general, smooth maneuvering will help us to preserve our energy and still allow us to reorient our LV to
keep the pressure on the bandit.
VERTICAL EXTENSION
Especially versus aircraft where the thrust-to-weight ratio is less than 1:1, a vertical extension can give
you a significant advantage when used properly. In the T-45, in a vertical fight, typically the first aircraft
to go nose down will lose. Thus, extending in the vertical can give you an offensive advantage and the
opportunity to get some rear quarter shots. However, we need to remember that if we extend vertically,
we may be showing tail aspect to the bandit. The vertical extension should only be used if the bandit’s
nose is not a threat.
Another concern for the vertical extension is our 85 kts KIO number. We can only extend long enough
to avoid being nose high less than 85 KIAS. Therefore, we need to nudge the nose out prior to seeing
85 KIAS or the fight is over.
REVERSAL TECHNIQUES
Before we discuss reversal techniques we need to understand the circumstances leading up to the
reversal.

A flight path overshoot (Figure 7) occurs anytime the offensive aircraft flies through the defensive
aircraft’s flight path at or aft of the defensive aircraft’s 3/9 line. A 3/9-line overshoot occurs anytime the
attacker flies from aft of the defender’s 3/9 line to in front of the defender’s 3/9 line (a.k.a. flying out in
front).
FIGURE 7: FLIGHT PATH OVERSHOOT

In close (at or very close to the defender’s 3/9 line) flight path overshoots are extremely significant in that
an instantaneous reversal by the defender may also cause a 3/9-line overshoot, possibly resulting in a
role reversal. A flight path overshoot that occurs well aft of the defender is often insignificant because
the defender cannot perform a role reversal (Figure 8).
FIGURE 8: 3/9 LINE
If the overshoot occurs at the defender’s control point (1 turn radius of the defender’s turn aft of the
defender) the attacker will be able to maintain his nose-to-tail separation by continuing his original turn to
the defender’s reversal point. By reversing at a control point overshoot the defender actually helps the
attacker solve some of his degrees-to-go problem.

In order for the fighter to take advantage of the Bandits overshoot, three criteria must be satisfied:
1. The Bandit must have a High-Track Crossing Rate (>100 kts Vc).
2. The Bandit must have an In-Close Overshoot (<2,000 ft).
3. The Bandit must overshoot the fighter’s extended 6 (>60 degrees AOT) not just the aft visual limit.
You should know these criteria like boldface.
Figure 7 depicts a flight path overshoot.

Figure 8 depicts an aircraft’s 3-9 line.
3/9 Line Overshoot – If we are defensive and we see somewhere, somehow we have induced an
overshoot in which the attacker moves ahead of our wingline (forward of abeam), then we reverse. The
attacker has been neutralized or the roles have reversed and we can look to shoot and bug.
In Close, Flight Path Overshoot – How close is “In Close”? If the overshoot occurs inside the forward
limit of the Control Zone, we will consider it “In Close.” We also need high Angles Off Tail (>60-degree
AOT). If the defender does an immediate, aggressive reversal after the overshoot, he may be able to
induce a 3/9 Line Overshoot from this Flight Path Overshoot.
Flight Path Overshoot – As the defender, if we observe a Flight Path Overshoot where the attacker is in
the control zone or aft and we attempt to reverse, we merely help his lag problem and aid in our own
demise.
Techniques – If we decide to reverse, we must do so with speed and precision. We need to get off our
pull (unload) then reverse to reorient our lift vector on/aft of the bandit. Once there, we need to pull to get
our nose up and work into an airspeed band more appropriate for our redefined fight. We are pulling into
a one-circle fight, so 300 kts is probably not the place to be. If we execute a break turn (21 units) we will
bleed while getting our nose position established. If we are already slow, a nibble of buffet pull might help
us preserve some energy for the follow on merge. LV placement is crucial. If we merely pull up after the
decision to reverse, we give turning room for the bandit to capitalize on. Try to neutralize the bandit’s
positional advantage, and then we can set up our bug.

LONGITUDINAL PULL
We will discuss a lot of AOA regimes throughout this FTI. The most effective AOA will change with
airspeed. In FAM’s we used a 17-unit pull during the MRT. At 300 kts this 17-unit pull makes the
airplane start to vibrate. We called this the “nibble of buffet.” At 150 kts this nibble is felt more around
22 units. The important thing to realize is that the jet is performing reasonably well in this regime. We
describe the break turn as a 19-21-unit pull. This is generally for a high speed (250 kt +) break. This
would feel like heavy or “rumble of” buffet. The airplane is rumbling and shaking, but not in pitch buck.
There may be some wing rock associated with this regime. In this regime, the aircraft is rapidly bleeding
airspeed. The aircraft performs well here, but it is costly. There are other AOA’s that will give us other
performances. For instance, what happened to 18 units? The wings begin to rumble here and we are
bleeding, but not performing as well as a break turn. In general, if you don’t know what to do, nibble of
buffet is a good place to start to maneuver your airplane well.
UNLOADED PUSHOVER
When we discuss unloading, it can mean various things. If, while turning, we decrease our AOA from
17 to 14 units, we are easing our pull and probably accelerating because the wing has less loading.
If we want to execute a true unload, the aircraft will feel quite different than what we have been doing.
In general, in the T-45, a good unload will occur at zero g, in almost any attitude. We are removing the
induced drag caused by the wing producing lift. If we feel zero g, then we are said to be on a ballistic
profile so we are basically letting gravity drive the profile of the airplane. Thus the wing is not producing
any lift, thereby not producing much drag, so we are maximizing thrust. We may use this maneuver to
gain knots or maneuver to lag. The AOA tends to move in the 7-unit regime, well in the heart of the 5-10
units that is usually considered for the unload.

1 V 1 ACM
ACM PROBLEMS
Range – We need separation to employ our weapons. In the Training Command, no weapons can be
employed inside 1,000 ft (for training rules).
Angles – Fuselage alignment will help us maintain an offensive advantage.
Closure – The rate at which range is changing.
ACM CUES
Constantly assess how the ACM problems are changing. Focus on these visual cues when briefing and
flying.
Eyeball Call – Unless we have yardstick up constantly, the eyeball is our only available tool for determining
range in the 1 v 1 arena.
Aspect – The angular position of the adversary’s aircraft.
Canopy Position – It is good if the adversary is forward or moving forward on your canopy. Looking aft or an
aft moving adversary is bad.
ACM TOOLS
By recognizing how the problems are progressing, ACM tools can be applied.
Velocity (V) – The ability to manage the kinetic energy of our aircraft will dictate our ability to manage
closure and range between aircraft.
G – The relationship between “G” and “V” defines an aircraft’s performance. How much g is available and
how much is actually used will determine how quickly the aircraft changes its position relative to the
opponent.
Pursuit Curve – Affects range, angles and closure.

ACM TRAINING RULES

The following ACM training rules apply to all ACM training and shall be strictly observed. These rules
include those found in OPNAVINST 3710.7. Because you will hear these rules before each flight, their
meaning may become just “words.” For the most part, they will be the same rules you hear in the fleet. It
is important to note that these rules were developed over a long period and each is based not only on
common sense but also on situations where pilots were guilty of making serious and even tragic
mistakes.
GENERAL
1. BRIEF OUT-OF-CONTROL/SPIN, ENGINE STALL PROCEDURES, AND CURRENCY - As the

student you are responsible for OCF and Engine Stall for the brief. For Currency, consult the
MCG.
2. FACE-TO-FACE BRIEF OF ALL MANEUVERS FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS - ACM is learned well
only through constant practice and experience. Because each experience in ACM is unique, all
aspects of the flights need to be briefed and debriefed thoroughly.
3. ALL AIRCRAFT MUST HAVE OPERABLE UHF AND ICS (MULTI-CREW) AND MONITOR
GUARD - If you are lost comm, proceed with your lost comm procedures.
“G” AWARENESS MANEUVER REQUIRED PRIOR TO ACM –CONFIGURATION CHANGES OTHER
THAN SPEED BRAKES ARE NOT AUTHORIZED – You may not drop your flaps or gear.
ALWAYS ASSUME THE OTHER AIRCRAFT DOES NOT SEE YOU – You are personally responsible for
collision avoidance AT ALL TIMES.
IF LOST SIGHT, TRANSMIT “LOST SIGHT” AND REMAIN PREDICTABLE. OTHER AIRCRAFT SHALL
ACKNOWLEDGE WITH “CONTINUE” OR “KNOCK-IT-OFF” AS APPROPRIATE, PROVIDING DIREC-
TIVE COMM AS NECESSARY FOR SAFETY OF FLIGHT. ONCE SIGHT IS REGAINED, TRANSMIT
“TALLY.” Be sure to differentiate between “Lost sight” and “No joy.” “Lost sight” means, “I cannot see
anyone, anywhere.” It is a call made strictly to maintain safety. “No joy” responds to your wingman’s call
that he has sighted a bandit that you cannot see.
UP-SUN AIRCRAFT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFE SEPARATION. IF DOWN-SUN AIRCRAFT LOSES

SIGHT, BREAK OFF THE ATTACK, LAG THE UP-SUN AIRCRAFT AND BROADCAST “BLIND SUN.”
If you are in the sun, you are using a tremendously powerful tactic because it blinds the bandit. But
because he is blind, it is your responsibility to maintain the safe separation. Also, if the weather is hazy,
the sun creates a halo when you are looking down with the sun at your back. If the bandit is in the halo
area, he cannot see you.
500-ft BUBBLE AROUND ALL AIRCRAFT. This safety rule applies for training, both in the Training
Command and in the fleet. In the real world, though, you must consider your adversary. For instance, if
you maintain 500 ft on a head-on pass with a bandit who has forward-quarter weapons, you may be
putting yourself directly into his weapons envelope. In the real world, know who you will be going up
against as much as possible. DO NOT MAKE BLIND LEAD TURNS - A blind lead turn is when your
nose is out in front of the bandit’s flight path, and you can’t see the bandit.

MAINTAIN THE ESTABLISHED TREND ON HEAD-TO-HEAD PASSES. WHERE NO TREND EXISTS,

EACH AIRCRAFT SHALL GIVE WAY TO THE RIGHT FOR A LEFT-TO-LEFT PASS. TRANSMIT
YOUR OWN INTENTIONS. This is simply a rule of the road. You may have to change this rule in a
situation where you do not have enough maneuverability to pass left-to-left without crossing the bandit’s
nose, which would put you in a possible head-on midair. Maintain enough situational awareness to call
your intentions long before a possible midair situation develops. Once the pass is called and acknowl-
edged by both fighters, the direction will not be changed.
LOW AIRCRAFT IN A HORIZONTAL SCISSORS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFE SEPARATION. NOSE

HIGH GOES HIGH, NOSE LOW GOES LOW. TRANSMIT YOUR OWN INTENTIONS. This will ensure
safe separation. Nose low must make way if the high aircraft departs or somehow can’t stay high. Do not
delay this call.
MINIMUM RANGE FOR GUNS IS 1,000 ft, NO HEAD ON GUNS (Forward of 3-9 line). CNATRA
WEAPONS ENVELOPES APPLY. See the CNATRA Weapons Envelope in the TacForm FTI.
IN A DESCENDING FIGHT, THE OFFENSIVE (HIGH) AIRCRAFT SHALL MONITOR THE DEFENSIVE
(LOW) AIRCRAFT’S ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE AND BREAK OFF THE ATTACK PRIOR TO EITHER
AIRCRAFT BREAKING THE DECK. Typically a “Watch the Deck” call is sufficient to warn the other
aircraft. This is for safety and to continue the fight.
ANYONE CAN CALL A “KNOCK-IT-OFF.” AIRCRAFT SHALL MANEUVER TO SAFELY TERMINATE

THE ENGAGEMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGE WITH THEIR OWN “KNOCK-IT-OFF.”
KNOCK-IT-OFF FOR ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
a. Dangerous situation/loss of situational awareness. May be due to a/c malfunction/nuisance light,

FOD in cockpit, any other distracter.
b. Radio failure/loss of ICS. An aircraft rocking wings is an automatic “knock-it-off.”
c. G-LOC experienced or suspected. (Aircrew RTB).
d. Airspeed less than 85 kts (nose high and decelerating)/departure/out-of-control. Eighty-five

(85) kts nose low and accelerating requires “85 kts, continue” call. NATOPS calls for throttle to
idle below 85 kts above 15,000 ft.
BINGO FUEL STATE IS REACHED. Applies in the Training Command as well as out in the Fleet. You
must keep your scan moving.
INTERLOPER (UNBRIEFED A/C) ENTERS THE ENGAGEMENT AREA.
ENGAGED AIRCRAFT CROSSES THE BORDER OF TRAINING AREA.
ANY TRAINING RULE IS VIOLATED.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES HAVE BEEN MET. This is usually determined by the trunk IP.
ACM WILL BE CONDUCTED IN AN AUTHORIZED AREA ONLY, WITH A 10,000-FT AGL HARD DECK.

WEATHER
As stated earlier, you will not consider weather conditions as part of your tactical repertoire until you face
a real bandit. But it warrants remembering that you can effectively use clouds, haze, or other weather
phenomena to gain or regain the advantage.
ACM WX mins:
• 5 miles visibility with a defined horizon
• 15,000 ft between broken/overcast layers
• 1 nm horizontally and 2,000 ft vertically from all clouds

ACM may be conducted above broken/overcast layer provided the highest layer is below 7,000 ft AGL for
solo events and 8,000 ft AGL for dual events. The flight lead will then establish the hard deck 5,000 ft
above that layer and all A/C will acknowledge the new hard deck.
1 V 1 ACM EXECUTION
We will take a building block approach and break the ACM discussion into the following parts:
• Offensive ACM
• Defensive ACM
• High Aspect ACM
• Three-Plane ACM
OFFENSIVE ACM
OBJECTIVES
The ultimate goal of Offensive ACM, as in all ACM, is to kill the adversary as quickly as possible. If this
primary goal is not achieved, ensure a positional advantage is maintained for follow-on weapons
employment. Finally, if time to kill is up or you are losing the advantage, separate prior to becoming
neutralized. Simply put, the goals of Offensive ACM are, in order:
Kill the adversary

Maintain an Offensive Position
Separate prior to being neutralized

EXECUTION
Once a positional advantage has been established and we can say we are offensively maneuvering our
aircraft, then the problem is to efficiently maneuver our aircraft to an effective firing solution in the minimum
amount of time. In classic ACM terms (NOT in the missile age) that position is the extended 6 o’clock of
your opponent at about ½ nm with fuselage alignment, i.e., in the heart of the control zone.
In order to reach that position from our original position of advantage an offensive aircraft needs to:
• Increase/control the nose-to-tail separation (N-T) (Range)

• Reduce the angle off the tail (AOT) (Angles)
• Reduce/control the closure (Vc) (Closure)
It should be obvious that an offensive aircraft will achieve these goals by using lag pursuit techniques and
out-of-plane maneuvering. The only exceptions to this will be when he is ready to employ weapons, at
which time he will usually maneuver with lead pursuit (missile launch or gun shot).
When we discuss the specifics of offensive maneuvers, remember what you are trying to accomplish and
how you need to do it. That should enable you to answer any “why?” questions that may arise. What all
this means is that as the offensive aircraft you should:
1. Employ lead pursuit only for gunshots or when it is necessary to close nose to tail distance.
Be ready to follow a lead pursuit maneuver with a lag pursuit maneuver to reduce Vc and the
AOT developed while flying lead pursuit.
2. Utilize pure pursuit (i.e., have your opponent in the HUD field of view) when you are ready to
employ a weapon or possibly, (aspect/range dependent) attempting to enter the opponent’s
bubble.
3. Mainly utilize maneuvers consisting of lag pursuit/out-of-plane techniques in order to correct

back to the control zone or increase range.

OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE

Pursuit curves- When maneuvering offensively, the nose of your aircraft (at high airspeed) or your lift
vector (at slower airspeed) is either pointed at, behind, or in front of your opponent. Depending on where
your nose is pointed, you will fly a distinctive pursuit curve in relation to your opponent. We will discuss
these pursuit curves in terms of their effect on angle off tail (AOT) of your opponent, closure rate (Vc),
and nose-to-tail separation (N-T), the key factors to being able to get to and maintain your position in the
control zone.
FIGURE 9: PURSUIT CURVES
If your nose/lift vector is pointed out in front of your opponent, you are flying a lead pursuit curve. Lead
pursuit is generally flown during maneuvers designed to decrease N-T or during gun attacks. Assuming
co-speed and inside your opponent’s turn circle, lead pursuit will:
• Decrease N-T (Range)
• Increase AOT (Angles)
• Increase Vc (Closure)

If your nose/lift vector is pointed at your opponent, you are flying a pure pursuit curve. Pure pursuit is
generally used only when necessary for employing a weapon (bore sight Fox-2, in the Training Com-
mand). Again, assuming co-speed inside your opponent’s turn circle, pure pursuit will (to a lesser degree
than lead pursuit):
• Decrease N-T
• Increase AOT
• Increase Vc
If your nose/lift vector is pointed behind your opponent, you are flying a lag pursuit curve. Again,
assuming co-speed inside your opponent’s turn circle, lag pursuit will:
• Increase/maintain N-T
• Decrease/maintain AOT
• Decrease/maintain Vc
How do we determine where and when to employ the proper pursuit curve? The next sections will help
describe the cues to look for in order to properly enter the bubble.

BUBBLE ENTRY
With the information already provided, we will begin to discuss maneuvering in terms of the turn circle.
The turn circle is the basis of ACM, and a thorough understanding of the factors affecting key turn circle
parameters is required. Looking at the diagram below, we see the turn circle of the aircraft and the
radius depicted. Any change in the radius directly affects the size of the turn circle and the location of the
center point of the circle. If an aircraft is performing to its maximum turn radius capability, or developing
its minimum radius turn, it is unable to turn any tighter. This seems obvious, but it illustrates an important
point: An aircraft cannot turn inside its own bubble. This means that if you are inside another
aircraft’s bubble you are, at least momentarily, immune from attack from that aircraft. This is important to
note both offensively and defensively.
If we put an attacker on the defender’s turn circle one turn radius behind it, we could demonstrate the
point we just made. If an aircraft is incapable of turning inside its own bubble, it is equally incapable of
turning to engage an aircraft 1 turn radius behind it if that aircraft is on his turn circle or bubble if he is
max performing. (Figure 10)
FIGURE 10: CONTROL ZONE ENTRY
If an attacking aircraft can arrive at this point and maintain it, he can control the fight, at least momen-
tarily. Thus the point 1 turn radius behind an aircraft is referred to as the “control point.” It is important to
note that if the attacking aircraft wishes to arrive at this point, he must consider the effects of his own turn
circle in putting himself there.

As an attacker approaches another aircraft, it becomes essential that he recognize where he is in relation
to the other aircraft’s bubble. We can begin with an aircraft outside the bubble. Since the defender
cannot prosecute an attack on an aircraft inside its bubble that is the first place the attacking aircraft will
want to go. So, the attacker’s first move will be to arrive as quickly as possible inside the other aircraft’s
turn, employing a weapon as he does so (if able). The fastest method to bubble entry, provided you are
still low aspect, is to fly pure pursuit. We will notice initially that the defending aircraft has a relatively
slow Track Crossing Rate, that is, the defending aircraft’s relative motion is not drifting very much in our
windscreen. We will also notice that AOT, or aspect change, will be increasing rapidly.
As we approach the defender’s bubble, the attacker will notice that the Track Crossing Rate starts to
increase and the aspect change slows (the defending aircraft will also notice an increased Track
Crossing Rate as he watches the attacker. Upon bubble entry (Figure 11), the attacker must make a lag
correction, if required, to remain behind the Post. This may be driving straight ahead for 2-4 seconds or
may require a momentary turn away from the defender. To avoid pulling in front of the post, the attacker
must avoid the temptation of keeping the bandit in his front windscreen. Once the line of sight rate
increases, the attacker should extend wings-level, aiming for a point just inside of where the defender
started his break turn. If the attacker extends until the bandit is at his 2 or 10 o’clock, he will definitely
turn around the post. Note that the defending aircraft will also see this and use it as information as well.
We will continue this lag pursuit until we have entered the attack window.
FIGURE 11: BUBBLE ENTRY

THE ATTACK WINDOW

Attack Window – A three-dimensional window located aft of the defender’s post inside his turn circle. An
attacker, who executes a properly timed max performance offensive break turn from inside this window,
will arrive in the defender’s control zone with angles, airspeed and closure under control. The attack
window is a position in space and a moment in time. We have discussed how to get inside the bubble,
but what cues tell us when we are in the attack window? We are typically around 3,000 ft from the bandit
and that equates to one turn radius away. We can see a rapid line of sight change from the bandit, telling
us that we are there. To utilize the positioning of the attack window, we need to arrive with enough
airspeed to pull 21 units and bleed some excess airspeed to gain an instantaneous turn rate advantage.
We need to max perform the airplane for this rate war. We continue to pull at or below the bandit, using
altitude available, while keeping on our best rate numbers.
PULL TO CONTROL ZONE

When the bandit has been sufficiently lagged, the attacker should execute a max performance turn in
plane to pull toward the bandit’s control zone. After the turn is commenced, the attacker will notice the
bandit’s aircraft stabilize relative to his. This is the point where the two aircraft have essentially the same
rate of turn. The N-T distance will be stabilized as well as the AOT.
Most importantly, the attacker is in an offensive position in the aft portion of the bandit’s control zone and
the bandit’s only move is to continue his turn in the same direction. If the bandit reverses at this time, he
will only help the attacker close the N-T distance and decrease the degrees-to-go. A smart bandit will
stay in the same direction of turn. At this time, the attacker needs to close the N-T distance in order to
employ weapons. The way to close N-T distance is to maneuver out-of-plane in order to employ lead
pursuit. During this “lead pursuit maneuver” or Low Yo-Yo, the amount of out-of-plane maneuvering is
largely dependent on how much altitude above the hard deck is available.

FIGURE 12: ATTACK WINDOW ENTRY
The attacker should use all available altitude in order to employ lead pursuit. Remember that maneuver-
ing out-of-plane effectively reduces radius of turn with respect to the vertical. After establishing lead
pursuit, the attacker will come nose on the bandit and will be closing nose to tail distance. If the distance
is still too great for the gun envelope, the attacker may elect to employ a missile. He will be nose on with
less than 40 degrees angle off. The Launch Acceptability Region (LAR) for the training command IR
missile should be recognized; however, the saying goes, “There’s no kill like a guns kill.” Simply put, the
missile envelope should be recognized and valid shots should be taken at will (they may “buy” a reaction
from the defender in the form of a break turn), but the idea is to maneuver to a gun envelope. The gun is
the hardest weapon to employ because the envelope is very restrictive and a pilot must execute good
BFM principals to achieve a guns kill. This is why we will perform our maneuvers to arrive at a firing
position within 1,500 ft aft of the opponent in the tracking gun envelope.

MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES

If we are late or weak on our pull to the control zone we may see that we have a flight path overshoot with
low angles off tail. If we panic and attempt to pull inside the bandit’s circle, we will bleed airspeed and
hurt our turn rate. So what do we do when we find ourselves nose off, in lag in a rate fight? We need to
be patient and understand how misaligned turn circles (MATC) will help us (Figure 13). Because we are
offensive, turning about our own post (not the bandit’s) we will come nose on to bandit as our turns
progress. When the opportunity arises, we need to reorient our lift vector to take advantage of the MATC
and shoot or saddle into the control zone.
FIGURE 13: MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES

RATE WAR (OFFENSIVE)

During the rate war, we are concerned with degrees per second, how fast we can track our nose around
the circle. Unfortunately, the T-45 doesn’t exhibit very good rate numbers, however, we need to
understand the Turn Performance diagram to maximize our rate performance. Offensively, we will have
some options during the fight and be able to utilize any airspeed excursions to suit our attack. According
to the diagram we see that our best instantaneous turn rate is achieved at 410 KIAS while pulling the lift
limit (it’s near 7.3 g’s). Our best tactical turn rate is an airspeed band 300-330 KIAS. This isn’t to say
that we can’t pull from 330 to 250 and get some good instantaneous turn rate, but once settled at 250,
we are stuck with few options to maneuver in the vertical and poor acceleration.
Once established in the rate war, maneuver the jet to get on our rate numbers. These change under
different situations. Here are some examples:
1. Overshoot/Lag – We are stuck in lag; our nose is not threatening the bandit. We need
to increase our rate and let MATC do their magic. We can pull some lead and increase
our rate by using gravity to help us keep our airspeed while we increase our AOA.
Essentially this appears like a low yo-yo.
2. High Aspect/Lead – If we maneuver too aggressively, we need to maintain our offensive

advantage. Our nose is a threat, but an overshoot is pending. If we try to slow our
closure with power/airspeed, we can save the overshoot, but follow-on ACM will be
difficult. If we use lag pursuit, we can keep our rate numbers up while remaining
offensive. This can be accomplished in a few different ways.
• Tight Range/ Low AOT – A simple unload will increase our radius such that we will not pull inside
the bandit. This can also help to increase our airspeed if necessary, usually used when in-close/
time critical situations.
• In Control Zone – Reorienting our lift vector outside the bandit’s turn will result in reducing our
closure; unfortunately it will also increase AOT so we will need to pull some lead soon after to
reorient our nose into a weapons envelope.
• Outside Control Zone – A full wings-level lag maneuver is sometimes warranted. This is
essentially another control zone entry requiring an offensive break turn to align fuselages.
REDEFINING THE RATE WAR

Unfortunately, the T-45 is not a good platform to redefine the rate war in the vertical. It lacks the
performance to either rate the nose quick enough or climb sufficiently to avoid being shot. Therefore,
redefining the rate war may mean inducing your own overshoot or simply disengaging.
If the defender chooses to redefine our two-circle fight to something else, we need to recognize the
change and maintain our offensive advantage while fighting our best fight. For example, if the bandit
reverses in a two-circle fight, we may get a quick shot while transitioning to a one-circle fight. It’s
probably useful to get the nose up to exchange our rate energy for potential energy in our one circle fight.
Then we need to fight our best flats.

STARTING FROM INSIDE THE DEFENDER’S BUBBLE

When you have entered the turn circle (or “bubble”), you will notice the defender’s aircraft begin to move
laterally relative to you. This is called a Line of Sight rate increase. It signifies that you have entered the
defender’s bubble. Now you can begin to manage AOT and N-T distance.
FIGURE 14: OFFENSIVE BREAK TURN EVALUATION
When entering the defender’s turn circle, the attacker must execute some type of lag maneuver in order
to decrease his AOT and degrees to go. Ideally, he will recognize the indicators of entering the defend-
ers bubble and will respond appropriately.
Refer to the turn circle diagram earlier in this instruction (Figure 9). If you are able to recognize entering
the opponent’s bubble (by noticing an increase in Line of Sight rate), you should proceed to a point that
causes you to turn around the “post” of his turn circle. Turning in front of the post is a huge ACM error.
You will know if you have turned in front of the post if the bandit is easy to keep in your windscreen and
the Angle off is increasing. You will be thinking that you could employ a gun snap shot, but the next thing
you will see is an in-close flight path overshoot, and maybe even a 3/9 overshoot. To avoid pulling in
front of the post, the attacker must avoid the temptation of keeping the bandit in his front windscreen.
Once the Line of sight rate increases, the attacker should extend wings-level, aiming for a point just
inside of where the defender started his break turn. If the attacker extends until the bandit is at his 2 or

10 o’clock, he will definitely turn around the post. When the bandit has been sufficiently lagged, the
attacker should execute a max g turn in plane to pull toward the bandit’s control zone.
DEFENDER REDEFINES
If we induce our own overshoot, or the bandit merely tries to redefine the fight, his only option will
probably be a one-circle/flat scissors fight. If he chooses to go aggressively nose low with the altitude
available, you should be able to counter by going nose low and keeping the fight a two circle fight. If the
bandit goes nose high you have some options. With sufficient turning room, you may achieve a shot as
the reversing bandit pulls through your HUD. However, if we are tight or very fast, this may increase our
closure and neutralize our advantage. In a tighter fight, we need to start thinking one circle early after the
reversal and start working a radius fight quickly. This usually means getting the nose up and maneuver-
ing our lift vector to keep us behind the bandit. A nibble/break turn to get the nose up, then a smooth
reorienting of the lift vector towards the bandits control zone should be sufficient. Be mindful of ROE
while pulling aft, as a closure problem may have occurred. Safety is paramount.
OFFENSIVE DECK TRANSITIONS

As we head downhill in most of these engagements, it’s prudent to consider the fight we are in and
predict how we will arrive on the deck. We need to think ahead so we can get to the deck in the best
parameters to kill the bandit. In general, our one-circle engagements will not be near the deck, however,
we need to consider some altitudes with respect to our flats. If a bandit decides to exit a one-circle fight,
the deck will be a consideration as we chase him down. We have a minimum Split S altitude that we
need to be aware of, which may hinder our LV placement on the bandit. If we transition to a two-circle
fight from the flats, we have limited altitude to accelerate and get into our rate numbers.
Similarly, if we are chasing a bandit around in a two-circle fight, we can look ahead to determine how we
would like to arrive at the deck. If we are slow, we may need to ease our pressure to get into our rate
band on the deck to ensure that we are max performing the airplane. This may mean giving up a few
angles to get our airspeed up, but we will reap the benefits as the fight progresses. This is called an
Energy-Rate Deck Transition and it allows us to use the altitude between our aircraft and the deck to
convert altitude into turn rate and airspeed. Use the 10 degree rule (3,000 ft/30 degrees, 2,000 ft/20
degrees, 1,000 ft/10 degrees) to maximize turn rate and keep energy package while transitioning to the
deck. Basically, use 10 degrees nose low for every 1,000 ft above the deck.
If we have the available altitude and airspeed we can use it above the deck to arrive low with a great
positional advantage. This is called a Positional Deck Transition. For instance, if we have the altitude to
get one real nice, aggressive nose low (yo-yo) just above the deck to arrive nose on the bandit at
10,000 ft, we can do that to really pressure him, possibly driving him into the deck. We are basically
using the altitude between our aircraft and the deck to take away angles for ourselves.

FLAT SCISSORS
The flat scissors (Figure 15) results from an in-close horizontal overshoot. Because you would never
offensively enter a horizontal scissors on purpose, several situations force you to enter one:
1. A delayed or poorly performed lag maneuver
2. Following a Snap or Raking guns attempt
3. Follow-on from a rolling scissors
FIGURE 15: FLAT SCISSORS
The horizontal scissors is a slow-speed, high-AOA radius fight (one circle) where both fighters are trying
to minimize their respective turn radii. Both the fighter and the bandit will be trying to minimize their turn
radius to gain a positional advantage.
Remember positional advantage based on the 3/9 line? The aircraft behind will be winning.

Both aircraft will also be attempting to decrease their downrange travel by performing a series of S turns.
This effect of weaving in and out, or “scissoring” gives this fight its name. If both aircraft are flying at the
same speed, one flying in a straight line and the other turning, the turning aircraft will eventually end up
behind the other. The attacker should attempt to get in-phase with the defender on the defender’s
6 o’clock. He should do this by a series of early/lead turns, eventually aligning fuselages.
Kinetic energy is transferred to potential energy by using the vertical to help control your airspeed and
downrange travel. Because the T-45 does not bleed airspeed very well, the initial reversal back into your
opponent will be very nose high and will require an overbank in order to avoid parking the nose too high.
A modified rolling scissors could possibly be entered, but in these ACM hops the idea is to learn to fly a
flat scissors. After the overbank, both fighters will be oriented in a nose high, climbing (one-circle fight).
Each will turn into each other attempting to flush the other out as stated in the above paragraph. The two
aircraft will cross flight paths at some point. It is imperative that the student initiates the ROE for each
flight path crossing (high/low).
The bandit will attempt to force you into his forward quarter by aggressively establishing himself nose
high and repositioning lift vector behind you. You have the advantage of initiating your one-circle entry
earlier than the bandit and gaining whatever lateral turning room that existed between you when you
began your nose-high maneuver. Get your wings under you and get the nose tracking up, while banking
to reposition lift vector behind the bandit. As you pull to get your nose up, kick in full rudder in the
direction of the bandit to get your LV oriented. Adjust your attitude as your airspeed reaches 140-
150 KIAS. As we fly slower, the angle of bank we can use diminishes. As our airspeed slows, the
amount that we can pull behind the bandit decreases, thus the radius increases again. Review the Turn
Performance Diagram to confirm this. A good rule of thumb is the airspeed over 100 kts is the max
usable AOB (e.g., 150 kts ~ 50 degrees). This is not to say that we can’t exceed this AOB, but our nose
will slice and we will accelerate. As our airspeed increases, so does our radius.
Once you are behind the bandit’s wingline, reverse and attempt to align fuselages while maintaining
nibble of buffet, around 22-24 units AOA (this is called an early turn). As a general rule when you are on
or aft of the bandit’s 3/9 line and your nose is on him, you should start your reversal. A reversal forward
of the 3/9 line (in front of the post) may allow you a snap shot; however, in reversing early you will
decrease the nose-to-tail separation and potentially be less than 1,000 ft (min Gun range). If no nose-to-
tail exists, reverse as you cross the bandit’s flight path. This will allow you to continue to pull aft of the
bandit for a longer period of time and keep your turn radius tight.

At this point you should be established in a flat scissors with your aircraft at slow speeds and High AOA.
During your reversals and subsequent maneuvering, utilize rudder and back stick to maintain optimum
performance while monitoring your aircraft’s attitude, airspeed, and AOA. You may find yourself wanting
to overbank the aircraft to gain a quick advantage. By doing this, you will find it harder to keep the nose
above the horizon, which means you will have to execute reversals with more rudder. Additionally, with
your nose below the horizon, airspeed will increase leading to the tendency to use excessive back stick.
Increased backstick pressure beyond the optimum performance level will bleed off energy. The
combination of these errors will increase your radius to a point where you not only lose some advantage,
but you may even end up defensive. During these attempts, do not compromise your offensive advan-
tage. Sustained Flat Scissors: 10-15 degrees nose up, 30-45 degree AOB and 130-150 kts.
ROLLING SCISSORS
The rolling scissors (Figure 16) results from an in-close vertical overshoot and is usually a product of a
successful counter to a Barrel Roll Attack (BRA). The scissors develops into a series of horizontal and
vertical overshoots.
Offensively, if you find yourself in a “roller,” you have made a mistake, which means you must strive to
remain offensive or disengage at the earliest opportunity. A rolling scissors is not a desirable maneuver
for an attacker because it limits opportunities for weapons employment.
FIGURE 16: ROLLING SCISSORS

To practice this maneuver, set up by executing a BRA from a medium-angle perch. As you start your
conversion over the top of the barrel roll, the bandit hard turns into you to create a horizontal overshoot.
Before you can adjust for the horizontal overshoot, the bandit will pull up to create a vertical overshoot as
he performs a BRA against you. Continue your barrel roll and place your lift vector on the bandit or
slightly aft. To do this, we must pirouette at the right time and use the correct mechanics. Pull across
the top until the bandit is either beneath you or he is coming up. This will ensure proper nose attitude
after our pirouette. Next, pull the power to idle and use coordinated stick and rudder to place the LV on
or slightly aft of the bandit. Then, get the power back up to MRT and begin a 21 unit pull. Selection of
idle during the pirouette will slow your airspeed increase and give you a smaller turn radius at the bottom.
Continue to roll and pull with the LV on the bandit until the nose reaches 30-35 degrees. Once we have
achieved our nose high attitude, we can roll to put the LV in front of the bandit while continuing our 21 unit
pull. This will effectively cut the top of your egg off and allow you to get fuselage alignment. Finally, we
will execute the pirouette as before and continue the fight. It is important to not let the nose drop until the
pirouette. This will preserve altitude and turning room.
Your goal is to execute the scissors perfectly and capitalize on any mistake the bandit makes. To stay
offensive in a rolling scissors, use the three-dimensional environment to control your energy effectively
by:
1. Proper LV placement
2. Properly controlling your AOA
3. Trading airspeed for altitude to reduce your forward vector

4. Coordinate LV changes with nose attitude to use the vertical to your advantage
In all this, you are trying to stay behind the bandit. A key determinant in winning the roller is to strive to
get your nose up when you are at the bottom before the bandit can get his nose down when he is at the
top, and vice versa. If you can continually do this without sacrificing your position, you are then gaining
the advantage you need to win in a rolling scissors. You must understand that it is the steepness of your
climbs and dives that will determine your horizontal movement more than your absolute speed differen-
tial. Control your acceleration based on the bandit’s position relative to you. To maintain your advantage,
control your airspeed gain in the pullout. Keep your lift vector on, or aft of, the bandit throughout the
maneuver except when you are trying to align fuselages or when you want to reduce your forward vector.
To align fuselages, use lead pursuit and a smooth nibble/rumble of buffet over the top.

Radial g (Figure 17) affects your “picture” of being offensive, neutral, or defensive at various points in the
maneuver. You will experience several optical illusions. At the top, your slower airspeed and radial g
give you a smaller turn radius, while your greater airspeed at the bottom causes a larger turn radius. As
a result, relative position of the aircraft alone does not determine actual advantage.
FIGURE 17: ROLLING SCISSORS POSITIONS
If you are neutral with respect to the bandit, at the bottom you are ahead the bandit, while at the top you
are behind of him. In Figure 17, compare the bottom aircraft with the top middle aircraft.
Because a rolling scissors is a slow-speed fight with predictable flight paths and poor shot opportunities,
you or the bandit will look for an opportunity to disengage. The only appropriate time to disengage is
from the top of the roller. It helps to be aware of this to time your disengagement or to anticipate when
the bandit may decide to disengage. Should the bandit attempt to disengage from the top of the roller,
roll off your vertical climb early to reduce airspeed loss and minimize nose-to-tail separation. Pull for a
shot and remain in-phase using a combination of Lead and Lag. Put the LV below the bandit and use
altitude to gain energy and turn rate.

Ideal airspeed at the bottom of the roller is 250-275 kts (basically something less than vertical airspeed
for the average student). If both the fighters are countering each other correctly, they will be required to
keep their airspeed slow to avoid becoming defensive. In a full engagement, a fighter with tactical
vertical airspeed should take it vertical as this will further minimize his turn radius with respect to the
“God’s eye view.” As with the flat scissors, the goal for an offensive fighter is to kill the opponent
(hopefully quickly).
For most aircraft with less than a one-to-one thrust-to-weight ratio, the rolling scissors is a descending
series of barrel rolls because of the heavy use of the vertical. To successfully roll through the bottom and
continue in the rolling scissors, you will need approximately 2,500 ft above the hard deck with proper LV
placement. Students should use about 4,000 ft as the minimum altitude to continue in the roller. As you
approach the deck, one or both of you must either flatten the roller, convert the maneuver to a flat
scissors, disengage, or be scraped off the deck.
Converting a roller to a flattened scissors reduces the vertical separation. This conversion usually occurs
when you run out of altitude to continue your offensive pursuit. Flattening the scissors will work to your
advantage only if your energy state has not deteriorated below that of the bandit’s. If his energy is
greater than yours, he can generate sufficient vertical displacement for subsequent rolls instead of
flattening his scissors, thus forcing you out in front.
Assuming your energy packages are at least equal, flatten the scissors after reaching the top by
continuing to roll through more rapidly or reverse at the top after the horizontal overshoot occurs. Put
your lift vector slightly in front of the bandit to both shallow your slice turn and miss the deck. If the bandit
rolls through without being aware of an altitude problem, he will hit the deck. However, if he is aware of
the altitude and your tactic, he will be forced to put his lift vector out in front, resulting in reordering the
relative geometry.
A roller can be converted to a flat scissors anytime, but it must be converted when altitude becomes a
factor. Typically, flattening a roller results in a horizontal scissors if the bandit follows through on your
tactic. If you decide to convert a normal rolling scissors to a flat scissors, remain nose-high at the top of
the roller and continue to pull back toward the bandit to generate an overshoot. Instead of rolling through
the vertical, reverse nose-high and pull back toward the bandit’s six forcing him out in front of your
position, resulting in a flat scissors.
Should you decide to enter the flat scissors during a normal roller, you will be bleeding off a tremendous
amount of energy. If the bandit is smart, he will convert his kinetic energy to potential energy by going
vertical and, more than likely will get an offensive advantage on you.
BUG RECOGNITION/COUNTER
It’s critical to recognize the bandit’s bug as soon as possible, for many reasons. The most important is
because you want to kill the bandit, not let him run away. Early recognition allows you to keep more
airspeed up and reorient your LV to cut him off. Generally, the bug will go opposite of where the fight was
going. If your flats were progressing south, the bug will go northerly. It will also go out our tail, which will
make keeping sight an issue. It’s imperative that we not lose sight; since we may give away all of our
offensive advantage and get ourselves killed. We need to take whatever altitude we have and convert it
to airspeed, typically with a nibble of buffet pull. LV placement should be leading the bandit’s nose,
especially if he is in a turn where we can use radius to close the range effectively.

In the roller, the bandit will try to bug from the top, so we need to get our nose in his direction as we come
across the bottom and try to keep our kts up as we pull to get nose on. It’s imperative to stop climbing
and use the altitude for airspeed without hitting the deck.
In general:
A) MRT, Unload
B) Get nose low

C) Nibble of buffet pull
D) LV in front
TACADMIN
To establish proper habit patterns and to expedite the ACM sorties, the following procedures will be
utilized. The admin portion of the flight (i.e., departure and RTB) will be conducted just as your flights
were in the TacForm stage. The SNA will join-up, be put into cruise, and then put into combat spread
during the climb once established in the a climb. Once you have been put into cruise, you may perform
the initial steps of the combat checklist. Once established in combat spread your lead will initiate the g-
warm. The lead initiates the comm. Following the g-warm, climb or descend to 14,000 ft, capture 300 kts
and maintain assigned heading. The combat checklist should be completed, (Master Arm “on,” Tape in
AUTO/ON,) and Wing will initiate a “fenced in” call, i.e., “Hawk 2 fenced in, (g’s) and (fuel).” Lead
responds, “Hawk 1, fenced in, (g’s) and (fuel).”
The section will use combat spread maneuvering to position itself in the operating area when the checks
are complete. It is imperative that you are ready to “fight” the moment you call that you are “fenced in.”
Often times the Snapshot Drill will be conducted en route to your particular working area. Once estab-
lished in a clear area with required weather minima, the section can begin 1 v 1 ACM.
Upon the conclusion of each set, the IP in your jet (on dual hops) or the Bandit (on solos) will call a
“Knock It Off.” The bandit lead will echo the call and add a heading, i.e., “Hawk 1, knock it off 270.”
You will echo the Bandit lead’s call with your call sign and the heading, i.e., “Hawk 2, knock it off 270.”
The priorities, in order, for you as the fighter following the knock it off are:
1. Maintain sight
2. Hard turn to the knock it off heading, deconflict as required

3. Capture 300 kts and bearing line
4. Climb to appropriate altitude
5. G’s and fuel with general SA and on hdg/brg line in 300 kts climb.

The Wing will initiate all g’s and fuel calls. You do not have to wait until you are established on the PADS
for the next set, however, do not sacrifice a sound lookout doctrine for expediency. Typically, once
established on the KIO heading with overall SA and climbing at 300 kts, we can check our gas and g’s.
The Bandit lead will set up the geometry for the follow on sets. Your job is simple; maintain whatever
heading the Bandit has assigned you while getting into position, airspeed as appropriate and be at the
proper altitude. Often times the Bandit will need to check the flight to a new heading (for geometry, area
management, etc.) Echo the new heading, utilize a hard energy sustaining turn and get there. If the set
starts at 250 kts you will maintain 300 kts until you are told to slow by the lead. Then do what ever it
takes to stay in position as the A/C slow down.
We will accept slight deviations from the PADS not to exceed the following:
• Position: ±10 degrees of bearing line

• Altitude: ± 200 ft
• Distance: ± .1 nm
• Speed: ± 10 kts
When we are within these parameters, we can call “Speed and Angels.” The Lead will initiate the call
when he feels the wingman is in a good position.

SNAP SHOT DRILL (SSD)
• P- Abeam
• A- 14,000 ft
• D- .8 - 1.0 nm
• S- 300 kts
The snapshot drill is a cooperative maneuver designed to teach employment of the gun at high angles
off. The snap shot is used when attacking at medium to high angles off in an attempt to achieve a quick
kill, thereby precluding subsequent maneuvering.
The aerial gun was the first weapon employed in dog fighting and still remains the most difficult weapon
to use in the ACM arena. In a tracking shot, the attacker has aligned fuselages and can put the maxi-
mum amount of ordnance on the defender with angles, airspeed and closure under control. The snap
shot is a quick opportunity shot. It is employed with high angles off, high track crossing rate and high
closure. Obviously, because of the more difficult nature of this type of shot, the attacker must abide by a
few rules in order to set this up.
In order to simplify this, as the shooter in the guns weave, you must accomplish three basic things.
1. PLANE OF MOTION
2. RANGE
3. LEAD
Plane of Motion is the most important parameter to solve for and it is also the easiest parameter for the
bandit to break and deny the shot.

FIGURE 18: SNAP SHOT DRILL
The SSD will be set up at 300 kts and 14,000 ft. The two aircraft will be in combat spread, level, and
1.0 nm, with the shooter being aft of the target’s beam by 10 degrees. Once the g-warm is completed,
the wingman will initiate the fenced in call with g’s and fuel. The Lead will initiate the “Speed and Angels”
call when he feels wing is in a good position. The lead will initiate the “In” call for each engagement,
regardless if he is offensive or defensive. The comm will be “Hawk 1, in target,” “Hawk 2, in shooter.”
The student will be the shooter on his offensive ACM hops, and the target on his defensive ACM hops.
The two aircraft will turn in towards each other. This is a cooperative maneuver, so whoever is the target
will pull/float to place the shooter at his 10 or 2 o’clock and hold him there. When the shooter calls
“Trigger down, snap,” the target should evaluate what the nose position of the shooter is, and then
reverse his turn to complete a shackle turn. The ‘trigger down’ call should be made at the same time as
the trigger squeeze. The ‘snap’ call is made when the target is going through the pipper. This is
immediately followed by an evaluation of the shot. You can call many things: “Fuselage,” “Canopy,” or
“Missed Hi/Lo.” The more specific, the better for a debriefing tool.

Generally, eight snapshots are accomplished, but there can be more. On the last four snapshots, the
instructor will call, “Hawk 1, in target/shooter, maneuvering.” During these, the target jet will attempt to
maneuver out of the bullet stream and avoid getting shot. To do this, the target will put his wingtip on the
attacker and maneuver out-of-plane. Even though the target is defending, he also must be able to
complete the turn and keep the geometry tight.
The shooter can execute one of two types of snap shot attacks. The timing and the comm are the same
in both attacks. The first type (and the more difficult type) is the reversal. During the reversal type, the
attacker rolls into the target then reverses his turn to get slightly in-phase with the target. This is usually
done to close excessive nose to tail distance. The AOT will naturally be less than 90 degrees. There are
problems with this method including: the belly-up turn, the timing and pipper settling. The shooter should
reverse when he sees the Line of Sight rate increase. The trigger should be down for about 1 second
prior to the target passing through the pipper for a 1,000-ft solution. This equates to squeezing the
trigger 1 pipper width prior to the bandit passing through the pipper.
The second type of attack is the “pull-through.” During this, the attacker initially rolls towards the other
aircraft and stays in the same direction of turn, dragging the pipper through the target. The shooter
should squeeze the trigger when the target passes the canopy bow. This will allow the bullets to be at
1,000 ft by the time that the aircraft crosses the gun bore line. The shooter can execute either type of
attack, though the pull-through method is a better choice for high Angle-off, minimum range shots like the
Snapshot drill sets up. Plane of Motion is solved by noting how far above the horizon or reference the
bandit’s aircraft is. Next, we need to maneuver to put our pipper the same distance above the horizon or
reference and then smoothly continue our pull. Make large corrections for POM early by overbanking/
underbanking to get the pipper in the bandit’s POM and then continue pulling in. To do all this, you need
to quickly scan the bandit and then look back at your symbology. Keep your scan moving and make
smaller corrections as range decreases.
To solve Range, we need to vary our pull towards the bandit, as necessary, to have the bandit filling
about ¾ of the pipper as he passes through it. This is difficult because you will be scanning back and
forth between the bandit and pipper to determine how you should pull/float. We will not use the bandit
filling the pipper because the bandit is not showing us pure planform; if we made this range happen, we
would be inside 1,000 ft. Some good gouge is that the bandit’s wingspan should fill about half of the
pipper when he is at your canopy bow. If you see that this is not going to happen, you should ease/
tighten your pull to compensate.
Lead is the last parameter we need to solve for. This is done by understanding that we need to account
for about 1 second: 1/3 second for bullet time of flight, 1/3 second for gun spool up time and 1/3 second
for pilot reaction time. A good rule of thumb for Lead is to pull the trigger when the bandit crosses the
canopy bow and hold it down until he passes through/above/below the pipper.

When turning in, the shooter should comply with the steps listed above. In short, the shooter needs to
get on the same plane of motion, and squeeze the trigger early enough to have bullets hitting the
defender when he crosses the shooter’s nose. The shooter should pull inside the target’s turn and in-
plane with the target. The comm for the shooter is, “Trigger down . . . snap.” While the trigger is down,
the bullets are spraying in front of the target. The call “snap” should be made when the target flies
through the pipper. If the target does not fly through the pipper, then the appropriate “missed hi” or
“missed low” call should be made.
If it appears as though the shooter will be violating the “no forward quarter gun shots forward of the 3/9
line” or “1,000-ft min gun shots” training rule, then either aircraft can call “Skip it” with ROE if appropriate
and the shooter aircraft will maneuver to effect a safe pass and the drill will continue following the
reversal. Also, if the shooter cannot take the shot due to excess angles or minimum range, he can call
“No shot, angles” or “No shot range” as appropriate. Standard knock it off procedures apply.

FLAT SCISSORS
• P- Abeam
• A- 14,000 ft
• D- 0.8-1.0 nm
• S- 250 kts
We begin the flat scissors (Figure 19) right after the snapshot drill because the two are entered the same
way. The lead will call, “Hawk 1, in target/shooter flats.” On the student offensive ACM hops, the student
will pull inside and attempt a snapshot. The defender should deny the snapshot by putting his near
wingtip on the attacker and pulling out-of-plane. The defender recognizes the attacker’s high AOT and
impending overshoot, as well as track crossing rate, and reverses his turn into the attacker. This creates
one-circle flow and therefore the aircraft with the smallest turn radius will have the advantage.

The comm for the Rules of Engagement (ROE) will simply be, “Hawk 2, high/low.” The lead will call his
intentions and the two aircraft will cross no closer than 500 ft. It is imperative that the student calls his
intentions before his nose starts to point in towards the lead’s aircraft. On your initial ACM sorties the
bandit will not be flying textbook airspeeds during the flats. He will more than likely be flying faster than
optimal. Use this knowledge to your advantage by flying as close to a textbook flats as you can so that
the airspeed advantage is in your favor.
Each subsequent cross will be called out as in the first one. Eventually the fight will come to a logical
conclusion. Ideally the fighter gets a good snapshot/gunshot, or the defender executes a successful bug
out. The student should remember his game plan depending on which role he started with. For the
offensive hops, the student should stick in the fight, striving for a valid gun or missile. When a bug is
attempted, the chasing fighter will maneuver to a weapons solution using LV placement and altitude for
turn rate. The offensive fighter will call “Fox-2” when achieving a valid shot. The defender can do one of
two things. If the bug attempt looks poor, he can break back into the offensive aircraft and create two
circle flow. This should be done prior to the shot (>40 degrees AOT), if able, to prevent a valid shot. If
the defender assess his bug to be valid, he can allow the “Fox-2” call. The defender will then call out his
airspeed followed by the offensive aircraft calling out his airspeed. Both fighters will then write down the
called airspeeds and an assessment of shot range. This information will then be used in the debrief for
bug/shot assessment.

ROLLING SCISSORS
• P- Offensive Fighter medium angle perch
• A- 16,000 ft
• D- .4 - .5 nm
• S- 250 kts
The offensive fighter will begin by executing a Barrel Roll Attack on the defensive (lower) fighter.
Offensively, the student will need to maneuver first to start the maneuver. The bandit will clear you to
begin maneuvering. The wingman will respond with “2” and begin maneuvering nose high and rolling
towards lead. At the same time, the defensive fighter will counter the Barrel Roll Attack by pulling level
across the horizon, then pulling up when the high fighter overshoots the flight path. This will create a
vertical overshoot. The “roller” will continue from there to a logical conclusion (Figure 20).

6,000-FT PERCH SET
• P- Right/Left Perch (45 degrees AOT)
• A- 15,000 ft def/16,000 ft off
• D- .8 - 1.1 nm
• S- 300 kts
This will look very much like the beginning of the gunsight tracking in the TacForm phase. Perch sets
teach bubble entry for an offensive fighter and the counters to an attack for a defensive fighter.
The Lead will check the flight to put you on the 45-degree perch. Use an MRT 17 unit pull to the called
heading. Each aircraft will call Speed and Angels on (Figure 21). For example, “Hawk 1, Speed and
Angels” “Hawk 2, Speed and Angels.” The bandit will then call “You’re cleared in” to indicate that you
can start the engagement. The attacking fighter should roll in, execute a hard turn with the Lift Vector on
the bandit, point his nose at the defender, and call “Fox-2.” Whenever we call a missile shot, we will pull
the trigger. The bandit will then break and call “Chaff, Flares, Continue.” Remain wings level for 2-4
seconds, driving towards the bandit’s point of departure. This should correspond to the LOS racing off,
which is also the visual cue for Attack Window entry.
FIGURE 21: STARTING INSIDE THE BUBBLE

Then roll to put lift vector on/below the Bandit and pull to “heavy buffet,” this is an offensive break turn,
use lead and lag to control nose to tail. Generally, the power remains at MRT. The bandit will recognize
the threat and execute a nose low break turn in the direction of the attacker due to the airspeed being
significantly less than corner speed. The primary goal of the attacker is to achieve guns tracking on the
bandit, not a continuous set of high/low yo-yo’s. Follow-on missile shots may also be taken secondarily.
Another logical goal of the attacker is to stay offensive by managing angles off, nose-to-tail, and closure
to stay in the vicinity of the “control point” or “control zone.” If the attacker makes a big enough mistake,
i.e., flight path and 3/9 line overshoot at a high track-crossing rate, the bandit will be able to either
neutralize or become offensive on the attacker.
The set will go to a logical conclusion and a knock-it-off will be called after the training objectives have
been satisfied.
BREAK TURN EXERCISE
• P- Abeam
• A- 15,000 ft def/16,000 ft off
• D- .8 - 1.0 nm
• S- 300 kts
The Break Turn Exercise is performed last during the offensive and defensive hops because generally,
once the initial comm and roles of the set are established, any previously practiced maneuvering can be
seen. In other words, the bandit can execute a defensive pitch back in the vertical or the horizontal and a
flat or rolling scissors fight could follow this if the offensive fighter makes a mistake and overshoots.
The BTX is begun somewhat like the Loose Deuce Exercise in TacForm. The idea is to be able to talk
and fly at the same time. In TacForm, the lead waited to start the maneuver until the student spoke on
the radio. Now, the lead will begin maneuvering regardless of whether the student is ready. The student
who cannot move the aircraft while speaking will be “left behind” and at a significant disadvantage from
the very beginning.

After the “speed and angels” call, the lead will call, “Start the comm.” The comm (Figure 22) will be as
follows:
Offensive fighter: “Hawk 1, break left/right, missile in the air.”
Bandit: “Hawk 2.”
Offensive fighter: “Ease your turn, missile defeated.”
Bandit: “Hawk 2.”
Offensive fighter: “Bandit’s coming out your right/left 3/9 high.”
Bandit: “Hawk 1, Tally.”
Offensive fighter: “Fox-2.”
FIGURE 22: BREAK TURN EXERCISE

The offensive fighter for the hop will begin the comm by calling his wingman to break into the flight.
While executing the comm, at this time the offensive fighter becomes the “bandit” which explains the
need to call the defender’s eyes onto the offensive fighter. The offensive fighter will continue to dig nose
low while pulling nibble of buffet and accelerating to between 350-400 kts and will take a Fox-2 when he
achieves nose-on. If he delays pointing at the bandit, he may be out of range (> 2 nm). If you are blind,
standard training rules apply. If you are outside of 2 nm, call “Fight’s on” to begin the engagement.
Once the Fox-2 is taken, the bandit will execute a break turn to defeat the missile. Now the attacker will
need to enter the bandit’s bubble.
The difference between the two sets is that here the attacker and defender will be at or near cornering
speed and the attacker will also be 3,000 ft outside of the defender’s bubble. After the shot or “Fight’s
on” call, continue to fly/unload towards the bandit’s point of departure for about 5-7 seconds. This will
correspond with the LOS rate racing off which is the visual cue for Attack Window entry. The attacker
will need to get 6.5 - 7.0 g’s depending on his airspeed to maximize his turn rate. A smooth application
of back stick, rather than a quick snap pull, will avoid overstressing in most cases. The bandit is actually
executing what is known as a “pitch back.” If he has enough distance he will attempt to have a nose-to-
nose merge with the attacker. As long as the attacker does not delay setting his nose on the point of
departure, he will be able to enter the bandit’s bubble. All the visual cues that were present in the perch
set will be evident. The attacker will have to enter the bandit’s bubble ensuring he flies behind the “post,”
attempting to stay offensive, and hopefully closing to a gun envelope.
The bandit may also elect to break into the vertical to attempt to keep you in lag. If you see this, fly
towards the bandit’s point of departure for approximately 2-4 seconds to get your turn circle underneath
the bandit’s and fly aft of his post. Due to the T-45’s inability to reverse into the vertical, we are not
concerned with a vertical overshoot. That being said, we should pull as required to take a snap shot on
the bandit as we are entering the vertical two circle fight. After the shot, keep the 17 unit pull on, but
displace your turn circle 10 degrees outside of the bandit’s to ensure flight path deconfliction. Follow the
bandit over the top and look to gain energy on the back side to reenter the bandit’s bubble for another
snap shot. The point is to threaten the bandit while maintaining energy for the two circle vertical fight.
From there, the bandit will most likely redfine into the horizontal plane and look to setup a bug once you
approach a firing solution.
The BTX will normally transition between two-circle and one-circle flow. Offensively, we would like to
maintain two-circle flow since that forces the bandit into a predictable flight path and should provide
multiple gun solutions. By not managing our closure, we give the bandit ample opportunity to transition
the fight into one-circle flow increasing his chances of escape. The BTX will continue to a logical
conclusion and be terminated with the standard “knock-it-off” call once training objectives are achieved.
Remember the concept of misaligned turn circles and be patient.
CONCLUSION
Offensive ACM will be one of the most fun things you ever get to do. These flights can be made infinitely
more enjoyable when you have a good understanding of ACM concepts and techniques. This is your first
chance to employ the T-45 as an air-to-air weapon versus a hostile bandit. Keep in mind that your first
priority is to KILL the bandit. It is highly recommended that you pursue as many personal solutions to the
ACM problems you will be presented with so you can build your own kit of tools to use in the jet.

DEFENSIVE ACM
OBJECTIVES
As you might imagine, priorities change somewhat when you’re on the defensive end of an engagement.
Above all else, you need to survive. This will require you to defeat any weapon that has already been
fired and deny the bandit the option of employing others. Your capacity to perform this important task is
seriously diminished the longer that you remain engaged. For this reason, you must look for opportuni-
ties to disengage, or bug out. They will rarely simply appear. You will, more than likely, have to create
them through intelligent defensive ACM.
Lastly, should the opportunity to gain the offensive advantage present itself, take it only if it will result in a
quick kill. It would take a fairly egregious ACM error for this to happen but it’s possible. It is a whole lot
easier to disengage from a dead bandit.
Those of you who are especially aggressive may be wondering why disengagement would be a higher
priority than a role reversal. There may be times that your mission dictates remaining engaged at all
costs. Without a mission imperative, however, look to bug out first. Your odds of achieving a successful
one are a whole lot better.
Like Offensive ACM we have solid objectives as the defender.
1. Deny/Defeat follow on shots
2. Survive
3. Neutralize/become offensive – Kill the bandit.
4. Bug – We need to separate from this fight. Even if we get a temporary role reversal, it’s time to
run. We will minimize our time in the fight, but look to set up the best bug possible.
EXECUTION
Let’s discuss defensive maneuvering. Defensive maneuvering is hard work, but well worth the time and
effort because the alternatives are so unpleasant. While reading the following, you must remember that
you cannot fight what you cannot see. In order to accomplish the your goals defensively,
YOU MUST KEEP SIGHT!
This concept cannot be overemphasized. If you lose sight of the attacker, you will be dead within
30 seconds. These flights will be, at least, twice as tiring as your offensive hops. Be prepared to exert
yourself.
As the defensive aircraft, your ultimate goal is to create the greatest possible in-close flight path over-
shoot. A 180-degree out pass (nose to nose) is the best possible result, because at that time the two
aircraft are essentially neutral. You have increased your opponent’s AOT to 180 degrees. You will force
this maximum overshoot by:
• Decreasing the opponent’s N-T (Range)
• Increasing the opponent’s AOT (Angles)
• Increasing the opponent’s Vc (Closure)

The defensive aircraft will accomplish this by maneuvering in plane and out-of-phase (turn direction) with
his opponent. The one large exception to this is any gun defense maneuver. For this the defensive
aircraft needs to maneuver out-of-plane in order to defeat an impending/existing gun attack. Remember;
execute out-of-plane guns defenses only as long as there is an immediate gun attack threat. Once the
attacker’s nose comes off, the defensive aircraft must immediately start maneuvering in plane and out-of-
phase. If the defensive aircraft stays in an out-of-plane maneuver he is giving the offensive aircraft
turning room, thereby doing his out-of-plane maneuvering for him.
To execute our defensive ACM objectives we need to do some things as pilots.
1. KEEP SIGHT/REGAIN SIGHT – You cannot fight what you cannot see. You will lose sight, but
know where to look when you should see the bandit.
2. Max. Perform our Aircraft – We need to be cognizant of our LV placement and AOA and
airspeed to not only deny shots, but to attempt to separate from the fight.
3. Avoid the Deck.
As we discuss specific defensive maneuvers, these concepts will make more sense. The point to
remember is that the offensive and defensive aircraft each have different objectives, and are trying to
influence the relative planes of motion differently. Hence, the pilot that most effectively controls the plane
of motion will be able to best achieve his goals.

ATTACKER OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE

If we find ourselves in the unenviable position of being “jumped” or defensive for some other reason, we
can begin to get some ground back by understanding the geometry of the bubble and the visual cues that
describe it.
FIGURE 23: ANGLE OFF-TAIL RECOGNITION
Before an attacking aircraft enters our bubble, we can retrieve angles that the attacker will be unable to
counter. If we begin a break turn and the bandit appears to drift forward on our canopy, then we know
that he is outside of our bubble. We would like to keep our energy up, so when breaking into the bandit,
try to get moving downhill to preserve speed and maximize turn rate. The moment the movement stops
advancing forward, he has entered our bubble. At this point, continuing a break turn will keep the closure
up if the bandit flies a pure pursuit profile. However, more than likely, the break turn will merely aid in
bleeding more airspeed away.
If you are defensive and want to gain angles back, it helps to try to get the bandit outside the bubble.

ATTACKER PURSUIT CURVES

While assessing the bandit’s position, you see that he chooses to fly a pure pursuit profile. This would
appear to the defender as a constant sight picture of the nose aspect of his aircraft. If the attacker flies
pure pursuit after he has entered your bubble, continuing to break into him will increase his closure thus
inducing an overshoot. (Remember to execute a guns “D” when appropriate).
If the bandit flies a lead pursuit profile, you will see the belly of his airplane as he induces his own
overshoot. He will fly in front of your post and show you a huge flight path overshoot. In this case,
reverse; get a quick gunshot and bug.
FIGURE 24: ATTACKER BUBBLE ENTRY

If the bandit understands ACM, he may elect to fly pure pursuit until he enters your bubble, then reorient
to a lag pursuit curve. You will see this visually because not only will he drift aft, but his nose will be no
threat, he may even ease his angle of bank. He is attempting to maneuver around the post to the attack
window.
Nose attitude assessment will be crucial in determining how we want to fight our airplane. When the
bandit’s nose is not a threat, we have more options and can get back into parameters for the existing
fight.
ASSESS ATTACKER’S OFFENSIVE BREAK TURN

When the attacker hits the attack window, he should execute a max performance offensive break turn.
There are some visual cues to help you assess the execution of this break turn. You should see his
aircraft bank into you and you will see his nose stabilize or start to come on to you. If the bandit quickly
moves from lag to nose-on or lead, he has done a good pull. If he also gets his nose down while doing
this, he was able to preserve some energy during the pull and he may be set up for a sustained rate war.
If his break turn was weak or late, he will be stuck in lag, giving you the opportunity to get airspeed back
and set up your separation. While you are observing this whole evolution take place, watch the bandit,
WATCH THE DECK and fly your aircraft.
MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES

Where this concept helped us as the attacker, it can hurt us as the defender (Figure 25). If we are
defensive, two circle, and the attacker is patient, but nose off, in lag, our time to live could be short. We
know that eventually the attacker will be able to come nose on just based on geometry, but we can make
his shot more difficult if we adjust our pull at the appropriate times. The range between attacker and
defender will vary during the MATC fight. If we attempt to minimize our separation, we may get some-
where close to a 180-degree pass and be able to extend or bug. If we are able to get behind the
attacker’s wing line, we may be able to use MATC to our advantage, but the attacker will have to make
some large BFM errors in order for this to happen.

FIGURE 25: MISALIGNED TURN CIRCLES
RATE WAR (DEFENSIVE)

The rate war from the defensive standpoint will involve many variations of AOA and airspeed. We know
we have Best Instantaneous Rate airspeed and Best Sustained Rate, which are where we would like to
be if at all possible. If we are flying our best rate while defensive and the attacker is not, then our
defensive posture will not remain long (this is good).
This basically comes down to a nose assessment exercise. Let’s start at lag pursuit.
The bandit has put himself in lag to maintain an offensive advantage. At this point, he is not shooting us,
so we can get some knots back. How do we do that? Either descend while continuing a nibble of buffet
pull, or if on the deck, ease the pull to no less than 14 units (JUST EASE, DON’T UNLOAD) to acceler-
ate. We will continue to fly our best rate fight evaluating the bandit the entire time. When we see the
bandit’s nose coming to bear, begin the break turn.

If we break into the bandit before his nose comes to bear, we are increasing his closure problem that he
will exacerbate by pulling lead for a gunshot. WE WILL EXECUTE A GUNS D FOR EVERY PENDING
SHOT. When his nose comes on, we D. As soon as his nose is off we will either continue breaking into
him until he overshoots, or if in the control zone or aft, we get back onto rate numbers. Our break turns
should put our LV on the bandit or slightly below whenever possible. We will be flying various AOA’s
throughout the fight, so keep your scan moving and be deliberate.
Remember the T-45 will feel like it’s flying through smooth air if we are on our Best Sustained Rate
numbers on the deck. Therefore, a good inside/outside scan to check the Bandit’s position, our altitude,
airspeed and AOA will be critical. Our break turns should be the nibble of buffet AT A MINIMUM, more
like heavy buffet.
REDEFINE/REVERSE
The question of when to reverse, or redefine the fight, has been difficult to answer since the advent of
student pilots.
We will start with the easy decisions and move to the harder ones later.
3/9 Line overshoot – If we are defensive and we see somewhere, somehow we have induced an
overshoot where the attacker moves ahead of our wing line (forward of abeam), then we reverse. The
attacker has been neutralized or the roles have reversed and we can look to shoot and bug.

In Close, High Angles Off, Flight Path Overshoot – How close is “In Close”? If the overshoot occurs
inside the forward limit of the Control Zone (<2,000 ft), we will consider it “In Close.” We also need high
Angles Off Tail (>60 degrees AOT). If the defender does an immediate, aggressive reversal after the
overshoot, he may be able to induce a 3/9-line overshoot from this Flight Path Overshoot.
Flight Path Overshoot – As the defender, if we observe a flight path overshoot where the attacker is in
or aft of the control zone and we attempt to reverse, we merely help his lag problem and aid in our own
demise (Figure 26).
FIGURE 26: FLIGHT PATH OVERSHOOT

If we decide to reverse, we must do so with speed and precision. We need to get off our pull (unload)
then reverse to reorient our lift vector on/aft of the bandit. Once there, we need to pull to get our nose up
and work into an airspeed band more appropriate for our redefined fight. We are pulling into a one-circle
fight, so 300 kts is probably not the place to be. If we execute a break turn (21 units) we will bleed while
getting our nose position established. If we are already slow, a nibble of buffet pull might help us
preserve some energy for the follow on merge. Lift Vector placement is crucial here. If we merely pull up
after the decision to reverse, we give turning room for the bandit to capitalize on. We must constantly
reposition our LV to give the bandit as little turning room as possible. The use of speed brakes is a
technique that is often introduced here. The recommendation is to get many different techniques and try
to come up with one that suits you.
DEFENSIVE DECK TRANSITIONS

We will discuss how we would like to end up on the deck, ASSUMING WE ARE NOT BEING SHOT OR
HEAVILY PRESSURED BY THE BANDIT.
Prior to arriving on the deck, we need to assess the fight and come up with a game plan. The important
thing to remember is that energy addition on the deck is very difficult and comes with a heavy price in
turn performance. Therefore, prior to arriving on the deck, we need to obtain the energy package that we
desire, making the bandit’s job more difficult and our survival more likely.
One-Circle – Fortunately, in the T-45, we can fight a one-circle fight and gain altitude without sacrificing
much in performance. The important thing to keep in mind is that the T-45 has marginal nose authority,
especially when slow, so if we are close to the deck and slow, allowing the nose to break the horizon may
mean we cannot recover without busting the. If we are fighting a fully developed flat scissors, MRT and
smooth control inputs will give us a positive VSI and give us more flexibility. If we execute a guns
defense aggressively nose low, we need to be aware of the deck. We need a few thousand feet to
salvage a big nose slice. Also, attempting to bug from the flats is hard enough, if we are near the deck,
we have less altitude to use to gain airspeed impeding our acceleration.
Two-Circle – This is where deck awareness and a good game plan can save your life. When we are
defensive, two circle approaching the deck, we may need to take whatever altitude remains, before the
bandit takes it away, to arrive at 10,000 ft with a good rate package. This type of deck transition is called
an Energy-Rate Deck Transition and can be used when the bandit is not threatening you to arrive on
the deck with a good rate energy package. For example, if we are at 12,000 ft with 280 KIAS, we need to
keep a nibble of buffet pull and descend using the 10 degree rule to accelerate to our Sustained Turn
Rate band of 300-330 kts. Thus if the Bandit doesn’t arrive on the deck with a similar airspeed band, he
will have to ease his turn to accelerate which will hurt his rate (good for us). If the bandit is arriving at a
weapons solution, we need to use a Positional Deck Transition and max perform to take angles away
and create an angular and closure problem. This will take away angles from the attacker, but it is done at
an energy penalty.

Roller- The important thing to recall here is our smallest Split S altitude. On average, 5,200 ft above the
hard deck is a good number to remember. If we lack the altitude required to optimize our LV placement
during the roller, it may be time to transition to a one-circle fight, or separate. This may mean that we will
give away a lot of turning room for the bandit initially, but the following roll, he will have to transition as
well, which will help you get some angles back.
DECK REVERSAL CRITERIA

In most cases, reversing on the deck will usually help the attacker’s gun solution. We would only reverse
on the deck with a significant flight path overshoot that will allow us to neutralize the attacker or if we are
being shot and simply need to redefine to remain unpredictable.

FLAT SCISSORS MANEUVERING (DEFENSIVE)

The horizontal scissors (Figure 27) is a slow-speed, high-AOA radius fight (one circle) where both
fighters are trying to minimize their respective turn radii. Both the fighter and the bandit will be trying to
minimize their turn radius to gain a positional advantage.
Defensively, we will be flying our airplane in a similar manner, as before, however, we will be looking to
achieve different goals. We will still be attempting to achieve our smallest radius of turn, in this case, to
neutralize the attacker so we can bug.
The reversal techniques were discussed earlier, but remember to stay out of phase by reversing as the
bandit crosses your 6. Follow these and enter our one-circle fight. Our goals here are different than
when we wanted to kill the other airplane. We are looking to get out-of-phase, to set up our bug. In order
to do this, we need to generate lateral separation after the first merge. The lateral separation created will
be translated into angles off tail at the merge. We create lateral separation post merge by first assessing
the bandit’s Lift Vector position. If the bandit does not have his Lift Vector oriented towards us, we should
continue to generate lateral separation. Once the bandit places his Lift Vector on us, we must honor this
by placing our LV on the bandit. If the bandit were to keep his wings level, and we did the same, we
would essentially accomplish a 150-kt bug as the separation increases.

After the reversal, both aircraft will be situated in a nose high, climbing, nose-to-nose fight (one-circle).
Each will turn into each other attempting to flush the other out by minimizing their respective turn radii.
The two aircraft will cross flight paths at some point. It is imperative that the student calls out his
intentions, as stated in training rules, as to whether he will cross high or low.
Remember our priorities and look to set up a good bug. Keep sight of the bandit while max. performing
your aircraft. (Read the Separation/Bug chapter at the end of High Aspect ACM.) If a bug out does not
appear successful the student should recognize this and perform a pitch-back maneuver to deny a
missile shot and attempt another close-aboard, 180-degree out pass. The definition of a successful
bugout is 1.5 nm with > 100 kts opening. We will evaluate this by the attacker calling “Fox-2” when he is
in a suspected weapons envelope. The defender will broadcast his airspeed, and then the attacker will
call out his airspeed. The attacker and defender will then make an assessment of shot range and note
both airspeeds to determine whether or not the missile would have been defeated. The goal for the
defensive fighter is to survive as long as possible and attempt to disengage from or neutralize the fight.
Make energy excursions to get out of phase and create high aspect merges. When you decide to bug,
minimize vertical separation by holding the nose up as you turn towards the bandit. Remember that you
can call “low” from a high position.

ROLLING SCISSORS MANEUVERING (DEFENSIVE)

The rolling scissors (Figure 28) will generally occur after a flight path and 3/9 overshoots where the
defender has sufficient energy to somewhat use the vertical to stop down-range travel during his reversal.
The comment regarding stopping down-range travel is significant. Note also that although we set up the
rolling scissors with an overshoot in the vertical plane; remember that this maneuver could be entered
after a high-speed overshoot in the horizontal.
As the bandit executes a barrel roll attack on us, we will counter the barrel roll attack by pulling level
across the horizon, when the bandit is over us and aft, pull into the vertical. This will create a vertical
overshoot. Defensively, this is good; the bandit’s nose is not an immediate threat so you have some
options about setting up a good bug. Although we don’t have the airspeed to go pure vertical, we want to
drive the fight as ‘loopy’ as possible. This will afford us two advantages as the defensive aircraft. First, it
will generate merges that are more neutral. These merges will be more vertical, which will give us our
second advantage, which will be large attitude discrepancies, and large airspeed splits from the bandit.
We will achieve this loopy fight through the use of good LV placement and AOA control. We will
maneuver similar to the offensive roller. We will fly lag when appropriate (typically through the bottom of
the roll, when our airspeed is high) and lead to collapse the fight over the top. If we combine the
aggressive use of lead over the top with the selection of idle, we can reduce the distance between the
aircraft, thus solving one of the parameters for the good bug.

The goal for the defensive fighter is to survive as long as possible and attempt to disengage from or
neutralize the fight. Because a rolling scissors is a slow-speed fight with predictable flight paths and poor
shot opportunities, you should look for an opportunity to disengage. Typically, the appropriate time to
disengage is from the top of the roller. It helps to be aware of this to time your disengagement or to
anticipate when the bandit may decide to disengage.
We need to make sure we time the bug correctly. For bug mechanics, see the Separation/Bug section
following this one. The roller will be heading downrange and the bug will end up going about 135 degrees
from that heading, out the bandit’s tail. Here, we want to make sure that the bandit is getting his nose up
prior to our attempt to run. Going over the top, we will check to see that the bandit’s nose has broken the
horizon, then attempt to run out his extended six, unloading to the deck. It’s imperative that we KEEP
SIGHT of the bandit to be able to evaluate the bug. We will probably need to check turn to put the bandit
as close to our six as possible while keeping sight. In the real world, the bandit will not broadcast when
he shoots, so only your eyeball will tell if you have been successful.
SEPARATION/BUG
We would like to set up the best bug possible. There are some parameters to attempt to achieve.
• 180-degree pass – We want to bug out the bandit’s 6 o’clock position. This will give him the
highest angles to traverse to come nose on.
• 500-ft pass – Any turning room we give outside of this is less he has to turn to come nose on
and could mean an unsuccessful disengagement.
• Airspeed/Nose attitude Split – Ideally we would be nose down/accelerating while the bandit is
nose up/decelerating.
We will rarely achieve all of these goals explicitly. However, if we are close, it can mean a successful
bug and the ability to kill that bandit tomorrow. How far can we deviate from these parameters and still
live? That will change in different situations. For instance, to bug from the flats, we need to get very
close to all three bullets to run. To bug from the roller, we have more leeway due to the angular differ-
ence between fighter and bandit. You will have the opportunity to see many bugs and should be able to
come up with a good sight picture for a good bug window.
There’s no such thing as a bad bug . . . provided you recognize early that you’re not going to make it
and alter your game plan. Therefore don’t wait for the perfect setup to bug. Go for it and if it doesn’t
work, pitch back in and just call it an extension. The separation you gained will be cumulative in the next
overshoot to the flats, increasing your odds of a good bug next time.

In most instances, our bug will not occur at 10,000 ft. Thus our Bug mechanics can stay fairly consistent.
Left Hand – Even before the merge, we should be at MRT, spooling up the motor or accelerating.
Right Hand – We need to pull to the bandit’s extended 6 o’clock position. Then, since our best accelera-
tion occurs at zero g, we should unload until we get there. The good thing about this is that we don’t
need to look inside the cockpit to do this.
Head – We need to keep sight of the bandit. We will try to get him as close to our 6 o’clock as we can
without losing sight. This is referred to as the “Aft Visibility Limit.” It’s different for every person in every
jet.
As we extend, we will need to come inside and check the altimeter for the deck and check turn to
sweeten up our bug. We check turn away from the bandit’s nose in order to maintain sight of the bandit,
and/or to give him more degrees to turn. Only check turn a maximum of two times. We use this rule in
order to maximize our separation from the bandit. If we continuously turn, we will arc, thus not maximiz-
ing our airspeed and lateral separation. We bug all the way to the deck. We need to be at 50 ft if
possible to maximize our airspeed. The weapons envelopes tell us if we have accomplished a success-
ful bugout. A good rule of thumb is the rule of 2’s; 1 nm with 100 kts opening. In training, we can use
A/A TACAN to determine if we have sufficient range and to get an eyeball call. If there is any doubt, then
there is no doubt. We need to pitchback prior to the bandit’s nose becoming a threat using max perfor-
mance and evaluate the bandit.
ATTACKER INSIDE BUBBLE

We need to start thinking about the nose assessment exercise that develops after this (See Rate War
(defensive)). Assess the bandit’s pursuit curve to determine our course of action. If the bandit flies pure
or lead pursuit he will overshoot in some form. We need to try to maximize this by continuing our break
turn until it’s time to execute the guns D. If we bleed here, it’s OK, because if we execute the turn
correctly, he will overshoot and we will be properly set up for the one-circle fight.
If the bandit flies a lag pursuit profile, get on your rate numbers and use the altitude available to keep
them up. This is a nibble of buffet/rumble pull until we can’t do it any longer. Get your LV below the
bandit and get your airplane coming downhill.
The thing to remember here is that a hard pull will not get us any angles back from the bandit, so
temper your break turns with some intelligence about the geometry of the follow-on fight.

GUNS DEFENSE
This is fairly easy to explain, but hard to recognize while fighting. In the T-45, the lead required for a
gunshot, as seen in the SSD, appears as a T-45 with a Nose-On aspect. Thus whenever we see the
Bandit nose on, inside 3,000 ft we should be thinking about a Guns Defense. The most important thing to
remember about guns is how difficult a good gunshot is. We practice many snapshots versus coopera-
tive bandits during the SSD and still miss. Even if you are on the deck with minimal airspeed, we need to
maneuver our airplane whenever we see a pending gunshot. We have two main objectives while
executing the Guns D.
• Minimize our target area
• Defeat the plane of motion solution
Endeavor to make your airplane as small as possible, this usually means wingtip on the attacker. This
also helps to put our lift vector in a position to alter our plane-of-motion. We need to move our airplane
out of its current path, therefore a weak pull will get us shot, however, a 24-unit rumbling pull will succeed
only in bleeding our airspeed while not moving the aircraft effectively. A smooth 17-21-unit pull will move
the airplane in the quickest fashion. If we find ourselves slow on the deck, put wingtip on the bandit and
pull up. If we are able to execute the Guns D low, that will help us keep our energy up. As soon as the
bandits nose is no longer a threat, put the lift vector back on the bandit and evaluate the bandit’s potential
overshoot and get back on your defensive game plan If the bandit continues to pull lead for shots,
continue to defend against the shots and keep moving the jet!

LOST SIGHT GAMEPLAN

Ideally, we would never, ever lose sight. In the unfortunate circumstance that we lose sight, what do we
do? This would be pretty serious in the “real world.” In training, we need to think safety first, so we call
“Lost Sight.” If we hear another “Lost Sight” or “Blind” from the bandit, we need to get a KIO and
separate via altitude for safety and then execute a rejoin.
If we hear a “Continue” call out of the bandit, then what do we do? Well, the bandit has assumed safety
of flight so we need to continue pulling. If you recall back to offensive ACM you may remember how
difficult it was to execute a good bubble entry on the 6,000-ft perch. It doesn’t really matter which way we
pull, we need to start maneuvering the jet aggressively.
You may have an idea of where the bandit was; maneuver the jet at the nibble to the rumble of buffet in
that direction. As we do this, it will make a more difficult weapons solution for the bandit as well as
moving the bandit further forward on your canopy. After a few seconds, if we have not regained sight, we
need to reorient the lift vector to remain unpredictable and to defeat the POM of the impending gunshot, if
we’re lucky. We should move out-of-plane approximately every 3-5 seconds. The whole time we need to
attempt to regain sight by looking at our 5-7 o’clock position from high to level.
If lost sight while on the bug, you must check turn at least one clock code, or 30 degrees, in order to flush
the bandit out from your 6 o’clock. If still no-joy, pitch back, and again, direction isn’t as important as you
moving the jet right now. Your general mindset is to deny your control zone to the bandit.

TACADMIN
The transit on the defensive hops will be the same as the offensive. You are always the wingman and
always responsible for good TACFORM and good positioning for the sets.
SSD
• P - Abeam
• A - 14,000 ft
• D - .8 - 1.0 nm
• S - 300 kts
The snapshot drill is a cooperative maneuver designed to teach employment of the gun at high angles
off. The snap shot is used when attacking at medium to high angles off in an attempt to achieve a quick
kill, thereby precluding subsequent maneuvering.
The SSD will be set up at 300 kts and 14,000 ft. The two aircraft will be in combat spread, level, and
1.0 nm with the shooter 10 degrees aft of the target’s beam. Once the g-warm is completed and both
aircraft are fenced in, the lead will call that he is setting up for the snapshot drill. As with all ACM set ups,
the drill will begin with “Speed and Angels” calls from both aircraft. The lead will initiate all the comm,
regardless if he is offensive or defensive. The comm will be “Hawk 1, in Shooter,” “Hawk 2, in target.”
The student will be the target on the defensive hops.
The two aircraft will turn in towards each other. This is a cooperative maneuver, so as the target you will
normally pull to place the shooter at 10 or 2o’clock and hold him there, typically about a 12-14-unit pull.
As the Target, you will set the angles and the Shooter will set the range. We may need to adjust our pull
based on the bandit’s range and aspect. It’s important to be a good target and fly 0 VSI. When the
shooter calls “Trigger down, snap,” you should evaluate what the nose position of the shooter is, and then
reverse your turn, pulling as required to get back to abeam as we reach our maximum separation.
Remember, you are the wingman and you must regain 1 nm of separation. Generally, 8 snapshots are
accomplished, but there can be more. On the last 4 snapshots, the instructor will call, “Hawk 1 in
shooter, maneuvering.” During these, you will attempt to maneuver out of the bullet stream and avoid
getting shot. To do this, you will put your wingtip on the attacker and maneuver out-of-plane. Even
though you are defending, you also must be able to keep the geometry flowing. The goal for the
defensive aircraft is to get a good look at what the T-45 looks like when it is in a gun envelope.
Remember the shooter in the guns weave must accomplish three basic things:
I. Plane of Motion
II. LEAD
III. RANGE (1,000-1,500 ft out to 3,000 ft)
Evaluate the size and attitude of the attacking aircraft and get a good Eyeball Call for what the shot looks
like and when things are happening. You will be attempting to defeat the plane of motion solution that the
attacker is presenting. It’s better to be early than late, but if you are too early, the bandit may follow you
through your maneuvers.

As the defender during the maneuvering portion of the snapshot drill, your priority is to create the largest
miss margin for the shooter. To do this, you must maneuver early enough to cause plane of motion
problems for the shooter, but not so early that you give the shooter enough time to correct for it. The
easiest way to do this is by defeating the attacker’s plane of motion. To defeat the snapshot, put a
wingtip on the shooter (this gives the shooter the smallest possible target and gets your lift vector to its
maximum out-of-plane) and execute a nibble of buffet pull (17-21 units) for no more than 1-2 seconds.
Remember if you go nose low, you will need to start your defense a little earlier as you have to overbank
to get wingtip on. You should roll towards the bandit if you put opposite wingtip on, as this will decrease
time to get wingtip on and allow you to keep sight. As soon as you hear the bandit’s assessment, get
your wings under you and attempt to regain 14,000 ft. As you turn in, it’s okay to level off somewhere
besides 14,000 ft, just keep 0 VSI as you turn inbound.
If it appears as though the shooter will be violating the “no forward quarter gun shots forward of the 3/9
line” or “1,000 ft min gun shots” training rule, then either aircraft can call “Skip it” and the shooter aircraft
will maneuver to effect a safe pass and the drill will continue following the reversal. Standard knock it off
procedures apply (Figure 29).
FIGURE 29: SNAP GUNS EXERCISE

FLAT SCISSORS
P - Abeam
A - 14,000 ft
D - 0.8-1.2 nm
S - 250 kts
When we are defensive, we will execute the setup just like the SSD (Figure 30). We will be a cooperative
target until the bandit’s nose approaches (i.e., becomes a factor). We should defeat the snapshot by
putting our near wingtip on the attacker and pulling out-of-plane. This is the reason for the “flats” call at
the initial set-up. As soon as we have defeated the POM of the bullets, we need to resume our fight with
the bandit by repositioning our lift vector back onto him and pulling to maximize the overshoot. We will
see the high crossing rate and in-close overshoot and only then will we reverse. If the shot is rangy, we
can pull back into the bandit to deny turning room and ensure the horizontal overshoot.

ROLLING SCISSORS
P - Offensive aircraft medium angle perch
A - 15-16,000 ft
D - .4 - .5 nm
S - 250 kts
After the speed and angels call, the bandit will call himself in. For the cooperative start, roll 90 degrees
AOB and pull level across the horizon until both aircraft are stacked up vertically, then reverse your turn
to begin the roller (Figure 31). If you lose your spatial awareness, after the pass just go LV on the bandit.

6,000-FT PERCH
• P - Right/Left Perch (45-degree AOT)
• A - 15,000 ft def/16,000 ft off
• D - .8 - 1.0 nm
• S - 300 kts
This is your chance to attempt
to counter the two-circle attack.
Generally speaking, the longer
the range and the more the
AOT, the more difficult the
geometry is for the bandit. At
longer ranges you will be able
to turn more degrees before the
bandit enters your bubble.
Unfortunately, the 6,000-ft set
puts the bandit right on the
bubble.
After a “Speed and Angels” call

from both fighters, the lead will
come in off the perch. Prior to
the bandit’s nose coming to
bear, break into him to either
keep his missile on the rails or
defeat any shot he fires. The
defensive break turn is
executed by rolling to put your
LV 45 degrees (135 degrees
AOB) below the horizon and
then smoothly pulling to 19-21
units. This will allow you to use
altitude to keep your turn rate
up while looking for the bandit
to assess his nose. You should
strive to get about 45-50
degrees nose low and then FIGURE 32: STARTING INSIDE THE BUBBLE
execute a deck transition
appropriate to the bandit’s
attack. The bandit will most likely arrive in your control zone and attempt a shot. You need to execute a
guns D to defeat the shot and then get right back into your two-circle fight or redefine. The primary goal
of the bandit is to achieve guns tracking on you. You will attempt to force an in-close overshoot to
neutralize the attacker (Figure 32). If the bandit makes a big enough mistake, i.e., flight path and 3/9 line
overshoot at a high track-crossing rate, you will be able to either neutralize or become offensive.
The set will go to a logical conclusion and a Knock-it-off will be called after the training objectives have
been satisfied.

BREAK TURN EXERCISE

• P - Abeam
• A - 15,000 ft def/16,000 ft off
• D - .8 - 1.0 nm
• S - 300 kts
Defensively, this is a great opportunity for us to fine-tune our bug techniques.
When directed to “break right/left,” execute an overbanking hard turn with your LV 45 degrees (135 de-
grees AOB) below the horizon. Your lead will direct you to ease the pull, simulating the missile’s defeat.
Ease your pull to the nibble of buffet while continuing to dig nose low; this will increase your airspeed.
The bandit will call his position to you and your response of ‘Tally’ has reset the roles of fighter and
bandit. Your priority now is to put the bandit at your aft visibility limit to maximize the extension without
losing sight! A good rule of thumb is to keep turning nose low until you reach a heading 180 degrees
past your start heading. Then get your head out and find him. As soon as you have the bandit at 5:30 or
6:30, aggressively unload for kts/extension. If you must check turn to keep sight, do it at 13 or 14 units
and get right back on your unload. Do not arc!
To review, the comm should sound like this:
Lead: “Hawk 2, break left/right, missile in the air.”
Student: “HAWK 2.”

Lead: “Ease your turn, missile defeated.”
Student: “HAWK 2.”
Lead/Bandit: “Bandit’s coming out your right/left 3/9 high.”

Student: “HAWK 2, Tally.”
Bandit: “Fox-2” or “Fight’s On.”

Before the bandit’s nose comes onbreak back into him (Figure 33). This, combined with use of expend-
ables (a timely “chaff/flares” call for you), will defeat his shot, if you didn’t prevent the bandit from taking it
altogether.
FIGURE 33: BREAK TURN EXERCISE
Your reengagement can take one of two forms. Either a maximum instantaneous break turn (using all
available g consistent with NATOPS), or a maximum performance pull into the vertical. Keep in mind
that max performance can mean one of two things; either the lift limit if you are below corner or max G if
you are above corner. Base your choice on bandit range and nose position. If range is sufficient to keep
the bandit from getting around your post, come back in nose level to slightly low in the direction of the
bandit. If he’s at dead six, it doesn’t matter which direction you choose, but then you won’t be able to see
him, will you?

You are trying to force as neutral a pass as you can possibly get. That means maximum angles off the
tail, minimum lateral separation. If you can achieve this merge with sufficient airpeed (you should have
no lower than 300 KIAS), disengagement will likely be successful. Care must be taken not to unload into
the deck during execution of this bugout–you’ll be very close to it.
If the merge is such that a bugout is not possible, your options vary according to the degree of defensive-
ness. If the merge is close, a reversal may be a good option. Betting on a delayed reaction from the
bandit, you may be able to force either a climbing one-circle fight or potentially a roller (depending on the
degree of the vertical overshoot and how long it takes him to get his nose up). Either of these could
afford a better bug opportunity than the continuation of a two-circle fight.
If the bandit is able to make it around your post, you are very defensive and will be forced to continue
your turn. Energy management is paramount! Don’t bleed below your best sustained turn rate airspeed
unless required to keep his nose off! It’s possible that the bandit ‘sold the farm’ (in terms of energy) to
arrive at this point, and the zealous conservation of your knot package could yield angles for you. Angles
lead to overshoots. Overshoots lead to bugouts.
If the bandit has buried his nose on the entry and you are unsure of your ability to generate the extension
required for a 180 out pass, you have the option to pitch back vertical. Execution and timing are critical
here. You need to go early to avoid being shot over the top. You need to execute a break turn pull and
control your lift vector. The lift vector will either be on the bandit or in front of him if he gives you turning
room. The vertical pitchback is difficult to master and the consequences can be dire.
The BTX will go to a logical conclusion and be terminated with the standard “knock-it-off” call once
training objectives are achieved.
CONCLUSION
Defensive BFM is extremely difficult. There is no clearer way to describe the position of straining your
neck to see yourself getting shot. However, a solid understanding of our aircraft and BFM should give
you the tools you need to survive should you ever find yourself defensive in Hostile Territory. This section
has described many techniques to try to capitalize on the mistakes the attacker may make. We need to
keep one thing in mind whenever we are defensive . . . NEVER GIVE UP. Hopefully you will disengage
and live to fight another day.

Air Combat Maneuvering
NOTES

HIGH ASPECT ACM

Up until now, the fights have started with one aircraft in a positional advantage over another. In a high
aspect engagement, BFM concepts take on a new light since no aircraft begins with a positional advan-
tage and the flow is much less predictable. As both aircraft vie for an advantage, engagements will
normally transition from neutral to defined roles. When this occurs, use the concepts previously dis-
cussed in Offensive and Defensive ACM.
There are several different considerations when approaching high-aspect BFM. First of all, what sort of
merge are you likely to encounter? Here in the Training Command, your neutral sets will occur from
close range (typically inside of 1-1/2 mile) with both fighter and bandit having a tally of the other. Assum-
ing that neither jet is willing to give away any position advantage at the merge, you will pass with 500 ft
(minimum for training rules) and 180 degrees off the tail. From here, you will employ all the ACM
knowledge that you have acquired to accomplish your goals. Since your objectives can change given
your degree of offensiveness or defensiveness, it is important to be flexible in your game-plan execution.
Among other things, you must keep sight in this dynamic environment. The bandit will pass the merge
and go very close to your 6 o’clock (your aft visibility limit). You need to regain sight or the end will be
quick. Take note of the environmentals. The quality of visibility and any detractors like the sun or clouds
will directly affect the amount of time and energy you must devote to maintaining sight.
OBJECTIVES
A fighter pilot must know how to employ his aircraft 1 v 1 before he moves on to more complex sce-
narios. 1 v 1 maneuvering, though not as complex as multi-plane scenarios, is more complex than any
facet of your training to date. With the myriad of forms the 1 v 1 may take, it can be broken down into two
simple choices, and with each, some basic rules. The only two options are:
(1) To extend through the bandit for a subsequent reengagement or total separation, or
(2) To turn with the bandit to achieve the kill.

Air Combat Maneuvering Safety/Emergency Situations
Once we have determined that we will engage our bandit, we need to accomplish a few goals.
• Determine Flow (see Concepts and Definitions for a Flow discussion)
• Evaluate the Bandit (How well is the bandit executing his fight?)
• Define Roles (Soon Offensive and Defensive roles will appear and we need to execute our
training for those roles)
In order to execute these objectives, we need to do some basics:
• Max perform the aircraft
• Keep sight of the bandit

• Avoid hitting the deck
HIGH ASPECT CONCEPTS
FLOW
As you have already seen from your reading, every engagement can be broken down in terms of the flow
that it is generating. One of the keys to gaining an advantage in high-aspect ACM is driving the fight into
flow, which will allow you to exploit your aircraft’s performance characteristics. With similar performing
aircraft, recognizing flow first, and then flying your jet accordingly will achieve the advantage.
• One-circle flow (Figure 34)

occurs when one aircraft
reverses at the merge, creating
a fight defined by turn radius.
In a one-circle fight, the jet,
which can turn the tightest
circle, will achieve positional
advantage. When engaged in
one-circle flow, you need to
collapse your turn radius as
tightly as possible in order to
create turning room between
you and the bandit. This
means transitioning to an
airspeed that is both slower
than his and controllable in
terms of g available. 110 KIAS
may well be slower than his
airspeed, but it affords no
ability to turn your jet and will
soon result in the loss of any
position advantage gained.
FIGURE 34: ONE-CIRCLE FLOW

Air Combat Maneuvering Safety/Emergency Situations
• Two-circle flow (Figure 35)

occurs when both aircraft
turn across each other’s tail,
forming a fight defined by
rate. When engaged in two-
circle flow, the jet with the
greatest turn rate will bring
the nose to bear first while at
the same time, achieving
weapons separation. With
your understanding of T-45
performance characteristics,
you know that your greatest
turn rate will be achieved at
the g limit at approximately
410 KIAS. But you’re not
going to be able to maintain
this pull for long. Unless
time to kill is exceptionally
short, the aircraft with the
greatest sustained turn rate
will win two-circle fights.
When you recognize that the
FIGURE 35: TWO-CIRCLE FLOW
flow is two-circle, attempt to
capture your Tactical Turn
Rate airspeed band and
make energy excursions as required to gain angular advantage.
CONTROLLING MERGES
One of the quickest ways to gain positional advantage in a high-aspect engagement is through the
uncountered use of out-of-plane maneuvering. For instance, by flying your jet through a plane of motion
above the bandit’s, you collapse your turning circle relative to his. Out-of-plane maneuvering must be
coupled with proper LV placement at the correct time to achieve an advantage.
By maneuvering out-of-plane below the bandit, you decrease the angles required to travel (increasing
effective turn rate), while collapsing the radius of your turn circle relative to your opponent’s. Of course, if
you pull your jet level across the horizon while trying to figure out just what exactly that 60-degree nose-
high bandit is doing, the lesson may be accentuated as you go defensive. Keep in mind, out-of-plane
maneuvering will often be limited by your aircraft’s performance. Asking too much from your jet will result
in a loss of control and a quick conclusion to the fight. As you maneuver out-of-plane, you will need to
assess your game plan after the next merge.

VERTICAL MERGES
We will discuss the nuances of the neutral merge in game plan development. However, understanding
the effects of the vertical in determining performance is critical. In general, excessively nose-low
attitudes can be aggressively countered through a hefty amount of lead pursuit, particularly when the
nose-low bandit has high airspeed (Figure 36). Recognizing his predictability in this situation gives you
the freedom to early turn with aggressive lead pursuit, while assuring two-circle flow. This is simple
because the option to reverse (into one-circle flow based on radius) does not exist for the jet that buries
his nose. If it is you who is approaching a very vertical merge excessively nose low, you must do
damage control. If recognized early enough, you may be able to maneuver for a shallower merge. If
that’s not possible, perhaps the bandit will get too aggressive with the lead, allowing you to flush him out
in front with a wings-level pull to the horizon. If he correctly judges his use of lead, however, you must roll
lift vector on and attempt to spiral the fight to the deck.
FIGURE 36: VERTICAL MERGES
If you find yourself approaching a merge while climbing and the bandit has a nose down attitude, you can
early turn the bandit prior to the merge and gain angles that are very hard for him to counter. If the
separation is small (~ 500 ft) you can roll 90 degrees off and start your pull to get your nose on early
without busting the 500-ft bubble. This will require a large amount of lead timing to account for your poor
turn rate nose high. Every situation will be different, but you will begin this early turn well prior to 3-9 line
crossing.
Remember, every time you go nose high, eventually you will end up nose low and you need to look ahead
to try to manage the follow on merges generated from aggressive out-of-plane maneuvering.

ENGAGEMENT MINDSET
Approach each merge with a game plan in mind. At first, it will be difficult to drive the fight the way you
want, with experience, you will be able to drive the fight and spend more time offensive.
In general, we want to hit each merge with minimum lateral separation (500 ft) and take an initial cut
across the bandit’s tail to take out any turning room that may be used against us. More merge mechanics
will be discussed later.
If you are going to fight an aggressive position fight (i.e., one-circle/radius fight), attempt to influence the
merge so as to arrive already established nose high. Reverse at the pass if necessary to create one-
circle flow. Aggressively use out-of-plane maneuvering to collapse your circle relative to the bandit’s.
An uncooperative bandit my not allow you once

circle flow by reversing his own direction of turn
following your initial reversal. You may be able to
reverse your own turn once more, but by this time,
the range between the jets is sufficient to negate
the effects of turn radius (Figure 37). In other
words, two circle conditions exist despite the
appearance of one-circle flow. If you cannot work
your game plan now, react to the bandit by
establishing a competitive turn rate, and look for
an opportunity to redefine later.
If instead, you approach the merge with an energy-

management mind-set, (i.e., Two circle/rate fight)
work either two-circle flow or extension tech-
niques. Hit the merge with the maximum kts
possible and influence flow by initially turning
across the bandit’s tail. A nose-low attitude will be
required to capitalize on all that airspeed and g
available. Pick up best-sustained turn rate
somewhere in your Tactical Turn Rate airspeed
band (300-330 KIAS) and attempt to outrate the
bandit.
FIGURE 37: ACM ENVIRONMENT
With similar aircraft, the fighter who makes the
first error will typically be the loser. In two-circle
flow, you keep a higher airspeed and since these fights normally take longer to develop, they tend to be
more forgiving. However, energy management is key. If you arbitrarily give away airspeed without
gaining something in return (whether that be a shot, position advantage or survival), you will probably find
yourself defensive. One-circle flow is much less forgiving of any mistakes. If you err in an aggressive
position fight, you probably won’t see a gradual degradation of the fight. You will more likely go from a
neutral or offensive position to a guns defense within the blink of an eye.
Finally, don’t ever underestimate the importance of sight. A BFM error that gets the other guy to lose his
tally is not an error. You can be the most inept fighter pilot on earth, but if the bandit doesn’t have sight,
you’ll eventually kill him.

Air Combat Maneuvering Self-Test
GAME PLAN DEVELOPMENT

In ACM, the head-on pass will be the result of the two combatants turning toward each other from abeam
positions. You must work to make a 500-ft pass happen at the first merge and at all subsequent merges.
Any distance over 500 ft present at the merge is called turning room, which will most likely be taken by
the bandit. If so, as the actual pass happens, the bandit will have less than 180 degrees to turn in order
get his nose on the fighter. He will start the engagement with an advantage.
When both aircraft work to make a 500-ft pass at the merge, you will notice that the heading of both A/C
as the merge happens will be about 90 degrees off of the turn in heading. Make sure you are always
working to deny the bandit any advantage at the merge and utilize any turning room the bandit allows, but
do not pass inside of 500 ft at any time.
The aggressiveness of the maneuvering just prior to the pass is critical because it will most often
determine the form the engagement will take. To begin with, never accept a neutral pass. Always try to
achieve an advantage in angles at the pass, that is, attempt an early turn in order to cut down on the
amount of AOT you will have to work off. To achieve this “bite” on the bandit use a hard turn and plan to
pass the bandit at the control point with as many angles as you can get (making sure to be no closer than
500 ft based on ROE). This is called a check turn and is used to not only take out turning room at the
merge, but to see what the bandit is doing. Since you are fighting against the same type of aircraft, you
can engage in either a rate or radius fight.
There are several basic first moves that can be made. Remember from earlier in this instruction that
your success in a two-circle fight is dependent on achieving the best rate of turn (degrees per second); it
is also a nose-to-tail fight. Winning the one-circle fight is achieved by minimizing your radius of turn,
(which occurs at slower airspeeds.) The radius fight is a nose-to-nose fight.
The best instantaneous turn rate of any fighter is generally achieved at its maneuvering speed. This is
also called “corner speed.” The T-45 corner speed is somewhere around 410 kts at 10,000 ft. This is the
speed that maximum g can be achieved without over-stressing the aircraft. If 410 kts is maintained, the
T-45 will sustain around 14 degrees per second. The main problem that exists with corner speed is that
most aircraft do not have the thrust to weight ratio to maintain the airspeed without losing altitude. Once
the aircraft is at the hard deck, it cannot maintain the same maximum turn rate without bleeding airspeed.
This loss of energy (in either altitude or airspeed) is a fact of maneuvering a low thrust-to-weight aircraft
at corner speed. But any time corner speed can be maintained (at maximum g); turn rate will be
maximized. Once the T-45 is on the deck, it is unable to lose altitude in exchange for airspeed, so now
the best rate of turn it can maintain is its best-sustained turn rate. This is around 300-330 kts for best
sustained Turn Rate band. It gives an acceptable turn rate (10-11 deg/sec) and the aircraft will be able to
sustain airspeed while on the deck (i.e., not losing energy). One thing about the T-45’s sustained turn
rate speed is that it allows the use of the tactical vertical. We can pull straight up after being on the deck
at 300 kts and make it over the top. You need to be sure not to bleed much below this airspeed if you are
in a nose-to-tail fight or else your turn rate will suffer and you may not have vertical airspeed at a critical
time. The best time to bleed airspeed from 330 kts would be in order to pull into a gun or missile
envelope and employ a weapon. The 330 kts sustained turn gives the T-45 about 3.5 g’s and is not in a
“buffet zone.” The jet can be pulled to the “edge of buffet,” which bleeds airspeed in exchange for a turn
rate increase (i.e., the nose will track across the horizon faster), but only to a point. This is called
“instantaneous” turn rate. A T-45 pulling at the nibble of buffet will have a turn rate advantage over
another T-45 sustaining 330 kts but the advantage only exists until the airspeed is bled down to around
230 kts. So, in a two-circle fight, if the nose is not on the by the time the jet is bleeding through 230 kts,
you need to get some energy back. Pulling the jet on the buffet zone and bleeding airspeed to get this

turn rate advantage could also be called an “energy excursion maneuver,” even though pulling from
330 kts to 230 kts takes 5-7 seconds (which is considered slow). Regardless, this energy excursion
maneuver can allow an attacking fighter to increase his turn rate (instantaneously) at the expense of
airspeed to arrive nose-on a bandit. All of this information is displayed on the E-M diagram. As previ-
ously stated, 230 kts does not afford you any energy for excursions, defense or use of the vertical. You
should only bleed to this airspeed if in a two-circle neutral fight (“Lufberry”) and you are trying to make the
bandit make a mistake, or gain angles for a shot.
If a nose-to-nose fight ensues, one fighter will have to reverse his turn at the merge. Generally, the turn
radius will decrease with a decrease of airspeed, but only to a point. The good thing about the T-45 in
this case is that the best radius the aircraft can turn for any airspeed is easily identified. It is basically at
the edge of buffet. “Pitch buck” should be avoided, but the buffet encountered at a slightly decreased
AOA is the optimum radius turn the aircraft can perform. When the airspeed gets slower than 200 KIAS,
the buffet threshold will be around 21 units AOA.
The instructor may brief which way he will turn at the merge and ask what you will do in each case. One
of the most important things to remember in any ACM engagement is to have a “game plan.” The pilot
who goes into a merge without one will end up reacting to the bandit instead of forcing his will upon the
bandit. Good ACM knowledge and execution skill is imperative to surviving in multi-plane scenarios.

NOTES

EXECUTION
1. FTR NOSE HI
a. VS. ADVERSARY UP
b. VS. ADVERSARY LEVEL
c. VS. ADVERSARY DOWN
2. FTR NOSE LOW
a. VS. ADVERSARY DOWN
b. VS. ADVERSARY LEVEL
c. VS. ADVERSARY UP
3. FTR TURNS LEVEL
a. VS. ADVERSARY LEVEL
b. VS. ADVERSARY UP
c. VS. ADVERSARY DOWN
FIGHTER NOSE HIGH

In general, when we go nose high, we will be collapsing the fight as our airspeed decreases. (Figure 38).
Vs. Nose High - the bandit

has chosen to go up with us in
one circle fight. In this case,
think like you have entered a
flat scissors and fight a tight
radius fight. Lift Vector
placement and AOA/airspeed
control will be critical here.
Vs. Nose Level - the bandit is

not using altitude to assist his
fight. Use it against him by
fighting the one circle fight
aggressively in the vertical,
thus collapsing your turn radius
with respect to his and
managing your airspeed by
FIGURE 38: FIGHTER NOSE HIGH

VS OPPONENT HI/LEVEL/LO

climbing. Recognize that you’re outside his turn circle, get back in, then work behind the post, but don’t
get buried nose low in your pursuit of two-circle glory. With sufficient turning room, you may be able to
turn behind the bandit’s post and transition to a two-circle fight while accelerating in a descent. If not
behind the bandit’s post, use good one circle mechanics: Early turn to get in phase, maintain weapons
separation and control your airspeed and nose attitude.
Vs.- Nose Low - If you can reverse and make this a one-circle fight, you will be highly offensive; if this
continues two circles you will be on the losing side of the rate war. It is crucial that you make this one
circle fight early. Then transition as stated above. If you don’t reverse, you will be setting yourself up for
a vertical merge, a bad vertical merge.
FIGHTER NOSE LOW

In general, when we go nose low, we are set up to keep our speed up which is usually best in the rate
war. (Figure 39)
Vs.- Nose Low - The bandit is

working in a rate fight along with
you. Your job is Max perform your
aircraft so you are fighting the best
rate fight you can. That means,
using the available altitude to keep
your kts in the best-sustained rate
band as long as possible with the
highest AOA possible. Evaluate
the bandit at the follow on merge to
see how he did, then adjust your
game plane as necessary.
Generally, if he is below you, he
may be out rating you.
Vs.- Nose Level- If we can

maintain the rate fight, we can gain
a good advantage on the bandit by
using the altitude that he is giving FIGURE 39: FIGHTER NOSE LOW
us. The follow on merge might look VS. OPPONENT HI/LEVEL/LO
strange if he stays up there, but
evaluate his rate fight and continue if he lets you. Delay coming up to meet him until you have to in order
to create a more vertical component at the second merge. Meet him halfway up and see if he will take
the turning room. If he doesn’t, by the third merge you will have a big bite and maybe a shot opportunity.
Vs.- Nose Up - If you can continue in the rate fight you will be highly offensive and facing a merge with
you going nose up (good) versus a bandit going nose down (bad). If the bandit reverses nose high and
you find yourself in a one-circle fight, you need damage control. Get the nose up aggressively. You may
need to bug from this one.

FIGHTER TURNS LEVEL

In general, going level across the horizon is not a good game plan because you are not maximizing your
jet for any particular fight. It is never a good idea for the fighter to do a level turn across the horizon
unless the deck is a factor. (Figure 40)
Vs.- Nose Level - Neither aircraft

is doing well here. The bandit,
whether it’s one circle or two, is
giving you the opportunity to
redefine the fight to something
more beneficial for us. Recognize
the flow and use the nose to get
better performance out of your jet:
One Circle - go nose high, Two
Circle - go nose low.
Vs.- Nose Up - If we are one

circle we are arcing, thus your
radius is too large and you will
find yourself defensive quickly.
The only saving grace is the
follow-on merge, which may give
you the possibility to early turn the
bandit if he buries his nose. If we FIGURE 40: FIGHTER LEVEL
are two circle, we are probably a VS. OPPONENT HI/LEVEL/LO
little faster than the bandit, but we
aren’t max performing our aircraft.
Vs.- Nose Low - If we are in a one-circle fight, we aren’t doing too poorly, but we can do better. If we are
two circle, we are giving away vertical turning room to the bandit and he will have a chance to fight a
better rate fight, we need to start to work downhill and work our rate numbers. Come down to meet him
and make the merge happen.
DECK TRANSITIONS
It’s imperative to identify flow and then fight it as hard as possible. When we are engaged and the roles
are not clearly defined, we must identify the flow and adjust our deck transition appropriately.
If we are working a two-circle fight down to the deck, remember your best-sustained rate numbers and
get to the deck with them. That may mean giving up some angles to achieve this, but it will pay off. This
is called an Energy Rate Deck transition. Use the 10-degree rule to arrive on the deck with a good rate
package. We are essentially using altitude to gain energy.

Once on the deck, we will have more options available to us because our best rate numbers provide us
with the energy required to go pure vertical.
If we feel that we can use a max performance pull to get a shot on the bandit or gain significant angular
advantage, we will use the altitude coupled with aggressive LV placement to transition to the deck. This
is called a Positional Deck Transition; essentially using altitude to gain angles. This is often risky due to
the nature of max performing close to the deck. If used properly, you will arrive on the deck with angular
advantage, but it comes at an energy penalty.
HIGH ASPECT BUG CONSIDERATIONS

Most pilots are aggressive in the BFM environment. We feel the need to pressure the bandit and stay
engaged until we get shot or shoot the bandit. However, we work as a team, and we need to return our
aircraft to the team for further employment. This means we will someday have to run away, or separate
from a fight before having killed the bandit--maybe we got jumped, or were outnumbered. We will bug at
various times:
• Whenever we are defensive
• At Joker fuel
• If we were offensive and are now Neutral
Don’t continue to engage in a fight that is degrading for you. Also, it has been proven that the longer you
stay engaged in a fight, the more likely you are to get shot. There are other times when we will bug, but
in the training command, these are the most obvious times.

TACADMIN
SSD
The Snapshot Drill will be set up the same as your previous flights, but you will see both roles. You will
get the opportunity to be the shooter for a few iterations, then the target. It’s imperative to remember a
few basics. First, you are the wingman and it’s your job to maintain proper separation during the drill.
Second, this is a cooperative drill, so we will help out our wingman whenever we can.
NEUTRAL SETS
BUTTERFLY
· P - Abeam
· A - 16,000 ft for both aircraft
· D - 1.0 nm
· S - 300 kts
ABEAM
· P - Abeam
· A - 16,000 ft for both aircraft
· D - 1.5 nm
· S - 300 kts
Neutral maneuvering is the final stage of Air Combat Maneuvering. After mastering the offensive attack
and the defensive maneuvers necessary to defeat the bandit behind your wingline, the logical progres-
sion is to apply these maneuvers to a more realistic situation. Neutral maneuvering will be conducted
against a single bandit in a permissive environment.
The neutrals will start with the SSD like before but you will see both the offensive side and the defensive
side. You will be the shooter and target. Then you will get to warm up with some set engagements,
typically one offensive and one defensive, but your instructor will work out the best solution for that day.

Air Combat Maneuvering Appendix A
Then you will move on to the neutral engagements. There are two types of neutral sets: the Butterfly
set and the Abeam set. The butterfly set (Figure 41) is begun with both fighters co-altitude and co-
airspeed. Following the speed and angels call, the bandit will call “Take a cut away” and both aircraft will
turn 30 degrees away from each other. When enough separation has developed, the Bandit will call
“turning in” and both aircraft will begin a hard turn in to affect a neutral merge. As the pass develops, the
student will call either “right-to-right” or “left-to-left” and the Bandit will echo the call. This call should be
made before rolling wings level. At the merge, the bandit will call “Fights On.” On the abeam set, after
the speed and angels, the bandit will simply count down “3…2…1, Fight’s On” and both aircraft will begin
to maneuver.
FIGURE 41: BUTTERFLY SET
BVR
On your final 1 v 1 neutral flight, you may be introduced to a Beyond Visual Range set. This will expose
you for the first time to what is the most probable scenario for engaging a real-world bandit. There are
countless reasons why you might be forced to a merge, requiring the fighter to employ ACM for a kill.
Follow-on prosecution of bandits who have survived BVR weapons, late situational awareness of a threat
aircraft, or the very likely requirement to positively identify a bandit by visual means (VID) prior to killing
him are all situations which might lead a fighter to the merge. The degree of offensiveness or defensive-
ness in a BFM engagement, which results from a BVR set, is very often determined by who achieves the

first “tally.” With eyeballs on, a fighter can maneuver his aircraft as necessary to achieve either an
immediate kill or a highly offensive position on the bandit.
The ability to gain sight is heavily influenced by environmentals (sun angle, haze, cloud decks, etc.),
bandit aircraft size and/or aspect, the volume of the threat sector and aircrew fatigue. Getting that early
“tally” also becomes easier the more you are exposed to this type of set. Consider all of these as you
begin fine-tuning your lookout technique.
If you are able to achieve sight first, you need to take advantage of it. If an immediate shot opportunity
presents itself, take it. If not, move your jet as necessary to either capitalize on the turning room that
exists or create the separation you need. If the bandit is blind, it should be a quick fight. If he gets sight,
evaluate your degree of offensiveness and maneuver accordingly.
If you find yourself unable to achieve a tally at the merge, keep your airspeed up and start looking aft.
You can’t have too much airspeed in this situation. If you pick up the bandit converting on you, evaluate
his range and either counter him defensively or keep on going.
To initiate the engagement, your bandit will direct you to call a CAP (combat air patrol) station. The CAP
stations will be separated by DME along a TACAN radial or through the use of waypoints. Block altitudes
will be defined as those altitudes ending in 0 through 4 and those ending in 5 through 9. Between 4 and 5
there will be a safe zone. You may not enter the safe zone altitudes until you have the other fighter in
sight. As the fighter, you will always be in the 5 through 9’s; the bandit will own 0 through 4’s. You will
both fly out to your respective CAPS and call when you are set. The bandit will then call “turning in” and
“fight’s on.” Flow towards the bandit’s CAP while managing your airspeed and listening to the bandit’s
calls. The bandit will make simulated Air Intercept Control (AIC) calls to enhance your SA. This may or
may not include altitude. You will be required to scan the threat sector and visually acquire the bandit.
Be in established in your block by 10 nm from the Bandit and make a “10 miles in Block” call. Any
number of things can happen in this engagement, but reference the Three-plane ACM section to review
game plans. If you and the bandit do not visually acquire each other, you will both make a 180-degree
turn towards the same side of the radial/course line and continue back towards each other.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the training command ACM phase taught here is just the tip of the iceberg, but the basics
you learn will apply to any ACM in your future careers. You will not be a “fighter pilot” at the end of this
phase. You will, however, develop an awareness and familiarity with the concepts introduced in this
instruction. You will be a better pilot. And most importantly, you will learn the basics to the tools you will
use in the fleet.

THREE-PLANE ACM
OBJECTIVES
Section Engaged Maneuvering doctrine is a system by which two aircraft can safely separate from
combat spread, allowing for coordinated, sequential attacks as either a free or an Y, optimizing mutual
support in both offensive and defensive situations. Its major advantages come from the fact that the
tactical capability of two aircraft more than doubles when a section works effectively together. Employing
mutual support throughout an engagement enables a section to maneuver to engage the bandit, achieve
a quick-kill, and then regain section integrity.
Combat spread is a major component of section engaged maneuvering. As you learned in TACFORM,
combat spread increases the visual limits, maneuverability, and weapons employment of a tactical
section. To make combat spread effective, the section must employ good lookout doctrine through a
coordinated search pattern. This way, combat spread provides the opportunity for early detection of the
enemy and makes it more difficult for the enemy to either detect the section or split it up during the initial
phase of an engagement. Once the section is detected, combat spread forces a single bandit to commit
to one fighter or the other.
The learning objectives that will be emphasized are:
• Maintaining mutual support through solid tactical formation
• Flying effective Air Combat Maneuvering
• Maintaining good tactical communication.
You are developing the skills to fly good tactical formation. As wingmen it is imperative to always strive to
be in combat spread. We will teach you the comm so that by your three plane solos, you and your
wingman will be potently lethal.
The training command 2 v 1 syllabus is designed as a very basic introduction to the multi-plane ACM
environment. Some of the strategies and tactics are not necessarily considered sound tactical judgment,
such as staying on a level plane of motion. Also, the rear-quarter missile envelope requires a certain
amount of timing in order to achieve a quick kill in both the two-circle and one-circle fights. You will be
able to expand your abilities in multi-plane ACM later on in the FRS and the fleet, but the basics learned
here will most likely be seen again in some shape or form.
STRATEGIES/TACTICS
Before entering an ACM arena, you must evaluate all of the tactical considerations. One is force mix—
the number and type of friendly vs. opponent aircraft. For training purposes, a 2 v 1 environment is the
easiest force mix to learn and use as a building block for future, more difficult, force mixes in the fleet.
What kind of strategies can you use to make a 2 v 1 situation successful? Consider these:
1. Use a common set of guidelines and tactics to conduct the engagement.
2. Force the bandit to commit early.
3. Above all, attempt to achieve a quick-kill.

A quick-kill seizes the initial offensive posture before the enemy implements his game plan. It also allows
less time for the enemy to gain an offensive position. To achieve a quick-kill, simply press for the most
immediate shot in your first maneuver.
Maneuvering so that your section is out-of-plane and out-of-phase with the enemy will improve your
tactical posture. When you were maneuvering from high cover vs. low cover in TACFORM, you were
maneuvering out-of-plane. A cross turn is an example of out-of-phase maneuvering.
Another strategic consideration is to force the bandit to split the section whenever attacked from outside
the section. Refer to the following sections for graphic depictions of these concepts.
It is generally accepted that the outcome of an air-to-air engagement will be greatly influenced within the
first few critical seconds, after visual contact is established.
Although there is no one answer for a given tactical situation, there are certain ingredients that greatly
influence the successful outcome of first move scenarios. The most important ingredient to any tactical
scenario is to have a plan. During the “intercept” phase, the section should have specific objectives that
will aid in developing a sound plan to handle attacks from any quarter. The section’s objectives during
the intercept phase are to:
- deny the enemy a shot

- neutralize any advantage the bandit may have
- separate the section in phase and plane to prevent being attacked as one unit
- strive to establish tally by both fighters

- attempt to bracket the bandit in both azimuth and elevationWith this accomplished, we will force the
bandit to commit to one fighter or be able to commit one fighter on the bandit. Either way we have
now defined the roles and can execute a game plan. We will present you with various scenarios that
will require you to “intercept” the bandit, and execute a plan in order to achieve a kill.

With this accomplished, we will force the bandit to commit to one fighter or be able to commit one fighter
on the bandit. Either way we have now defined the roles and can execute a game plan. We will present
you with various scenarios that will require you to “intercept” the bandit, and execute a plan in order to
achieve a kill.
The 1 v 1 ACM skills you have learned in the two-plane stage will come in handy in three-plane. How-
ever, now you will have to talk while thinking about game plan and strategy in order to effectively neu-
tralize and control the bandit, eventually getting a kill or bug. Good comm, executing tactics correctly,
and maneuvering the T-45 to its maximum performance (i.e., flying your best 1 v 1) will ensure success
in the 2 v 1 stage. The engagements in this syllabus are not really three aircraft fighting 1 v 1. Think of it
as a 1 v 1 plus 1. One fighter will be engaged with the bandit and the other will be free and maneuvering
for a missile shot.
EXECUTION
FORM
These are very busy hops. The quicker we get back into position for the next setup, the better chance we
can complete all the setups. There are four priorities we should follow after a KIO (knock-it-off).
Nibble-of-buffet to the KIO heading - with this in mind, if you took the shot and called the KIO heading,
don’t blindly go to the KIO heading, but drive back towards a good combat spread position.
Mutual support - in other words, let’s find each other so we don’t have a mid-air, and let’s get back into
combat spread. Two situations: 1.) As wingman, after the KIO is done (l lead, wing, bandit), and we’re all
flowing to the new heading, you should always tell lead your clock position (right 4, left 7, etc.). When
lead hears this clock code, and unless it’s 3 or 9 o’clock, he should automatically check the flight to a new
heading to help combat spread. 2.) If lead took the shot, the only time he should tell his wingman his
position is when it is 3 or 9 o’clock. In other words don’t bother saying “lead’s at your right 5.” Instead
say “check it further right to 300, I’ll be coming out your right 3.”
Area - Lead checks how we’re doing in the area. Generally speaking, even if you’ve got some room from
the edge of the area, a turn during the climb only costs a little in climb rate. It’s much better to point back
to the center in the climb than get all leveled off and ready to go only to realize you don’t have any area
left.
G’s and Fuel - Student Lead should initiate this after we’ve had a chance to do the above items. It’s
important to get this out following each engagement, but it’s not super time critical. In other words, don’t
have a near mid-air or bust out of the area while getting your g’s and fuel call done immediately after the
KIO.
Be in position before you start the next engagement. We don’t have time to waste, so you should be
there before the bandit starts the comm and not have to waste gas saying “standby” as you fix your
TACFORM. Poor position is compounded in most of these scenarios and we’ll discuss more under each
engagement’s section. Sun angle is obviously a factor too. General rule of thumb: don’t have the sun off
the nose for any “Switch” scenarios. For the Multi-switch, put the sun behind the section or on the bandit
side, with the latter being the best. KIO headings are also important in getting us back into position.
You’ll read about good headings in each individual section, but get something out there ASAP and we
can update it later. We need to at least get the jets headed in the same direction.

Following the shot and KIO call with heading, the Lead will initiate the KIO (knock it off) cadence, which
will be echoed by wing and bandit in order. Everyone will keep track of the other aircraft for collision
avoidance. Comm cadence is important for flow and results in 4 KIOs being recited. (i.e., “ F-2, KIO,
270.” “Hawk 1 KIO, 270.” “Hawk 2 KIO, 270.” “Bandit KIO, 270.”) The heading is a reference; it does
not mean to turn belly-up two nm away from other members of the flight to get to the heading. The
section must work as a team to arrive in combat spread after a KIO. Suggestions for check turns to
dress the formation may come from the bandit or an IP in the backseat, but the actual maneuver must be
called by the Student lead. As in two-plane, climb at MRT and 300 kts, keeping other members in sight.
FLOW
There are two types of fights in 2 v 1 that you will encounter and need a plan to defeat. They are the one-
circle radius fight and the two-circle rate fight. You are familiar with both of these types of engagements.
These will be discussed in detail later. For either type of fight, the free fighter will attempt to get outside
of the engagement and proceed in either the same direction (same flow) or opposite direction (counter-
flow). These “flows” will both be utilized in the upcoming engagements.
During a two-circle fight, the engaged fighter is in a nose-to-tail fight with the bandit. In a two-circle fight
the engagement remains above the same piece of earth. The engaged fighter can be either offensive or
defensive and the fight may be in either left or right turns. The free fighter will extend away from the fight
and in an opposite direction of turn as the fight, in order to come around and be able to point and shoot at
the bandit. This is known as “counterflow,” or “setting counterflow” because the free fighter is in an
opposite direction of turn (or flow); i.e., out of phase. The engaged fighter must therefore communicate
the direction of turn in a two-circle fight.
In the one-circle fight, the engaged fighter is in a nose-to-nose fight with the bandit. A one-circle fight is a
directional fight. If the one-circle fight is heading north, it will continue north. This is a radius fight. The
engaged fighter must fly his best 1 v 1 and maneuver out-of-plane, minimizing his turn radius in order to
gain a positional advantage on the bandit. A one-circle fight can be entered at a merge by reversing nose
high and back into the bandit to force him to pull up as well and get slow. Once in the one-circle fight, the
engaged fighter must communicate that he is in a one-circle fight, (or he can say he is in a flats or roller)
and he also must say the direction of the fight since they generally go downrange.
The main goal of both engaged and free fighters is to kill the bandit. To do this the bandit must be made
predictable. The easiest way to keep the bandit in a T-45 predictable is to slow him down and bleed his
energy. Therefore a one-circle fight is the goal of the fighters in most cases. As stated before, they can
be entered into by merging and reversing nose high. Recognizing an in-close overshoot and reversing
nose high into him is another way to enter one-circle flow. In both cases, it will be up to the fighters to try
to influence the flow because the bandit has an energy game plan (i.e., he doesn’t want to get slow). The
bandit will probably not reverse at the merge. He will cross the fighter’s tail, attempting to maintain
energy in a rate fight. So the fighters need to think about their game plan and, once executing a one-
circle game plan, they must fly their best 1 v 1 in order to achieve a positional advantage on the bandit.
Once the bandit is defensive, the fighters control the bandit and can kill him with ease. All of the sets
depend on the fighters executing good 1 v 1 ACM. It cannot be emphasized enough.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

When a section visually detects a bandit in a high-threat environment, the roles of lead and wingman give
way to the designation of “free” and “engaged” fighter. The more rapidly these roles are designated, the
more effective the section can employ its full combat potential. The fighter with the initial visual contact,
which usually means the one with the best situational awareness, directs the other fighter and assumes
the “tactical lead” role until the section is engaged.
The priority for which fighter is engaged is:
1. Most defensive fighter
2. Most offensive fighter

3. Fighter in the best position to engage (lead by exception).
Once engaged, the engaged fighter is that member of the section with the best capability either offen-
sively or defensively to force the bandit into a predictable flight path. It is easier to see how the engaged
fighter with an offensive advantage will force the bandit into a predictable flight path; however, even a
fighter who is maneuvering defensively can force the bandit into an early commitment and lure him into a
predictable flight path, allowing the free fighter to maneuver for a quick-kill. In either case, this fighter
would automatically designate himself as the “engaged fighter.” As an engaged or free fighter, your
number one objective is to kill the bandit and when possible achieve a quick-kill. As an engaged fighter,
in addition to forcing the bandit predictable, you are responsible for maneuvering to bleed the bandit’s
energy, while denying him a shot opportunity. Force him to fight your fight, and maintain as high an
energy level as possible, appropriate to the fight you are in.
The free fighter is that member of the section not pressing the bandit but maneuvering for an offensive
position to engage. As the free fighter, your prime responsibility is to kill the bandit. Additionally, you
must keep track of the engaged fighter and the bandit, making sure that you clear the engaged fighter’s
and your own six. You must get quickly out-of-plane and out-of-phase, maneuvering to the bandit’s blind
area while maintaining a high-energy level. Because you will have better situational awareness, you will
most likely be directing the fight. You must set a plan and provide simple statements of your intentions to
allow the section to work as a team toward the common goal of killing the enemy.
To employ missiles, the free fighter must obtain proper separation and ensure that the engaged fighter is
out of his HUD for obvious reasons.
COMM
Good COMM will always be pursued in tactical aviation because fighters cannot be maneuvered
effectively as a unit without it. It is imperative to be able to communicate in three-plane ACM! Your
wingman needs to know what you are doing, or planning and you need to hear about what he is execut-
ing. A breakdown of comm will most likely result in the bandit having his way with the fighters. There are
many ways to execute good comm between fighters and since this is your first foray into multi-plane
ACM, we have outlined some of the basics to start with. Most of the comm in the training command
three-plane syllabus is standardized in order to start the sets smoothly, but comm must also flow
throughout the engagement in a logical, informative, and hopefully concise manner.
Breaking it down to basics, there are two main types of comm in this environment: directive and
descriptive.

Directive comm is meant to get your wingman to look or maneuver his aircraft immediately. Some
examples are “Break left” or “Buster.”
Descriptive comm is all of the amplifiers that will build situational awareness. “Bandit right, 3 o’clock” is
an example. Once the immediacy of maneuvering our aircraft has passed the comm in the 2 v 1 stage
can be broken down into four parts: Roles, Tallies, Description of Fight, and Amplifying Remarks.
Basically, you should try to “build a picture” for your partner with comm. First and foremost, roles must
be established. Initially these are established through standardized comm, but as the engagement
continues it will be important to call out any change of roles or to reiterate the roles. After roles are
established, tallies must be communicated. This is the beginning of “picture building.” A “tally, visual”
says a lot to a fighter who’s engaged defensively. If the free fighter calls, “tally one,” it will be up to the
engaged fighter to talk the free fighter’s eyes onto both aircraft. Remember to describe your own
position. An example is, “Hawk 1 is on the right (or to the east) in a left turn.” A “blind” call will require
the engaged fighter to describe where he is and what type of fight (one-circle or two-circle), including
altitudes, etc. This leads to the next requirement: description of the fight. The engaged fighter must
describe the fight, further building the picture. Generally, start by identifying nose-to-nose, or nose-to-tail
fights. Then describe whether you are offensive or defensive; this will be done using “Engaged” to
convey that you are offensive and “Defensive” is obvious. In the case of a two-circle fight, the engaged
fighter must call out the direction of turn the engagement is in. In the case of the one-circle fight, the
engaged fighter must describe the direction of the fight. This means North, South, East, West or a
heading, since the one-circle fights transgress downrange. After all this information is conveyed,
amplifying remarks such as game plan and strategies can be added, i.e., “I’m taking him one-circle,” or
“Let’s work the bug.”
TACADMIN
Do not show up to your first three-plane without knowing the comm. You must put in the time even if it
means walking around the parking lot looking foolish. If you can spout it out pretty well in a quiet room, it
will be more difficult in the brief, and nearly impossible during the flight. You are still held to a standard
whether you are boat complete or not. You need to compartmentalize on busy flights like these.
Concentrate on the task at hand. Don’t be thinking about that last engagement when you’re supposed to
be flying formation. Don’t be thinking of that poor rendezvous when it’s time to be flying the ball. And
yes, you are still expected to fly a solid pass even if you are CQ complete.
The bandit will brief the students with the IP’s coming in for conduct approximately 15 minutes prior to
walk. The first three-plane briefing should be two hours prior. The bandit will lead the flight of 3 like a
standard multi-plane flight.
Standard ground procedures apply. Dash 2 will line up on the centerline of the runway while the lead and
dash 3 split their respective sides. The formation should bow so the lead can see all the participants.
Once airborne, dash 2 and dash 3 will join as briefed. Headed toward the area, the lead will establish the
flight at 300 kts on a given heading. He will then pass the Tac lead to dash 2, assume the role of the
bandit, and pull up and away from the section. This can be done en route to the area or once established
in the working area. The Bandit will generally have the flight in echelon cruise and then detach once the
Lead has been passed and acknowledged over the radio. “Hawk 1” is now the lead and uses his own
tactical call sign to maneuver the flight. His wingman, “Hawk 2” now becomes the new dash 2, and
bandit is just “Bandit.” All calls outside the flight to ATC and other aircraft will continue to use the bandit’s
filed callsign.

The Tac lead will immediately push his wingman into combat spread and start a climb at 98 percent
power. Wing will stay in combat spread and continue climbing to 16,000 ft. The flight will execute a
g-warm away from the bandit, fence in, and then the bandit will start the flight’s set-ups. The student lead
will initiate the g-warm and execution or each turn will happen when the bandit says “Bandit.” After the
g-warm, the student lead will then initiate fencing in with G’s and fuel, followed by wing and then bandit.
It is still Tac lead’s responsibility to maneuver the flight for area or to get into better combat spread by
using Tac turns or Check turns respectively.
In order to begin each set correctly, the bandit will initiate the set identifying which side of the section he is
on, and what engagement will occur. It is important that all sets start with this exact comm cadence. The
order will be Bandit, Lead, Wing. If one of the fighters does not have tally/visual (or is not otherwise
ready) he should say “standby.” An example of this comm cadence would be as follows: “Bandit, Speed
and Angels, on the right for the multi switch.” “Hawk 1, speed and angels” “Hawk 2, Speed and Angels”
“Bandit’s In.” For all setups, the bandit does not become the bandit until he begins his pull into the fighter.
This is when the comm and maneuvering should start. After each engagement, the student Lead will
initiate G’s and fuel followed by Wing and then Bandit.
You must talk and fly at the same time. Pretend the mic switch doesn’t work without aileron input. In
other words you should already be moving the jet as you’re keying the mic to talk.

EN ROUTE EXERCISE
The “CALL THE BANDIT” exercise is performed en route to the operating area or in the area, giving you
practice with directive/ descriptive commentary before actually committing your aircraft in an engage-
ment.
During this exercise the fighters remain in combat spread and will not maneuver. While you are flying
straight and level, the bandit aircraft will maneuver simulating a “no-switch” engagement where he
engages one aircraft and stays with it. A “single-switch” simulation will follow the first simulation where
the bandit engages one aircraft and then switches to engage the other and end in one circle flow.
The fighters fly straight and level in defensive combat spread. The bandit will set up on the outside of the
section approximately 1/2 nm, with 1,000-ft step-up and 45 degrees down the wingline. Even though the
following script is a fairly predictable example, the goal of this exercise is to respond appropriately
according to how the bandit is maneuvering against the section.
Script for a no-switch engagement: (This example assumes “Hawk 1” is the lead—He will call “Speed
and Angels” and “knock it off” prior to “Hawk 2” for the set-up and knock-it-off.)
Initial setup
Bandit: “Bandit setting up on Hawk 1, call the bandit, no switch.”
Lead: “Hawk 1, Speed and Angels.”
Wing: “Hawk 2, Speed and Angels.”
Bandit: “Bandit’s in.”

Bandit pulls in
Wing: “Hawk 1, break right, bandit right 5.”
Lead: “Tally, Hawk 1, defensive.”

Wing: “Hawk 2 free, pulling for the shot—Fox-2, bandit in trail.”
Bandit: “Bandit, knock it off.”
Lead: “Hawk 1, knock it off.”

Wing: “Hawk 2, knock it off.”
Lead: “KIO Heading”

Script for a single-switch engagement:
Bandit: “Bandit setting up on Hawk 1, call the bandit, single switch.”

Lead: “Hawk 1, Speed and Angels.”
Wing: “Hawk 2, Speed and Angels.”
Bandit: “Bandit’s in.”

Bandit pulls in
Wing: “Hawk 1, break right, bandit right 5.”
Lead: “Tally, Hawk 1, defensive.”

Wing: “Hawk 2 free, pulling for the shot.”
Bandit switches
Wing: “Switch switch, bandit’s coming to me; right to right.”

Bandit: “Right to right.”
Wing: “Hawk 2 will engage flats 180 (or heading).”
Lead: “Hawk 1 free, extending.”

Wing: “Hawk 2 confirms flats 180 (or heading).”
Lead: “Hawk 1 turning in, tally, visual, Fox-2, bandit on the right.”

Lead: “Hawk 1, knock it off.”
Wing: “Hawk 2, knock it off.”
Lead: (who took Fox-2) “KIO Heading.”

Wing: “KIO Heading.”
At this point, the bandit will be on the other side of the section. He will set up again on a high perch and
reinitiate the exercise, but in the opposite direction. This gives both fighters a chance to practice all
aspects of the appropriate communications.
You will have a tendency to not maintain combat spread during this exercise. Do not get so caught up in
the comm that you forget to monitor your airspeed and altitude and make corrections appropriately. You
will also find yourself making inappropriate calls because you are not watching the bandit carefully.
Common errors:
• Not maintaining combat spread. Not maintaining heading and airspeed are the major culprits.
• Calling the ROE wrong. For the head-to-head passes, it’s always the other side for this drill.
This will make more sense when you execute the Multi-Switch Exercise.
• Weak comm- Lots of pauses, or just slow and deliberate. Having to think about everything
before saying it.

REAR-QUARTER ATTACKS
In a rear-quarter attack, the bandit attacks from behind and between or outside of the section. When the
bandit attacks from the rear, the section has to be aware that one of three things can happen. First,
when the bandit engages one of the fighters, he may stay with that fighter throughout the entire engage-
ment. This is a no-switch attack, and once the engaged fighter is identified, no roles change for either
fighter. Second, after the bandit engages a fighter at some point during the engagement, he disengages
from the first fighter and engages the other. This is a single-switch scenario and forces the fighters to
recognize the situation and change roles once during an engagement. Third, the bandit may switch
several times, continuously disengaging from one fighter and engaging the other when the bandit feels it
is to his advantage to do so. This is a multi-switch scenario, causing any number of role changes
between the fighters. Even though the procedures for each of these scenarios are canned, they
represent what can happen in a real 2 v 1 engagement.
NO-SWITCH SCENARIO
An attacker may have the advantage of “jumping” the section of fighters and have an offensive advan-
tage. The bandit may then choose to engage only one fighter, thus freeing the other fighter to maneuver
to achieve a quick kill. If the bandit attacks from outside the section and doesn’t attempt to switch from
one fighter, the free fighter can usually kill the bandit after only 90 degrees of turn.
A classic strategy to defeat a bandit attacking from the rear-quarter between the section is to employ the
“Counterflow,” where the engaged fighter forces the bandit into a predictable flight path, while the free
fighter maneuvers out-of-phase, going counter to the direction of the fight for a kill. We will discuss the
details of this engagement later, since the maneuver is fundamentally simply, but difficult to execute.
SINGLE-SWITCH SCENARIO
During a 2 v 1 engagement the bandit may engage one fighter, then disengage from that fighter to
engage the other anytime he feels it may be tactically advantageous. Both fighters must remain aware
that this could happen anytime. If he does switch once, the bandit, in effect, forces a single role change
between engaged and free fighters.
When this scenario is set up, the bandit will attack from the rear quarter, outside the section, and engage
the near fighter. The section will maneuver into the bandit. As the engagement develops, the bandit
spots the free fighter pulling in and pitches off and into the free fighter. At this point, the roles will switch.
If you were the free fighter, you are now the engaged fighter, and vice versa. The new engaged fighter
must tie up the bandit as the new free fighter extends for the shot.
After the switch, the engaged fighter will call the direction of the fight and maneuver to gain/deny an
offensive advantage. He will attempt to force the bandit in a direction away from the free fighter. The
free fighter will then extend. He must keep SA to the fight following the switch and begin a nose-low,
energy-gaining turn to achieve proper separation and cornering speed. The free fighter must also gain
enough energy to allow him to reengage the bandit, if necessary, at a high-energy state. Once the free
fighter attains proper separation, he will call tally, visual, or, if he is unable to distinguish between aircraft,
he will call the number in sight. The engaged fighter need not respond unless the free fighter cannot
distinguish between aircraft. If the free fighter does not have a tally visual, the engaged fighter must
assist him by calling direction, altitude, location, and, if need be, the next crossing. Should the free
fighter be totally blind, the engaged fighter may even have to locate and redirect him into the fight. Once
the free fighter has reestablished situational awareness, he will maneuver as necessary to kill the bandit.

Following is an example of the voice comm that would accompany the single-switch scenario.
Free fighter: “Tiger 2, break left, bandit left 7.”
Engaged fighter: “Tiger 2, Tally, Defensive.”

Free fighter: “Tiger 1 free pulling for the shot.” (After seeing the bandit switch) - “Switch,
switch, Bandit’s coming to me, left to left.” (Bandit acknowledges) – “Tiger 1,
will engage flats 360.”
New free fighter: “Tiger 2 free extending.”

New Engaged fighter: “Tiger 1 confirms flats 360.”
Free fighter: “Tiger 2 turning in, tally visual.”
Free fighter: “Fox-2, bandit on the left.”
The next example of voice comm would occur if the free fighter has only one aircraft in sight following the
extension.
Free fighter: “Tiger 2, Turning in, Tally one.”
Engaged fighter: “Tiger 1 confirms flats (heading) (altitude).”

Engaged fighter: “Tiger 1 on the left,” or “Standby for the merge, Tiger 1 on the right.”
The engaged fighter must pass close with the bandit to ensure visual sighting by the free fighter.
NOTE: We will only talk through the Single-Switch during the CTB, but it is a stepping stone for the Multi-
Switch Exercises.
Keys To Success
The initial free fighter should execute a lift vector on, nose low, nibble of buffet pull (17 units) towards the
bandit. We do this to build lateral separation on the bandit so we’re in a good position to shoot him if able,
or to deny turning room from the bandit when he switches off from our lead. If we’ve got that lateral
separation and we’re making our right-to-right pass happen, we need to use that lateral separation. Just
prior to the merge we should begin our entry into the flats (a.k.a. Early Turn). Don’t wait until you pass the
bandit to start your entry or that lateral separation buys you nothing. The 500-ft bubble should happen
with you already started nose up and somewhere near the bandit’s 45 to 60-degree bearing line. Lift
vector high and aft on the bandit. Most of the time, the bandit will be the one with the turning room, using
it against you. Take out as much turning room as possible, ensuring no less than 500 ft, and capitalize on
the in close overshoot. Get your nose up while placing your lift vector towards the bandit’s control zone;
think Defensive ACM flats entry.
Meanwhile the engaged fighter started moving his jet as soon as he saw the bandit pulling at him. This
should happen simultaneously with the break left call. He should be doing the standard nose low break
turn he learned in two-plane. As soon as you see the bandit switch, which should mirror the switch call,
ease the pull to your best nose low, two-circle turn rate, nibble of buffet pull. By the way, you should be
looking over your shoulder during the break turn and switch. We call this the extension, however we don’t
really need to extend. The flats are traveling away from us and providing us with our weapons separation,
so all we really need to do is turn a circle as fast as we can. Keep your nose below the horizon for your

best turn rate until you see the fight 45 to 60 degrees off your shoulder. Now put the lift vector on the fight
and pull for the shot.
The engaged fighter needs to be listening up to the free fighter turning in for the shot. Most likely he will
not be tally visual. Always describe yourself, not the bandit. Usually left and right is better unless the
altitude split is significant. If we hear “tally two” and you’re close to the merge, state “standby for the
merge”. At the merge say “merge, merge, Tiger 1 on the right.”
If tally one, call your side amplified with a “high” or “low” if it applies. If Tiger 1 says he’s on the left and
Tiger 2 sees a jet in a right hand turn, he has Tiger 1 in sight (or Tiger 1 is fighting a very poor flat
scissors and going the wrong way).
KIO headings: 90 degrees off the shooter’s nose. To make it simple and help the bandit, call the heading
to the same side of the nose as the bandit. “Fox 2 bandit on the left,” come 90 left of the
shooter’s nose. Then drive yourself to combat spread.
This is the flow for a textbook set-up. With good maneuvering, you can expect to have this type of
offensive posture in the flats.
MULTI-SWITCH SCENARIO
In defending himself, an experienced bandit will attempt to gain an advantage or to negate your advan-
tage by switching from one fighter to the other anytime he sees the opportunity or is in a position where he
has no other choice. The engagement begins the same way as a no-switch or single-switch engagement.
The bandit will continually force role changes. A multi-switch engagement calls for a greater amount of
situational awareness (SA) and aggressiveness on the part of the fighters in order to defeat this tactic.
(Figure 42)
FIGURE 42: MULTI-SWITCH SCENARIO

When this scenario is set up, the bandit will attack from the rear quarter, outside the section. After one
fighter is engaged, the bandit will press the engaged fighter until he spots the free fighter pulling for a
shot. At that point, he pitches off and into the free fighter just as he would in the single-switch scenario.
Roles immediately switch. Just as in the single-switch situation, the new engaged fighter must tie up the
bandit as the new free fighter extends for a shot. At a point where he thinks it tactically advantageous,
the bandit disengages from the engaged fighter and switches to the free fighter. Again the roles switch.
The new engaged fighter must tie up the bandit as the new free fighter extends for a shot. The new
engagement will be a one circle fight where the fighter gives up lateral separation at the high aspect
merge by turning away from the bandit and getting the nose up. Hopefully, this will begin with an early
turn into the vertical by the fighter, but this will effectively bait the bandit into a predictable flight path.
We run into trouble when either the bandit or free fighter is “blind” during the switch. In reality, the bandit
would not do this as he is leaving a fight to engage a fighter he cannot see, but during training we might
see this. Also, as the fighter, we might be pitching in on the called heading for the flats and be “Blind, No
Joy.” This could occur due to environmentals or due to an inaccurate heading called out by the wingman.
No matter what the reason is, we need to use the proper procedures to deconflict and keep the fight
going. If either a fighter or the bandit is blind, the aircraft that has sight will maneuver the “blind” jet using
comm to make the merge happen. This comm will be unique to each engagement, but will be similar to
“keep your turn in,” pause, “keep your turn in,” pause, “wings level,” pause, “I’m at your left 10 high.” If all
that doesn’t work, you can call “merge, merge” as it occurs. If both the fighter and bandit call “blind,” then
we need to KIO, as per the cadence, and deconflict with altitude. The bandit will level off and not come
down and the fighter will level off and not come up. This same scenario could happen on a BVR where
someone calls a merge and the other aircraft is “blind.” It is imperative that the aircraft that has sight
control the fight and ensure deconfliction.
The free fighter extension responsibilities were described above during the single switch scenario
involving tactics against a one-circle fight.
Tiger 2 is shown in the flats when he sees the bandit head nose low for the switch. He wants to initially
follow the bandit out and then put him off his 3-9 line. Padlock the bandit, because he will bring your eyes
to your wingman. While maintaining sight, we are extending to gain sight. We’re looking for two things
before we can turn in for the shot: 1) the merge has happened with Tiger 1 and the bandit, 2) we are
past the merge axis of the fight. Once this has happened, we can pitch into the fight.
While we’re waiting for this to happen, we begin an extension. This is for two reasons: 1) we’re slow,
and about to require a good turn rate, so more airspeed is better, and 2) It gets us to the fight’s merge
axis just a little bit quicker.
Tiger 1 sees the bandit nose low and hears the call from Tiger 2. He needs to have a 500-ft pass with
the bandit. Tiger 1 will entice the bandit to head east in this scenario by breaking away from the bandit,
thus “baiting” him. He is already giving the bandit 500 ft; therefore, it’s imperative not to have any extra
lateral separation. Just prior to the merge, start pulling up so we have a nice bite nose high at the merge.
We have to give the bandit 500 ft to drag him into the flats, but at least we can try to negate that with a
nose high bite at the merge. We’re merging 180 degrees out with more airspeed than we are accus-
tomed to for a flat scissors. We need that nose high bite at the merge and good 1 v 1 skills just to stay
neutral with the bandit.
From here, we go through another iteration of the bandit switching out of the flats and merging with the
free fighter. This time, however, the free fighter takes a Fox-2, if able, and then calls for a bug. Call the

shot if you have it, but the bandit may call “Invalid.” Regardless, he will break back into the threat and
setup the high aspect pass. Again, deconfliction is paramount.
If the call is “Switch, switch, Bandit’s coming to you from the left,” then you and the bandit should be in a
left turn (you initially), the pass will be a left-to-left, and the fighters can bug roughly 40-120 degrees left
of the merge with the bandit.
From the diagram, Tiger 1 is in the flats when he sees the bandit heading nose low. He makes the
appropriate call, and starts to initially follow the bandit out of the flats. Padlock the bandit, because he will
bring your eyes to your wingman. You’ll follow the bandit initially, and then put him off your 3-9 line.
Keep him off your shoulder, check turning as needed, and unloading for airspeed and separation
otherwise. Eventually you’ll see your partner magically appear. Call your position to him and gain mutual
support. Check the flight further left if needed for combat spread and to make the bandit turn further for
nose on. Do not check the flight the other direction because it allows the bandit to come nose on quicker.
Meanwhile, Tiger 2 is turning in tally two when he sees the bandit switching. If he’s coming to you from
the left, the bandit will be the jet furthest to the left on your windscreen. Aim for a 500-ft pass with the
bandit laterally, and take out half the altitude vertically. Ideally we’d like no altitude separation, but we
don’t want to bleed off all our airspeed and be nose high at the merge when we’re trying to bug. The
bandit will use any lateral separation, so don’t give it to him. At the merge, nose slice across the bandit’s
tail towards the bug heading, then unload. You should either be in a check turn, or unloading until down
to the deck. Be looking for your wingman to regain mutual support.
FIGURE 42A: MULTI-SWITCH SCENARIO

FIGURE 42B: MULTI-SWITCH SCENARIO

FIGURE 42C: MULTI-SWITCH SCENARIO

Multi-Switch Scenario
Free fighter: “Tiger 1, break left, bandit left 7.”

Engaged fighter: “Tally, Tiger 1, Defensive.”
Free fighter: “Tiger 2, free pulling for the shot.” (After seeing bandit switch) - “Switch
switch, Bandit’s coming to me, Left to Left.” (Bandit acknowledges) —
“Tiger 2, will engage flats 360.”
New free fighter: “Tiger 1 free extending.”
Engaged fighter: “Tiger 2 confirms flats 360.”

Free fighter: “Tiger 1 turning in, tally two.”
Engaged fighter: “Switch switch, Bandit coming to you from the left.”
Free fighter: “Tiger 1, Tally, left-to-left, (Bandit acknowledges) —” “Tiger 1, will engage
flats East.”
New free fighter: “Tiger 2 free, extending.”
Engaged fighter: “Tiger 1 confirms flats 090, Joker.”

Free fighter: “Copy Joker, let’s work the bug.”
Free fighter: “Tiger 2 turning in, tally two.”
New engaged fighter “Switch, Switch, Bandit coming to you from the left.”
Free fighter: “Tiger 2, Tally, Left to Left, (Bandit acknowledges) —” “Bug 040.”
Tiger 1: “Tiger 1, 040; ” “Out of the turn, Tiger 1 is at your right 2 o’clock;” “Bandit’s 1
mile in trail, 90 to go, looks like a good bug.”
Bandit: “Bandit concurs.”
Bandit: “Bandit, Knock it off.”
Tiger 1: “Tiger 2, Knock if off.”

Tiger 2: “Tiger 2, Knock if off.”
Tiger 1: “Knock it off, 040.”
Tiger 1: “Tiger 1, Knock if off, 040.”

Tiger 2: “Tiger 2, Knock it off, 040.”
Bandit: “Bandit, knock it off, 040.”
Tiger 1: “Cross turn, Cross turn, Tiger 1 High.”

Tiger 2: “Tiger 2 Low.”

After the fighters have assessed that the bug is successful, the bandit will initiate a KIO. Following the
KIO cadence, the fighters cross-turn, purely to help the bandit get back with the flight. Although the
fighters call high and low in the turn, both fighters initially go nose high to trade airspeed for altitude and
then intercept 300 KIAS for the climb Wingman is responsible for no less than 500 ft at the pass. If a
situation arises in which one fighter is blind, the fighter with the most SA with initiate the cross turn.

Disengagement/Bugout considerations
In addition to all that you have learned about disengaging and bugging out previously, you now have a
wingman to consider. To disengage, or to bug out at the most opportune time, keep these guidelines in
mind: 1) establish and maintain visual and tally, and 2) achieve and 3) regain section integrity as soon
as possible after the engagement because maneuvering back to combat spread will make it possible to
engage another bandit, press to a target, or RTB/bug out. (Figure 43)
FIGURE 43: DISENGAGEMENT BUGOUT (HAWK)
To regain section integrity, the free fighter must make his initial call an appropriate magnetic heading that
will ensure separating out the bandit’s extended six. Once both fighters have attained the appropriate
separation from the bandit, the fighter with the best SA will call appropriate check turns, if necessary, to
get the section back into combat spread, but no more than one. After initially separating, if the bandit
continues to threaten, the fighter with the best SA must maneuver the section to deny the bandit a shot,
typically through the execution of a cross turn.

COUNTERFLOW
In the Counterflow exercise, the bandit will attack from behind and between the section (Figure 44). The
tactical lead, whether lead or wingman, calls for the threatened section member to break. The tactical
lead becomes the free fighter and maneuvers in the opposite direction using an offensive hard turn to
achieve Counterflow with a vertical split. One of the goals of this turn is to get out of phase with the
engaged fighter and also take the bandit close aboard to neutralize him. The engaged fighter calls his
role, gets the tally, and fights the best possible 1 v 1 defensively. If the engaged fighter can generate
high AOT, the fight may develop into Lufbery, which would serve to prevent the bandit from maneuvering
for a shot while forcing him into a predictable flight path.
FIGURE 44: COUNTERFLOW

Meanwhile the free fighter calls his role and maintains sight, while he begins an extension maneuver to
gain weapons separation, ensuring that he keeps the fight at his 7 or 5 o’clock position (Figure 45).
During his extension, he will ensure that his nose is below the horizon to quickly achieve maximum
acceleration. He then
turns back into the fight
when the bandit is 90
degrees off the free
fighter’s heading;
generally 2-3 seconds
after the merge. He
then adjusts his turn to
arrive nose on the
bandit’s belly after
approximately 180
degrees of turn,
achieving a 90-degree
cold-side shot. If the
IR missile-shot
opportunity is missed,
the free fighter
maintains Counterflow
and extends to FIGURE 45: COUNTERFLOW EXERCISE
maneuver for another
shot opportunity while
calling “Eagle 1, no shot”. The free fighter needs to be aware that if the bandit gains a tally on him, he
may switch off to neutralize the threat and create a high aspect merge. This will then turn into a one
circle fight and the
switch must be called
to inform the
engaged fighter of
what the bandit is
doing. The roles will
swap and the
formerly engaged
fighter will need to
continue, or reverse
his turn depending on
geometry, to turn
back in and shoot the
bandit in the flats.
After the Fox-2 call,

the fight is knocked
off, via the KIO
cadence.
FIGURE 46: COUNTERFLOW FREE FIGHTER

90-DEGREE CHECKPOINT

The first scenario provides an example of the voice comm that would occur as the section employs the
Counterflow tactic during a rear-quarter engagement:
Tactical lead: “Eagle 2, break left, bandit left 7.”
Engaged fighter: “Tally, Eagle 2, Defensive.”

Free fighter: “Eagle 1 free extending.”
Engaged fighter: “Eagle 2 Defensive, two-circle, left,”
Free fighter: “Eagle 1 turning in. Tally, visual, Fox-2, bandit in-trail.”
Free fighter: “Eagle 1 knock it off.”
Engaged fighter: “Eagle 2 knock it off,”

Free Fighter: “Heading.”
Engaged fighter: “Heading.”
Keys to Success
The bandit will set-up between the section. On your first flight, he’ll tell you which fighter he’s jumping,
but after that you need to react to the bandit. As the high wingman you need a good nose low break turn
to vacate the altitude and allow Lead to pass over you for his extension. The engaged fighter does his
best defensive break turn, race to the deck with a good deck transition, and guns ‘D’ when needed.
Unlike the switch scenarios, we need to extend to get weapon separation. Once the fight starts, it’s
anchored around the engaged fighter’s post.
Eagle 1 needs to start his turn when he talks, while ensuring he has adequate lateral separation from
both jets (min. 500 ft). Ideally we pass right over the fight after 90 degrees of turn, with our nose already
slightly below the horizon. Now roll wings level and unload/extend. Fly and talk at the same time, don’t
wait until you finish the comm. to start your extension. Eagle 1 most likely will not be able to keep sight of
the fight during the extension. To maintain sight, the free fighter would have to arc. Arcing means you
pulled past 90, or you are keeping a slight turn in trying to keep sight. Either is bad for extension. First,
you don’t get a pure extension away from the fight, and second, you get an early sight picture. When you
arc around the circle you will get plan form on the bandit earlier, which mean less time in your extension
and less weapons separation.
While we’re extending we need to get sight of the fight. We can do this one of two ways: Either use wing
down/top rudder or take quick peeks at the fight by momentarily overbanking. At plan form, we need a
smooth pull to the g limit. The timing is predicated on the bandit and us max performing our jets. Don’t
forget to “hook.” Looking over your shoulder under heavy g at two little specks in the sky is difficult.
Focus on the area because as they come nose on they will tend to disappear. Only one should be nose
on at a time, so keep sight of the other jet until they both come through nose on.
Use the 90-degree checkpoint. After turning approximately 90 degrees, the fight should be off the
shoulder and the bandit should just be nose on. If the bandit hasn’t come nose on yet, ease the pull ever

so slightly at the 90-degree checkpoint until he is nose on and then best turn rate until the shot. By
checking progress before going past 90 degrees, we can preserve weapons separation and adjust
timing. If the bandit is past nose on, we’re late. So as long as you have a good extension, erring a little
early vice late on the turn in leaves options.
If we realize we have minimal weapons separation, we can ease the pull slightly at the 90-degree check
and let the bandit go a little past nose on. We’re accepting that we won’t get the good belly shot, but still
hoping to get a valid shot and help out our wingman. By letting the bandit go slightly past nose on, he’s is
now helping us build a little more weapons separation. We cannot afford to wait very long after bandit
nose on or we won’t be in the shot window. Now we need our best turn rate to get the shot. Stand the
throttle up on the final 90 degrees of turn if separation is a problem. It won’t appreciably affect turn rate,
but will help slow down closure. Be wary of your wingman in the HUD field of view on a hot shot. Do not
take an invalid shot. If you realize it’s past 40 degrees hot, call “no shot” and then use the KIO cadence.
If you lose sight of the fight on the turn in, you can keep pulling until the 90 checkpoint. If you have
regained sight you can continue. If you do not regain sight, you need to reset the counter. Essentially
just maintain your current heading (assuming you stopped 90 off) until the fight marches around the circle
again and the bandit is once again nose on. This is assuming that you had proper weapons separation.
If you did not, you will need to turn away from the fight and drive out until weapons separation is
achieved. Now it’s just like the final 90 degrees of a normal Counterflow.
KIO heading needs to come out immediately following the shot and the KIO call. For a good belly shot, a
KIO heading 10 to 30 off the shooter’s nose and inside the circle works well. If it’s a hot shot or even tail
shot, pick a heading 45 degrees or more off the shooter’s nose and outside the fight and have the bandit
and engaged fighter reverse their turns. (Examples to follow.) At least get some heading out there and
then fine-tune it when you can reevaluate.
If you have to reset because you do not have sight or are too tight, you might not see the bandit switching
to you. The bandit will supplement your SA as needed. You need to react appropriately and break into
him for two circle defensive flow or make the merge happen and turn away from him to create One-circle
flow.
The reset can be level or a slightly nose high OOP maneuver to get vertical separation while denying the
bandit a tally. This will also give you some relative angle for look down so you can get sight of the fight.
Arc around the fight with adequate weapons separation so that you can pitch back in when the bandit
comes nose on. This should make sense because we have 90 degrees to go to get the belly shot and
the bandit has 90 degrees to go to show it to us.
In all cases throughout section tactics, the free fighter must gain the proper separation during his
extension to ensure the quickest kill. If the situation arises where the free fighter pulls for a shot without
sufficient lateral separation, the free fighter ends up missing the shot and is forced into an in-phase
engagement with the wingman and the bandit. This is a situation commonly referred to as a “Daisy
Chain,” where both fighters are engaged—one offensively and one defensively. This violates the
Engaged Section Maneuvering doctrine of one engaged fighter and one free fighter. If the offensive
fighter is unable to get an immediate shot, he must disengage and maneuver for separation to reestablish
an out-of-phase condition. During his separation he must keep the fight constantly in sight to avoid
exposing his six to the bandit and to maintain situational awareness for making appropriate tactical
decisions.

An abeam attack occurs when the bandit attacks the section from the 2-5 or the 7-10 o’clock position
(Figure 47).
FIGURE 47: VFQ SETUP (SKULL)
We will start with enough separation so the fighter with initial visual contact initiates a hard turn into the
bandit. The inside fighter (eyeball) gets tally and maneuvers for a close aboard pass attempting to
bracket the bandit by forcing him between the section. This bracketing technique will force the bandit to
split his concentration between the fighters, while allowing the fighters to gain the initial offensive
advantage. Employing bracketing is the most basic strategy a section can employ. Failure to bracket the
bandit gives the bandit a better opportunity to maintain sight and overall situational awareness.

The wingman (shooter) early turns for a shot. After the close aboard pass, the eyeball (now the free
fighter) will extend to set up a Counterflow tactic. The shooter (now the engaged fighter) will force the
bandit into a predictable flight path by maintaining the offensive advantage and taking shots of opportu-
nity. After separation is accomplished, the free fighter (eyeball) turns back into the fight and eventually
shoots the bandit on the cold side. Once the free fighter is in position for a shot, it will be necessary to
call for the current engaged fighter to pitch off in a direction that will safely clear him from interfering with
the missile shot and to avoid a midair collision. This situation is especially dangerous if the new free
fighter delays his Counterflow turn and aligns for a rear-quarter shot without calling the engaged fighter
off. Failing to do that immediately sets up the potential for a midair. The following is an example of voice
comm appropriate in an abeam attack where the fighters can bracket the bandit. However, in this
example, the roles are not immediately defined.

ABEAM VISUAL IDENTIFICATION EXERCISE (ABEAM VID)

A number of situations could develop during a visual forward-quarter intercept depending on the initial
move of the bandit. At the pass, the bandit can maneuver in one of three directions: straight ahead,
across the eyeball’s tail, or reverse toward the shooter. If the bandit was properly bracketed, any
maneuver other than reversing toward the shooter should result in an immediate kill (Figure 48).
FIGURE 48: VFQ - BANDIT FLOW

Following is an example of voice comm that would occur during the first scenario of a visual forward-
quarter attack (Figure 49):
Engaged fighter: “Tiger 2, engaged right two-circle, defensive.”
Free fighter: “Tiger 1, free, extending.”

Free fighter: “Tiger 1, Turning in, tally visual/blind.”
Engaged fighter: “Tiger 2, Visual.”
Free fighter: “You’re clear.”

Free fighter: “Fox-2, bandit in right hand turn.”
FIGURE 49: KNOCK IT OFF FLOW (TIGER)

Keys to success
The VFQ is a scenario in which we need to identify and classify the “bogey” as a “bandit” before we can
shoot him. Following the initial setup and after we’re in the heat of the fight, it becomes quite similar to
the Counterflow. We have an engaged fighter in a two-circle flow and a free fighter trying to get weapons
separation. The major difference is that the fighters are offensive vice defensive. This is an important
factor when it comes time for the shot. In the Counterflow we shot the bandit in the trail position. Now
we are shooting the bandit out in front of the engaged fighter. Since it’s not wise to have two fighters go
belly up to each other fighting the same bandit, we need to call off the engaged fighter and swap roles.
The outside fighter begins his hard turn the second the bandit calls, “Start the Comm.” He does a nose
slice, nibble-of-buffet (17 unit) pull for 120 degrees. We use 120 degrees to build some weapons
separation. From a good combat spread and a normal bogey set, we say “turn” and start our turn as we
cross our the inside fighter’s flight path. Now we pull pure pursuit (maintain nose on) on the bogey until
the merge and the “shoot” call. We’re looking for a shot just outside of min range so we can take a valid
Fox-2, yet be nice and offensive in the engagement. When you make the “turn” call, split your scan
between the bogey and fighter.
The inside fighter moves the jet and starts the comm again as soon as the outside fighter says, “Turn.”
He wants to bracket the bandit, so the pass should be the same as direction of turn (left turn, left to left
pass). We will work on a nice 500-ft pass. Following the merge with the bandit, lead checks across the
bandit’s tail about 30 degrees while orienting the LV below the horizon, then starts an unload and
extension.
The engaged fighter’s job is to get in-plane and in-phase with the bandit to get a gun solution on him. It’s
important to maintain your offensive advantage here to make the bandit continue his two-circle engage-
ment and bleed him down.
The free fighter now starts the turn in with the same initial mentality as the counter flow. We look for
planform on the bandit and attempt to pull for a cold side shot. We adjust as necessary after 90 degrees,
keeping in mind that the bandit is out in front. Once the free fighter has the bandit committed belly up in
the turn, he calls the engaged fighter to “come off left.” For a memory aid, call him off in the same
direction you are turning at that time.
These rules must be followed. When the free fighter calls “Tiger 1, turning in, tally/visual,” he sees the
fight and takes responsibility for de-confliction. When the free fighter calls the engaged fighter off, the
engaged fighter immediately comes off and then has two responses: 1) “Visual,” in which de-confliction
now transfers to the engaged fighter because he has sight, or 2) “Blind,” in which case the free fighter
still owns de-confliction responsibility and either responds with “You’re clear,” provided there is sufficient
separation for lead to continue pulling for the shot, or “KIO, heading” and simultaneously rolling wings
level. With good timing and cold side shots, de-confliction happens laterally and is rarely a problem. The
trouble comes when the free fighter is late turning in and the engaged fighter is already belly up before he
can be called off. Now we’ve got jets in the same piece of sky and need rapid and appropriate re-
sponses to the comm.
Remember; don’t stick your nose into a fight when you don’t have sight. You can reset this at the 90-
degree checkpoint if you lose sight or you are too late turning in to get a valid shot. You’re wingman is
offensive so he’s not getting shot.

On the KIO, the heading must come out ASAP. Everyone is heading a different direction and will soon be
miles apart. When the engaged fighter is called off, if he called “visual” (or the IP has sight), for admin
purposes resume you’re turn back towards the fight. This makes it easier to stick together for the KIO.
The free fighter takes the shot, and therefore owns the initial KIO heading. Initially call a heading
90 degrees outside the turn circle (i.e., 90 degrees more) to put you and the bandit into combat spread
(Figure 50).
FIGURE 50: VFQ - OVERALL FLOW TO FOX-2

BEYOND VISUAL RANGE (BVR)

In the real world, fighters are equipped with on-board radar and communicate with ground control
intercept (GCI) radar units for vectors to intercept a bandit long before he could be visually sighted.
During an intercept, the fighters will employ tactics similar to those that you have learned in the visual
forward-quarter exercises, especially ensuring that a single bandit is always bracketed. Your BVR
exercises will be as close as you can get to the real world. Consider them a graduation exercise, in that
everything you have learned up to this point is likely to occur in these engagements.
The BVR exercise is set up using briefed TACAN radials/DME or waypoints to designate combat air
patrol stations (CAPS—areas of responsibility when on patrol). For safe separation during no visual
contact, you will also use block altitudes. Note the examples below. The goal is for fighters to choose
their block to capitalize on environmentals.
Low Block = 0-4’s

High Block = 5-9’s
The ROE is that the Bandit must have both fighters in sight to enter the opposing block. The Fighters
must be “Visual” and only one of them needs to be “Tally.” The idea being that the fighter who has “Tally”
will lead the “No Joy” fighter to the Bandit.
To execute the exercise, the bandit and the fighters proceed to their respective CAPS. All aircraft orbit at
their CAPS until called in by the bandit. When bandit calls “Fight’s on,” all aircraft fly an in-bound
heading/course. When any aircraft gains sight, the engagement begins utilizing all the strategies you
have learned in ACM. Other tactics exist that could handle this situation, but they are beyond the scope
of this FTI and will be introduced to you in the fleet.
Keys to success
You should see a demo and do prior to your check ride. BVR’s can be painful or loads of fun. Safety is
paramount when two solo students are flying around with knives in their teeth. Stay in your block until
tally requirements are met, make timely ROE calls and abide by them, and do not try to enter a fight
without a tally and good situational awareness.
BVR’s are set up along a radial or courseline between two CAPS. The CAPS are usually set 15-20 miles
apart. Whoever gets to the CAP first holds there until the other jet is 15-20 miles away. You must be
established in your block prior to 10 miles. Bandit needs tally of both fighters to enter the fighter’s block,
one fighter needs to have a tally, and the other fighter have a visual to enter the bandit’s block. You can
still fight in your own block without a tally. The bandit comes directly up the radial or courseline and calls
off DME or range, utilizing a BRA call from a simulated AIC. The lead fighter should be on the radial/
courseline with the wingman offsetting. The fighters don’t need to call off their DME or range. The
fighters will usually proceed to whichever CAP is closer or utilize atmospheric conditions to decide which
CAP will be more beneficial. Ideally you’d like to pick the CAP that the bandit has to squint into the sun to
see you. The wingman should always be offset to the outside of the section with respect to the threat, so
he can look through his lead and towards the threat, provided Lead has an offset in.

It’s best to CAP in what is called fighter wing, or TAC wing. Generally speaking this is like a loose cruise
about 500 to 1,500 ft away on a 60-degree bearing line around lead’s aircraft. Stay there until lead rolls
out on the final heading, and then push out into spread. As long as one fighter sees the other on the KIO
(we should if someone took a shot), call the visual and start getting the section headed to the CAP.
There is a difference between Admin lead and Tac lead. Hawk 1 has the Admin lead this entire flight.
Whoever has the best SA at any give time has the Tac lead. For example, Hawk 1 is “no joy” and Hawk
2 has a “tally.” Hawk 2 directs the flight as needed until Hawk 1 gains a “tally.” Don’t drill around
aimlessly in the area or in a fight just because you’re the wingman waiting for the Admin lead to do
something.
Some things to consider:
Mutual Support - don’t leave CAP until you have some semblance of combat spread. We’re in a good
position with a visual of each other and somewhere near the briefed radial/courseline.
Two fighters tally one - (we can accept one fighter tally and the other with a visual). We need to see
the enemy to effectively fight it. Good lookout doctrine and leaving CAP with good mutual support helps.
Establish Roles - They may change several times, but we always need to have an engaged fighter and a
free fighter.
1 v 1 - You need to fight your best jet no matter how many guys are on your side. Don’t forget the skills
you’ve learned.
Comm - You’ve learned a basic script to give you an idea of what to say in our canned sets. When one
fighter begins to describe what is occurring, a comm flow will usually develop. When defensive, it’s easy
to describe your role and what type of fight. If all else fails, use plain language. The important thing is to
have a cadence back and forth, and listen to what your wingman or lead is telling you.

BVR Scenarios
We cannot possibly discuss every contingency, but these are a few worth mentioning.
The Scenarios
In this situation the fighters have a tally, but the bandit
saves himself with a late tally and maneuver. This can
wind up in a few different scenarios. If Hawk 1
overshoots enough that the bandit reverses, we have a
quick flats and then a Fox 2 from Hawk 2 (Figure 51).
If Hawk 1 is offensive enough and Hawk 2 is still

neutral, Hawk 1 is the engaged fighter, and Hawk 2
needs be the free, extending fighter. Since he can’t
really afford to reverse out-of-phase with the bandit’s
nose in this position, he should start climbing to get
FIGURE 51: BVR - BANDIT ABEAM

THE SECTION (HAWK)
out-of-plane. Altitude is also weapon’s separation.

Even though Hawk 2 doesn’t get out-of-phase, he
still has weapon’s separation in the vertical. The
bandit will eventually march around the circle
because of his better turn rate and Hawk 2 can
easily keep sight because he’s outside the bandit’s
turn looking down (Figure 52). This makes it easy
to see the bandit start coming nose up for the
switch. The timing for the shot will not need to be
our normal plan form plus 2. When you’re slow
FIGURE 52: BVR - BANDIT
above the fight it only takes a couple seconds to
IN-PLANE / IN-PHASE
point the nose down. Make sure you can get the
TWO-CIRCLE FLOW
shot, call Hawk 1 off and de-conflict, and then idle
boards to control closure. In this scenario, just
because the bandit may try a switch, doesn’t mean
the fighters need to switch. Hawk 1 is Offensive,
and will be even more so if the bandit eases his pull
to try switch to Hawk 2. Hawk 2 needs to honor the
bandit’s nose, but can just merge and blow through,
leaving Hawk 1 engaged even more offensive.
The fight will rapidly degrade to this scenario

because the bandit fights good 1 v 1, and the
fighters tend to fight poorly while they’re talking
(Figure 53). Now we are in what is called a “daisy
chain.” We’re all going around the circle together
and most likely the bandit will continue to gain
ground if something isn’t done. Now that Hawk 2 is FIGURE 53: CLASSIC
defensive, he needs to be the engaged fighter. He TWO-CIRCLE FLOW

does not have the ability to extend from the fight. The only situation this wouldn’t apply is if Hawk 1 is just
about to get his pipper on and Hawk 2 is still holding the bandit off.
Hawk 1 needs to get out-of-plane and out-of-phase on his extension. Always assess the bandit’s nose
before reversing. Time to kill is everything, so recognize the daisy chain right away, and get the free
fighter extending for the quick Fox 2.
Here is the same initial set (Figure 54). The bandit will
flow to the second fighter he comes to because he
doesn’t like to turn in front of a fighter. In the solid line
scenario, Hawk 2 puts a better pull on, so the bandit will
actually merge with him first and then flow through to
Hawk 1. This happens even though Hawk 1 was initially
closer to the bandit at the initial set.
In the dashed line scenario, Hawk 1 puts the manly pull

on so he merges first. The bandit then flows through to
Hawk 2.
This is why it is important to have the “survive first”

FIGURE 54: FREE/ENGAGED mentality until we can assess whom the bandit is trying
FIGHTER INITIAL MOVE (HAWK) to engage.
In this scenario, everyone gets a late tally and pulls to

take out angles (Figure 55). This gives a lead-trail
merge. The bandit blows through to Hawk 2 and
crosses his tail. Hawk 2 aggressively reverses to drag
the bandit into the flats. Hawk 2 can give Hawk 1 a
heads up that he’s in trail, even before the merge
happens. Hawk 2 needs to work hard to regain sight
of the bandit so he can confirm the flats.
Hawk 1 merges and crosses the bandit’s tail to

attempt to keep sight. Since it isn’t a canned set we
would start maneuvering out-of-plane until we hear
those wonderful words from Hawk 2, “engaged flats.”
Now it’s time for a nose low slice turn to pull around
for the shot utilizing our best turn rate. If for some
FIGURE 55: BVR ONE-CIRCLE
reason the bandit reversed to the right at the merge FLOW (HAWK)
and didn’t go into the flats with Hawk 2, Hawk 1 is still
in a position to engage because he crossed the
bandit’s tail and should be able to pick him up.

1. Bandit is tally and begins maneuvering

while giving a “threat left 9” call.
2. The fighters maneuver the jet first, based

on the threat call, and then start looking
and talking. We end up with the
scenario just alluded to previously. This
is good utilization of bandit information.
(Figure 56)
FIGURE 56: BVR - FIGHTERS USE

“THREAT” INFORMATION (HAWK)
This scenario began the same as the previous one,

however Hawk 2 doesn’t aggressively maneuver his jet
upon hearing the threat call. Now the bandit rolls in with
a nice offensive bite. If Hawk 2 doesn’t start fighting an
aggressive, defensive, two-circle fight, he will pay for it
by staying defensive or soaking up a shot. (Figure 57)
FIGURE 57: BVR - LATE FIGHTER

MANEUVER (HAWK)

In this scenario, both fighters are slow to react to the

threat call (Figure 58). It may look like the bandit will
flow to Hawk 2, but it always depends on the angles
when the merges happen. Hawk 2 has more initial
separation from the bandit, so he may still be able to
get enough of a pull going that he is able to take out
more angles.
FIGURE 58: BVR - LATE FIGHTER

MANEUVER - UNKNOWN BANDIT TARGET
Now the bandit actually has a better bite on Hawk 1,

even though he initially merged with Hawk 1, and flowed
through to Hawk 2. Once again, survival mentality is key
until we can assess the bandit’s intentions. (Figure 59)
FIGURE 59: BVR - BANDIT SWITCH
POST-MERGE (HAWK)
Now for the worst case, and most common scenario.
The bandit gives a “threat low to high (or high to low)
dead 6” call. This is a classic Counterflow set-up
(Figure 60). The big difference is we don’t know whom
the bandit is going to engage. Fighters need to do an
immediate double break-turn towards each other,
keeping safety of flight in mind. Usually one fighter has
a weaker break turn, so the bandit flows to him. Once
the fighters safely pass each other, they need to work
hard to gain a tally and see who the bandit is engaging.
FIGURE 60: BVR - BANDIT UNSEEN

ENTRY (HAWK)
By the time we can establish that Hawk 2 is

engaged two-circle defensive, a normal
Counterflow extension is impossible (Figure 61).
Hawk 1 should start getting out-of-plane as soon
as he’s established as the free fighter. Remem-
ber, weapons separation can be achieved in the
vertical. This makes it easy to eventually get out-
of-phase if needed and makes it very clear when FIGURE 61: BVR - COUNTERFLOW
the bandit switches. It also makes it difficult for the DEFENSIVE
bandit to get a tally on the free fighter.
Air Combat Maneuvering Glossary
We cannot begin to discuss all the possible scenarios, but hopefully this will at least give you a base line
to fall back on. The two things that fall apart rapidly when fighters become confused are 1 v 1 maneuver-
ing and comms.
In general, we want to accomplish a few simple things to execute a good section maneuvering gameplan:
Establish roles.
Utilize directive and descriptive comm.
Fight your best ACM at all times.
Get Out-of-phase and Out-of-plane.
KNOCK IT OFF AND RETURN TO BASE

The Knock it Off Procedures at the end of the flight will be the same as for the conclusion of each
engagement. Any member in the flight can call Knock it Off (usually being the IP once training objectives
have been met) but the bandit will always initiate the knock it off cadence. From there, Lead will call
“Knock it Off,” followed by wingman “Knock it Off.” The aircraft with the most SA (usually the shooter) will
call the “Knock it Off, heading.” Once the initial heading is called, all aircraft will begin to turn as required
to that heading and gain tally/visual. If you know an aircraft is blind on you (you are at his six or low/high)
call out your position relative to him and get eyes on. From there, you can work as a flight to get all flight
members in sight and identified. Hawk 1 will initiate the fenced out and Hawk 2 will echo it followed by
the bandit. The bandit will then take the lead back over the radio and then call, “With a cold nose you’re
cleared to join.” Both fighters will join on him. This will be done by Hawk 1 picking a side and communi-
cating it and then Hawk 2 will verbally confirm that he is taking the other side. Both fighters will maneuver
as required to stay on their respective sides and execute a running rendezvous (or as briefed) on the
Bandit. If executing a runner, you do not have the option of underrunning because the other fighter is on
the other side. Standard runner FTI procedures apply. Join up in parade and then wait to be put into
cruise after a fuel check from the bandit. Maintain this position until inside the initial. Crossunder as
required to be in echelon right parade. A standard 4-second break will follow.
CONCLUSION
Three-Plane ACM is your first real introduction to the kinds of engagements and multi-plane consider-
ations that you will encounter after you leave the Training Command. These flights should be fairly
challenging, but really fun. Safety is one of the biggest concerns throughout these flights. The 500-ft
bubble, keeping sight, good comm; these will all make or break your flights and either add to the fun or
add to the pain. Apply the basic tenets of 1 v 1, while keeping up your situational awareness to make
these the best flights of your (as yet) brief flying career.

Air Combat Maneuvering Glossary
NOTES

SAFETY/EMERGENCY CONSIDERATIONS
As in any tactical flying, safety is paramount because of the ever-present potential for an incident. But
just as you learned in TacForm, flying only with safety on your mind prevents you from achieving the level
of proficiency necessary to be a competent tactical aviator. Safety is the natural and number one by-
product of operational proficiency. Complete knowledge coupled with thorough preparation and
continuous practice provides the cornerstones to achieving operational proficiency safely.
The following specific areas will go a long way in making you a safe and effective tactical jet pilot:
RELATIVE MOTION/EXCESSIVE CLOSURE

All midair collisions are a result of pilots failing to recognize constant bearing and decreasing range until
it is too late to take evasive action. Understand the mechanics of dynamic maneuvering and realize that,
under g, your lift vector tells you where you are going so be sure to lag the other aircraft if the need to
deconflict arises. Until now, all your flying in close proximity to other aircraft has been static, and rates of
change have always been tightly controlled. This will not be the case in the rest of your tactical flying,
especially during the snap guns exercise as you are maneuvering very close to the 500-ft bubble and
during the horizontal scissors as you cross the bandit’s flight path.
SITUATIONAL/SPATIAL AWARENESS
Spatial awareness is the ability to project the flight paths of your aircraft and other aircraft in relation to
each other. Your ability to develop spatial awareness combined with a complete understanding of you
aircraft’s capabilities will prevent a midair collision. Situational awareness goes beyond spatial aware-
ness and allows you to anticipate situations that may lend themselves to midair collisions. You need to
exercise both situational and spatial awareness anytime you maneuver for a head-on pass, whether it is
during 1 v 1 neutral starts or during an engagement. If you fail to call the pass, the instructor may have
to call it for you.
During 2 v 1 maneuvering, you need to be especially aware of the possibility for a midair during rear-
quarter attacks when you are a solo free fighter and you end up turning back too early directly into the
fight. Another situation similar to 1 v 1 is after the bandit has switched from the engaged fighter to you
as a free fighter and you fail to call the head-on pass. In the case of a visual forward-quarter attack, if
you are a free fighter and you are aligning for a rear-quarter shot but you delayed your Counterflow turn,
the potential exists for a midair with your wingman.
GOOD START
Just as you learned in CQ, if you aren’t in a good position at the abeam, the chances are by the time you
get to the ramp you are not in a good position to land. This holds true in any tactical flying. Near misses
are often caused by the wingman being out of position at the start of the maneuver. Strive to be in
position at all times. This also increases your learning curve, as you will see the exercise from the same
setup each time.

LOST SIGHT/LOOKOUT
In order to minimize the potential for a midair collision (especially in the air-to-air phase), you must keep
your head on a swivel. Learn to take quick glances into the cockpit to get the information you want then
look back outside immediately. Any aircraft that loses sight for more than an instant in a close fight must
transmit, “Lost sight.” The other aircraft will provide descriptive/directive commentary to help the lost-
sight aircraft reacquire sight. If this is unsuccessful, the instructor will call, “Knock it Off.”
OUT-OF-CONTROL DEPARTURES
Because you are constantly pushing the envelope in maneuvering during ACM, you will reach critical
points where a departure might occur. Be especially aware of two situations. First, when you are in a
defensive situation and the bandit executes a BRA, you may become disoriented and lose control as you
counter during your vertical pull-up. Second, if you are executing a High-g roll, you could depart the
aircraft because of cross controlling. However the situation develops, don’t hesitate to bring the throttle
back to idle and go through your OCF procedures.
AIRCRAFT LIMITATIONS
All aircraft have specific structural/aerodynamic limitations. If you do not heed these limitations, you
could damage the aircraft and endanger yourself. It is mandatory that you know all the aircraft limitations
and emergency procedures.

SELF-TEST
1 V 1 ACM
1. Describe the T-45 Gouge numbers for break turn AOA, corner airspeed, sustained turn rate band,
minimum radius airspeed band and minimum vertical airspeed.
2. Who initiates the “Speed and Angels” call before the start of a maneuver?
3. Where should the throttle be when airspeed is at 85 kts?
4. True/False: POM is the last priority for a gun solution.
5. True/False: A KIO is called if unable to take a shot in the snap shot drill.
6. Describe the G-warm maneuver.
7. What type of fight is the flat scissor? (one-circle or two-circle)
8. True/False: Rudder is not important when flying the flat scissors maneuver.
9. When is the correct time to perform the pirouette in the rolling scissors and what are the mechan-
ics?
10. When is the best time to bug in a rolling scissors?
11. True/False: The 6,000 ft perch set starts with attacking aircraft 3,000 ft outside the defender’s
bubble.
12. What are the visual cues for bubble entry and attack window entry?
13. Describe the concept of misaligned turn circles and how it is useful in two-circle flow.

14. If you are stuck in lag, on your rate numbers and you have altitude between you and the hard deck,
what is the best maneuver to perform to close separation on the bandit and maneuver for a shot?
15. Describe the entry and comm for the BTX.
16. Describe an energy rate and a positional deck transition.
17. Nominally, how for is the attacker outside of the defender’s bubble at the F-2 for the BTX?
18. As the defender on the BTX, when should you break back into the bandit?
19. Describe the defensive break turn.
20. Who should you tell first if you hit RTB fuel on a dualed up ACM flight?
2 V 1 ACM
21. True/False: The call the bandit exercise gives the fighters a chance to mildly maneuver while
working comm.
22. Who initiates “Fenced” and “G’s and Fuel” calls?
23. How many degrees should it take for the free fighter on a no-switch to achieve a F-2 on the bandit?
24. What type of fight is the engaged fighter in during a counterflow exercise?
25. What is the comm for a switch in the multi-switch exercise?
26. Who calls the bug heading during the multi-switch exercise?
27. Who should be the tac lead on the bug after the merge with the bandit on the multi-switch exercise?

28. Who’s position do you describe as a response to a “Tally 2” call from your wingman?
29. On the abeam VID exercise, describe the comm when you are the free fighter pitching into the two-
circle fight.
30. What are the blocks for BVR’s?
31. What is the ROE for the fighters to come out of their block on a BVR?
32. Which is more important regarding comm priority in the engaged arena, directive or descriptive
comm?
33. Describe the extension after the switch from the flats during a multi-switch engagement.
34. How do we deconflict if either the Fighter or Bandit is blind on a switch during the multi-switch
exercise?
35. Who is responsible for area management on 2 v 1 ACM hops?

NOTES

APPENDIX A
Study Resources for ACMFP:

[A] T-45A NATOPS Flight Manual, A1-T45AB-NFM-000
[B] Air Combat Maneuvering Flight Training Instruction (FTI)
ACMFP-01: “Introduction to ACM,” 0.8 hr, Classroom

Lesson Preparation:
* [B] Read “Introduction” and “Background” sections with special attention to symbology and terminol-
ogy
Lesson Objectives:
* Relate environmental components to ACM performance
* Relate fixed aircraft factors to ACM performance
* Relate variable aircraft factors to ACM performance
* Identify energy management components for the T-45A
* Recall procedure for the performance characteristics exercise
* Recall basic ACM considerations
* Recall the actions which lead to a one-circle fight
* Recall the advantages/disadvantages of a one-circle fight
* Recall the actions which lead to a two-circle fight
* Recall the advantages/disadvantages of a two-circle fight
* Recall out-of-plane (OOP) maneuvering tactical considerations
* Recall procedures for maintaining sight/lookout doctrine
* Recall ACM terminology and descriptions
* Recall ACM symbology
* Recall training rules for ACM exercises
* Recall procedure for lost comm situation in ACM
* Recall procedure for lost sight situations in ACM
* Recall procedures for conducting G-LOC turns
ACMFP-02: “ACM 1 v 1 Offensive Maneuvering,” 1.0 hr, Classroom

Lesson Preparation:
* [B] Read “Offensive Flight Procedures” section
Lesson Objectives:
* Recall the concepts and tactics applicable to offensive ACM
* Recall the purpose and application of the snap guns exercise in ACM (offensive)
* Recall the procedure for performing the snap guns exercise (offensive)
* Recall the purpose and application of the high yo-yo in ACM
* Recall the purpose and application of the low yo-yo in ACM
* Recall the purpose and application of the horizontal scissors (offensive)
* Recall procedure for performing horizontal scissors (offensive)
* Recall the purpose and application of the rolling scissors (offensive)
* Recall procedure for performing rolling scissors (offensive)
* Recall the purpose and application of the offensive counter to the defensive pitchback
* Recall procedures for performing low-angle hard counter (offensive)
* Recall procedure for the “break turn” exercise (offensive)
* Recall the offensive considerations for disengagement
* Recall the procedures for execution of offensive disengagement

ACMFP-03: “ACM 1 v 1 Defensive Maneuvering,” 1.0 hr, Classroom

Lesson Preparation:
* [B] Read “Defensive Maneuvering Flight Procedures” section
Lesson Objectives:
* Recall the concepts and tactics applicable to defensive ACM
* Recall factors/techniques for defensive disengagement
* Recall disengagement follow-on options
* Recall the purpose and application of the snap guns exercise in ACM (defensive)
* Recall the procedure for performing the snap guns exercise (defensive)
* Recall the purpose and application of the horizontal scissors (defensive)
* Recall procedure for performing horizontal scissors (defensive)
* Recall the purpose and application of the rolling scissors (defensive)
* Recall procedure for performing rolling scissors (defensive)
* Recall purpose and application of defensive low-angle to hard counter
* Recall procedures for performing a defensive low-angle to hard counter
* Recall the purpose and application for breakturn exercise (defensive)
* Recall procedure for the “break turn” exercise (defensive)
* Recall the purpose and application of the lufbery
* Recall the purpose and application of the diving spiral
* Recall procedure for performing a diving spiral
* Recall the purpose and application of the high “g” roll
* Recall the procedure for performing a high “g” roll
* Recall the purpose and application of jink-out maneuvers
* Recall procedures for performing jink-out maneuvers
ACMFP-04: “ACM 1 v 1 Neutral Starts,” 0.8 hr, Classroom

Lesson Preparation:
* [B] Read “1 v 1 Engagement Concepts and Tactics” section
Lesson Objectives:
* Recall the concepts and tactics applicable to basic fighter maneuvers (BFM)
* Recall the parameters which constitute a neutral start
* Recall the actions which lead to a one-circle fight
* Recall the advantages/disadvantages of a one-circle fight
* Recall the actions which lead to a two-circle fight
* Recall the advantages/disadvantages of a two-circle fight
* Recall out-of-plane (OOP) maneuvering tactical considerations
* Recall the actions which lead to a vertical fight/merges
* Assess the neutral 1 v 1 tactical situation
ACMFP-06: “Three-Plane Air Combat Maneuvering,” 2.7 hr, Classroom

Lesson Preparation:
* [B] Read “2 v 1 Mission Procedures/Maneuvers” section
Lesson Objectives:
* Recall procedures/guidelines provided by ACM briefing
* Recall rules of engagement (ROE) for conducting ACM training
* Recall parameters of the weapons envelope used by CNATRA
* Recall ACM working areas and enroute/RTB procedures
* Recall weather minimums/requirements for ACM
* Recall ACM tactical communications plan/usage
ACMFP-06 Lesson Objectives (Cont.):

* Identify energy management components for the T-45A
* Recall tactical considerations and ACM brief board information
* Recall procedures for conducting G-LOC turns
* Recall engaged/free fighter tactical doctrine applicable to ACM
* Recall 2 v 1 mutual support tactical and procedural considerations
* Recall the 2 v 1 considerations for disengagement
* Recall procedures for 2 v 1 disengagement
* Describe the correct position and purpose of the combat spread formation
* Recall other tactical formations used in ACM
* Recall tactical communications requirements for ACM
* Recall additional tactical considerations for ACM
* Assess 2 v 1 tactical situation (used for all engagements)
* Recall the concepts and tactics applicable to 2 v 1 ACM
* Recall responsibilities of each aircraft in the “call the bandit” exercise
* Describe actions of engaged/free fighter response to counterflow rear quarter attack
* Describe actions of engaged/free fighter in response to abeam attack
* Recall methods for regaining section integrity
* Describe actions of engaged/free fighter response to no-switch rear quarter attack
* Describe actions of engaged/free fighter to single-switch exercise
* Describe action of engaged/free fighter in response to multi-switch exercise
* Describe actions of engaged/free fighter in VFQ attack
* Recall the procedures for beyond visual range engagements

NOTES

APPENDIX B
2V1 ACM COMM SCRIPT
CALL THE BANDIT
NO SWITCH
Bandit “Bandit setting up on the left on ______ for the call the bandit no switch fighters call when
ready.”
Lead “_____ Speed & Angels.”
Wing “_____ Speed & Angels.”

B “Bandit’s in.”
W “_____ break left bandit left seven.”
L “Tally, ______ engaged.”

W “_____ free pulling for the shot…FOX-2 bandit in trail.”
B “Bandit knock it off.”
L “_____ knock it off.”

W “_____ knock it off (heading).”
SINGLE SWITCH
Bandit “Bandit setting up on the left on ______ for the call the bandit single switch fighters call when
ready.”


W “_____ free pulling for the shot…switch switch bandit’s coming to me…right to right.”
B “Right to right.”

W “_____ will engage in flats (heading).”
L “_____ free extending.”
W “_____ confirms flats (heading).”

L “_____ turning in tally visual….FOX-2 bandit on (side you’re on, in this case left).”

W “_____ knock it off.”
L “(heading).”
MULTI-SWITCH BUG
Bandit “Bandit setting up on the left on _____ for the multi switch bug bug bug fighters call when ready.”


W “_____ confirms flats (heading) JOKER.”

L “Copy joker let’s work the bug.”
L “_____ turning in tally visual.”
W “Heads up bandit’s nose is low…switch switch bandit’s coming to you from the (direction of
bandit’s and you’re turn as bandit is exiting the flats) [example] left.”
L “Tally, (call the pass side the same direction as the bandit coming from) example left to left.”
B “Left to left.”
L “Let’s bug (heading across bandit’s tail).”
W “Copy (heading)…I’m at your position.”

L “Visual.”
W “Bandit’s in a left turn 1 mile with 90 to go, looks like a good bug.”
B “Bandit concurs.”
W “_____ knock it off.”

L “Cross turn ______ low.”
W “______ high.”
MULTI-SWITCH KILL
Bandit “Bandit setting up on the left on ______ for the multi switch kill fighters call when ready.”
w “_____ break left bandit left seven.”

W “_____ confirms flats (heading).”
L “_____ turning in tally visual.”
W “Heads up bandit’s nose is low…switch switch bandit’s coming to you from the (direction of
bandit’s and you’re turn as bandit is exiting the flats) [example] left.”
L “Tally, (call the pass side the same direction as the bandit coming from) example left to left.”
L “______ will engage flats (heading not to cross bandit’s tail).”
W “______ free extending.”
L “Confirms flats (heading). “

W “______ turning in tally two.”

L “______ on the (side you’re on).”
W “______ tally visual….FOX-2 bandit on the (side opposite your lead).”

L “_____ knock it off”
W “_____ knock it off (heading).”
COUNTERFLOW
Bandit “Bandit setting up between the section on _____ for the counter flow fighters call when ready.”

W “_____ break right bandit right five.”

W “Looks like bandit’s sticking with you _______ free extending.”
L “______ engaged two circle right defensive.”

W “______ turning in tally visual.”
W “FOX-2 bandit in trail.”

L “Knock it off.”
W “Knock it off (heading).”
VISUAL FORWARD QUARTER
Bandit “Bandit setting up on the left on _____ for the VFQ fighters call when ready.”

B “Start the Comm.”
L “(wingman’s callsign) hard left BOGEY left nine long I’m padlocked call my turn.”
W “TWO.”
W “Turn.”
L “Out of the turn bogey on my nose 1 mile…I’m the eyeball…left to left.”

W “_____ tally visual…shooter.”

L “Shoot shoot MIG.”
W “FOX-2.”
B “Chaff flares, continue.”
W “______ engaged two circle right offensive.”
L “______ free extending.”

L “______ turning in tally visual.”
L “(wingman) come off high/low (in direction of lead’s turn in) example left.”
W “Blind/Visual.”
L “You’re clear….FOX-2 bandit in a right turn.”
L “Knock it off.”
W “Knock it off.”
L “(heading)”

NOTES

GLOSSARY
Admin Lead: The flight lead.
Anchored: Orbiting or engaged at an assigned point.
Angels: Altitude of aircraft in thousands of feet.
Angle Off: Angle off the tail (AOT) between the defender’s longitudinal axis and attacker’s line-of-sight.
Simply the attacker’s position off the defender’s tail (see also “Track Crossing Angle”).
AOB: Angle of bank
Arcing Turn (Arc): A turn executed at less than the optimum rate of turn, or an extension maneuver
executed other than in a straight line.
Aspect: Angular description of an aircraft.
Attack Window: A piece of sky located aft of the defender’s post where if an attacking aircraft max
performs at the right time, he will arrive in the defensive aircraft’s control zone with angles and closure
under control.
Atoll: A Soviet IR missile—the missile call used by the bandit.
Bandit: Aircraft identified as an enemy.
Barrel Roll Attack: An offensive maneuver similar to the displacement roll, but used in high AOT
outside 4,000-ft range.
BFM: Basic Fighter Maneuvering. Synonymous with Air Combat Maneuvering for our purposes.
Belly Check: Overbanking the aircraft to check areas masked from view by your own aircraft.
Beyond Visual Range (BVR): Situation where an intercept through radar or GCI identifies a group that
is beyond the visual ACM arena.
Blind: Call from fighter meaning, “I do not see my lead/wingman/friendly.”
Bogey: Unidentified air contact.
Bracketing: Forcing the bandit to pass head-on between the section during a forward quarter or abeam
attack.
Break Turn: 19-21 unit AOA turn executed to defeat an employed weapon or to deny/gain positional
advantage.

Break Turn Exercise: Essentially a 9,000 ft perch set where the offensive fighter begins his attack
9,000 ft away from the defensive aircraft.
Bubble: A representation of an aircraft’s turn circle in all 3 dimensions if he max performs at his current
energy state.
Bug Out (verb): To disengage from ACM in order to exit safely from the fight; also, Bugout (adj; noun).
Buster: Expedite with 0G/MRT as required.
Check Left/Right (Degrees): To alter heading any number of degrees to the left or right.
Combat Air Patrol Station (CAP): The area of responsibility when a section is on patrol in the fleet.
Contact: Initial and subsequent detections of an object by any detecting device including eyeballs.
Control Point: 1 radius of turn aft of the defender on his flight path.
Control Zone: A cone-like area, 2,000 ft to 4,000 ft behind a maneuvering aircraft, 20 degrees wide at
the front to 40 degrees wide on the back side centered on the aircraft’s flight path where if an attacking
aircraft arrives with angles and closure under control, the defensive aircraft will be able to do nothing to
deny him positional advantage.
Corner(ing) Airspeed: The slowest airspeed where the g limit is available (410 KIAS @10,000 ft).
Counterflow: A tactic in section engagements where the engaged fighter forces the bandit into a
predictable flight path, while the free fighter maneuvers out-of-phase, going counter to the direction of the
fight for a kill.
Daisy Chain: An unfavorable situation where the three or more aircraft are turning in phase in the same
plane.
Degrees to Go: The number of degrees of turn that an offensive aircraft has to turn in order to enter a
suitable weapons envelope.
Displacement Roll: An offensive maneuver used to reduce excessive closure while displacing the
aircraft to a different plane of maneuvering. Used in low to medium AOT and medium range situation.
(The) Egg: A three-dimensional ovoid showing the effects of gravity on an aircraft maneuvering in all
three planes.
Energy Package: The combination of the aircraft’s altitude (potential energy) and airspeed (kinetic
energy) making up the aircraft’s total energy.
Engaged Fighter: In multi-plane engagements, the aircraft that is fighting an aggressive 1 v 1 against
the bandit.
Engaging Turn: An efficient combination of turn rate and radius that maintains energy.
Engaging Turns: The type of turns used by a section to engage an enemy contact, i.e., Tac turns (both
into and away), in-place turns, and crossturns.
Extension: A maneuver performed to achieve either range and/or angular separation to employ
weapons or exit an engagement.
Eyeball: Identifies the fighter who has a tally/radar contact and will take bandit close aboard to obtain
visual identification (VID) in section forward-quarter tactics.
Feet Dry/Wet: Flying over land or water.
Flat Scissors: Defensive maneuver used to take advantage of an attacker’s horizontal overshoot. Also
results from the flattening of the rolling scissors.
Flight Path: The imaginary arc that an aircraft scribes in the sky. The aircraft’s velocity, g, and LV
placement determine the geometry of the flight path. An aircraft that is straight and level has a straight
flight path while one in a hard break turn has a very dynamic flight path. The smoke from an aircraft’s
engine is an excellent indication of an aircraft’s flight path.
Flow: When two aircraft meet head-on, one of two types of flow is established in a turning fight after the
merge occurs. If after the merge both aircraft turn across each other’s tail, the flow is said to “two-circle”
because each aircraft is still on it’s own distinct turn circle. Both aircraft will be turning the same direction,
i.e., both in a left hand turn. Note that in two-circle flow, the two aircraft are fighting nose-to-tail. If at the
merge one aircraft turns in the same direction as the other aircraft, the flow is now said to be “one circle”
because both aircraft are now on the same turn circle but in opposite directions, i.e., one left hand turns,
the other in right hand turns. This is described as a nose-to-nose fight.
Force Mix: The number and type of friendly vs. opponent aircraft to be taken into account when
considering ACM strategies and tactics.
FOX-1: Fox-1 indicates the release of a semi-active radar guided missile. The call is made by the
aircraft releasing the missile.
FOX-2: Indicates the release of an IR (heat seeking) guided missile. The call is made by the aircraft
releasing the missile.
Free Fighter: In multi-plane engagements, the aircraft that is able to maneuver to achieve a shot while
not having to aggressively counter the attacker.
Gate: To employ maximum thrust using full afterburner.
Ground Control Intercept (GCI): Communication from a remote ground station that transmits vectors
and altitude information to the fighters to intercept a group long before it could be visually sighted.

Group: An airborne contact may be composed of one or more aircraft.
Guns: Rear-quarter steady state or snap guns firing solution.
Hard Turn: Compromise between a maximum rate turn and energy conserving turn (17 units AOA).
Typically, the nibble of buffet.
Heads Up: Call indicating that an “enemy got through” or “I am not in position to engage target.”
High Yo-Yo: Offensive maneuver designed to hold or increase range by decreasing closure rate and
opening nose to tail in low-to-medium angle off situations.
Joker: Fuel state above bingo fuel, which would allow a successful bugout. Call normally transmitted to
notify lead/wingman.
Knock It Off: Call made to stop the fight or current maneuvers.
Lateral Pitchback: A Defensive maneuver used after a bug or separation maneuver to reengage.
Usually started at high airspeeds; the fighter will roll to place the LV on or slightly above the horizon and
then execute a 19-21 unit pull to bleed down to tactical turn rate airspeed while taking away as many
angles as possible while the attacker is outside the bubble.
Lateral Separation: Lateral distance between two aircraft.
Lift Vector: The vector created through the production of lift, perpendicular to the wingplane.
Line of Sight (LOS): Relative bearing to the bandit from the fighter’s aircraft, with zero degrees being
the fighter’s nose.
Loose Deuce: Navy tactical doctrine for employment of a section of aircraft against a single bandit
aircraft now referred to as Section Engaged Maneuvering.
Low Yo-Yo: An offensive maneuver designed to decrease range and angles by increasing closure rate,
typically through the use of out-of-plane maneuvering.
Lufbery: Horizontal or slightly oblique stalemate-type engagement where both aircraft are across the
circle from each other, turning in the same direction at a low-energy state.

Merge Plot: Radar tracks involved in an engagement have come together and cannot be distinguished
from each other; occurs in the transition from BVR to the visual arena.
No Joy: Call made meaning “I do not see the bandit/bogey.”
Nose-To-Tail: Reference to the distance between the nose of an attacker and the tail of the defender. It
is used synonymously with range.
One Circle Flow: An engagement between two aircraft that are turning nose-to-nose, through opposite
AOB. This fight is referred to as a “Radius Fight” since the aircraft with the smallest turn radius is likely to
achieve the advantage.
Overshoots: Flight path-Occurs anytime the offensive aircraft flies through the defensive aircraft’s
flight path at or aft of the defensive aircraft’s 3/9 line.
3/9 Line-Occurs anytime the attacker flies from aft of the defender’s 3/9 line to in front of
the defender’s 3/9 line (i.e., flushing out in front).
Out-of-plane Maneuvering (OOP): Anytime your aircraft is maneuvering out of the plane of motion with
respect to your opponent’s plane of motion (> 45 degrees).
Padlocked: Call meaning that “I have a tally and cannot take my eyes off the bandit or I will lose contact
due to visibility/range, etc.”
Parrot: The IFF/SIF equipment. “Strangle your Parrot” means turn off your IFF.
Pigeons: Magnetic bearing and distance of home base (or unit indicated).
Plane of Motion (Plane of Turn): The flat plane of the turning circle. An aircraft’s plane of motion is
generally determined by assessing nose attitude and lift vector placement or more simply put, the two-
dimensional plane the aircraft is currently scribing.
Popeye: Call made to indicate that an aircraft is “in the clouds or area of reduced visibility.”
Positional advantage: A combination of angular advantage (i.e., less than 180-degrees of turn) to your
opponent’s flight path on the same heading with 3/9 line advantage and/or lateral turning room.
Post: The center of an aircraft’s turn circle. The post is often useful in determining the pursuit curve.

Pursuit Curves: Pursuit curves are based on the nose position when in the adversary’s POM and the
LV placement when not in the adversary’s POM.
Lead – pointing in front of the adversary

Pure – pointing at the adversary
Lag – pointing behind the adversary
Radius Fight: See One-circle flow.
Range: Linear distance between two aircraft stated in nm or feet.
Rate Fight: See Two-circle flow.
ROE: Rules of Engagement. This term is used to ensure we have deconflicted flight paths when two
aircraft are converging. e.g., “Hawk 1, High/Low/Left/Right.”
Rolling Scissors: Maneuver used to counter a barrel roll attack or when a fighter does not have the
airspeed or altitude to go pure vertical.
State: Fuel remaining.
Shackle: Turn made to redress the section by crossing one member to other side, thus reassuming
proper combat spread position.
Shooter: As applied to section forward-quarter tactics, the fighter pulling for a shot as his wingman
(eyeball) passes close aboard and visually identifies (VIDs) the bandit.
Situational Awareness (SA): Cognizance of all factors in a tactical arena that affect mission success.
Skip It: Call made to indicate, “Do not attack” or the “Cease attack/intercept.”
Slice Turn: A hard turn with minimal energy/speed bleedoff performed by rolling to place the lift vector
below the horizon at some oblique angle and applying g.
Snap Shot Drill: Exercise designed to develop the skill of maneuvering into a snap guns solution and
firing on a bandit.
Snap Guns: A non-tracking guns solution with 60-90 degrees AOT and a range of 1,000 ft to ½ mile.
Snap Lock: A GCI call indicating a bearing, range and altitude to a target at short range.

Speed and Angels: A call made prior to a ACM engagement to signify that the aircraft is in parameters
to start the maneuver and that all aircraft are in sight. This call will be made only when the aircraft is
within the following parameters for the engagement:
+/- 200 ft altitude

+/- .1 miles
+/- 10 kts
+/- half a clock code
Steady: Call meaning “I am on prescribed heading.”
Steer: Call meaning to “Fly heading indicated.”
TAC (Tactical) Lead: Member of the flight having the best SA and is directing the section’s maneuvers.
However, not always the Admin lead.
Tally: Call meaning “A bandit/bogey visually sighted.”
Three/Nine Line (3/9 Line): A line drawn through the aircraft, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis
through the Aerodynamic Center which determines whether an opponent is in front of, or behind that
aircraft.
Track Crossing Angle (TCA): Angular difference in velocity vectors at any instant. (See also “Angle
Off” for distinction.)
Track Crossing Rate: The speed at which the opposing aircraft appears to move across the fighter’s
canopy.
Turn Circle: The circle scribed by an aircraft’s turn as it moves through the sky. The radius of this turn
circle is constantly changing depending upon the “G” and velocity of the aircraft. We will generally
discuss at turn circle based on a generalized maximum performance turn as having a 3,000-ft radius or
6,000-ft diameter.
Turning Room: Any separation that exists between two aircraft.
Two-Circle Flow: An engagement between two aircraft that are turning nose-to-tail through the same
direction of turn. This is referred to as a Rate Fight because the aircraft with the faster rate
of turn is likely to achieve the advantage.
Vector (DEG): Call meaning “Alter heading to magnetic heading indicated.”
Visual: Call meaning “Wingman is in sight.”

SYMBOLOGY
You will see and use the following symbols in diagramming an ACM engagement.
FIGURE 62: SYMBOLOGY

INDEX
A D
ACM strategies ........................................ 149 Daisy Chain ........................... 116, 125, 148
Admin Lead ..................................... 124, 147 Degrees to Go .................................. 32, 148
Anchored ......................................... 115, 147 Disengagement ......................... 38, 53, 112
Angels ...................... 41, 44, 49, 51, 70, 73 Displacement Roll .............................. 2, 148
74, 92, 100-101, 153
Angle Off ...................... 23, 24, 29, 32, 147 E
AOB ..................................... 35, 73, 74, 147 Egg ............................................. 13, 37, 148
Arcing Turn (Arc) ..................................... 147 Energy Management .......................... 77, 83
Aspect .......................... 19, 23, 27, 93, 147 Energy Package ........................ 33, 61, 148
Atoll .......................................................... 147 Engaged Fighter ......... 97-99, 103-104, 115
Attack Window ............. 27, 49, 52, 57, 147 118, 121, 148
Engaging Turn ......................................... 149
B Engaging Turns ....................................... 149
Bandit .................... 2, 14, 17, 20-22, 27-28 Extension .......... 14, 66, 77, 104, 128, 149
30, 31, 33-35, 37-41, 44 Eyeball .................. 19, 66-67, 70, 117, 149
48, 52-55, 57, 61, 63-66
75, 79-80, 82-87, 90-95 F
97-106, 113, 115, 117 Feet Dry ................................................... 149
121, 123, 125, 127-129 Feet Wet .................................................. 149
131, 147 Flat Scissors ........... 33-36, 39, 46, 63, 149
Barrel Roll Attack: BRA ...... 36, 48, 65, 147 Flight Path ........... 15, 20, 35, 98, 106, 149
Belly Check .............................................. 147 Flow ............................ 46-47, 79, 80, 82-83
Beyond Visual Range (BVR) ........ 1, 92, 123 97, 105, 149
147 Force Mix .......................................... 94, 149
Blind ....................... 20, 52, 69, 93, 99, 103 FOX-1 ....................................................... 149
106, 121, 129, 147 FOX-2 ................................................ 25, 149
Bogey .............................................. 121, 147 Free Fighter ........................ 97-99, 103, 104
Bracketing ....................................... 117, 147 106, 118, 149
Break Turn ....................... 9, 17, 18, 29, 50
57, 75-76, 147 G
Bubble .......................... 20, 24, 26, 49, 148 Gate ......................................................... 149
Bug Out: Bugout ........ 47, 53, 64, 112, 148 Ground Control Intercept (GCI) ..... 123, 149
Buster ................................................ 99, 148 Group ....................................................... 150
Guns ................................ 21, 29, 42, 54, 68
C 70, 131, 150
Check Left/Right (Degrees) .................... 148
Combat Air Patrol Station (CAP) ............. 148 H
Contact .............................................. 95, 148 Hard Turn ............ 12, 40, 49, 75, 113, 150
Control Point ................ 16, 26, 50, 84, 148 Heads Up ........................................ 126, 150
Control Zone ................... 17, 23, 28, 50, 60 High Yo-Yo .......................................... 2, 150
69, 104, 148 Horizontal Scissors ............ 21, 34, 39, 131
Corner(ing) Airspeed 148
Counterflow ............. 97, 103, 113, 115, 118 J
121, 128, 131, 148 Joker ........................................ 90, 110, 150

K S
Knock It Off ................ 40, 45, 97, 129, 150 Shackle ............................................. 43, 152
Knock it Off .............................................. 129 Shooter ........ 42, 44-45, 91, 118, 129, 152
Single-Switch ........................... 101-103, 104
L Situational Awareness (SA) ... 1, 21, 92, 98
Lateral Pitchback ..................................... 150 105, 117, 131, 152
Lateral Separation ..... 63, 67, 83, 107, 150 Skip It ......................................... 45, 71, 152
Lift Vector ....................... 13, 17, 49, 61, 63 Slice Turn ................................. 39, 126, 152
68, 77, 150 Snap Lock ................................................ 152
Line of Sight (LOS) .................................. 150 Snap Shot Drill .................................. 42, 152
Loose Deuce ..................................... 50, 150 Speed and Angels ........ 41, 43, 70, 92, 153
Low Yo-Yo .................................. 28, 50, 150 State .................................................. 21, 152
Lufbery ...................................... 85, 113, 150 Steady ...................................................... 153
Symbology ......................................... 44, 154
M
Merge Plot ............................................... 151 T
Multi-switch ..................... 96, 103, 105, 110 TAC (Tactical) Lead ................................. 153
Tally ............................. 20, 79, 93, 100, 116
N 123, 126, 129, 153
No Joy ............................. 20, 106, 123, 151 Three/Nine Line
(or 3/9 Line) ............. 15, 16, 17, 34, 153
O Total Energy ................................................. 6
One Circle Flow ....... 46, 52, 101, 116, 151 Track Crossing Angle (TCA) ........... 153–154
One-Circle Fight ............ 17, 31, 35, 80, 97 Track Crossing Rate ... 17, 27, 42, 46, 153
Out-of-plane Maneuvering (OOP) .......... 151 Turn Circle ................... 24, 26, 28, 32, 153
Overshoots ......................... 16, 36, 77, 151 Turning Room ................ 17, 33, 37, 54, 62
72, 80, 84, 153
P Two-Circle Fight ................... 31, 33, 74, 84
Padlocked ................................................ 151 89, 97, 99
Parrot ....................................................... 151 Two-Circle Flow ........... 52, 81-83, 121, 153
Performance Characteristics ............... 5, 80
Pigeons .................................................... 151 V
Plane of Motion (Plane of Turn) .............. 151 Vertical Maneuvering ................................. 13
Popeye ..................................................... 151 Visual ......................... 19, 49, 92, 100, 119
Position advantage ............................. 79, 83 122-124, 129, 153
Positional advantage ..... 6, 17, 33, 34, 151
Post .............................. 27, 30, 32, 52, 151
Pursuit Curves ........................... 24, 56, 152
R
Radius Fight ............................ 33, 34, 83-84
87, 97, 152
Range ........................ 19, 21, 23, 39, 44-45
47, 57, 152
Rate Fight ........................... 30, 58, 97, 152
ROE .................... 33, 35, 45, 47, 123, 152
Rolling Scissors ...................... 35-37, 48, 50
....................................................... 65, 73, 152

P 1289 PDF

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

P 1289 PDF

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

NAVAL AIR TRAINING COMMAND

NAS CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS CNATRA P-1289 (REV. 2-07) PAT

AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING

FLIGHT TRAINING INSTRUCTION

(2-07) Original Page i

Page ii (2-07) Original

FLIGHT TRAINING INSTRUCTION

EFFECTIVE PAGE EFFECTIVE PAGE

Original i thru xiv

(2-07) Original Page iii

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

Page iv (2-07) Original

AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING

(2-07) Original Page v

Page vi (2-07) Original

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ vii

BASIC AERODYNAMIC REVIEW .............................................................................................................. 3

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS ..................................................................................................... 5

ENERGY MANEUVERABILITY .................................................................................................................. 7

TURN PERFORMANCE NUMBERS ......................................................................................................... 11

T-45 GOUGE NUMBERS ......................................................................................................................... 12

APPLIED EM CONCEPTS ....................................................................................................................... 13

1 V 1 ACM EXECUTION .......................................................................................................................... 22

(2-07) Original Page vii

ROLLING SCISSORS ..................................................................................................................... 36

Page viii (2-07) Original

THREE-PLANE ACM ............................................................................................................................ 94

SAFETY/EMERGENCY CONSIDERATIONS ......................................................................................... 131

SELF-TEST ............................................................................................................................................ 133

APPENDIX A .......................................................................................................................................... 137

APPENDIX B .......................................................................................................................................... 141

GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................ 147

INDEX .................................................................................................................................................... 155

(2-07) Original Page ix

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

Page x (2-07) Original

Figure 1: AERODYNAMICS FORCES ACTING UPON AN AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT ........................... 3

(2-07) Original Page xi

Figure 44: COUNTERFLOW EXERCISE .......................................................................................... 113

Page xii (2-07) Original

HOW TO USE THIS FTI

(2-07) Original Page xiii

Page xiv (2-07) Original

(2-07) Original Page 1

Page 2 (2-07) Original

BASIC AERODYNAMIC REVIEW

FIGURE 1: AERODYNAMIC FORCES ACTING UPON AN AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT

(2-07) Original Page 3

We will introduce some definitions for our discussion.

FIGURE 2: ANGLE OF ATTACK

Page 4 (2-07) Original

(2-07) Original Page 5

Fighter A Fighter B Advantage Advantage

FIGURE 3: TURN RATE ADVANTAGE COMPARISON

Page 6 (2-07) Original

• Minimum Instantaneous Turn Radius

• Maximum Energy Addition Rates

• Turn Rate Capability: Instantaneous and Sustained

• Turn Radius Capability: Instantaneous and Sustained

(2-07) Original Page 7

FIGURE 4: GENERIC E/M DIAGRAM

Page 8 (2-07) Original

(2-07) Original Page 9