Fighter Aircraft
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MODERN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY AND TACTICS As part of our ongoing market research, we are always pleased to receive comments about our books, suggestions for new titles, or requests for catalogues. Please write to: The Editorial Director, Patrick Stephens Limited, Sparkford, Near Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7JJ. MODERN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY AND TACTICS Into combat with today's fighter pilots Anthony Thornborough Patrick Stephens Limited © Anthony M. Thornborough 1995 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Patrick Stephens Limited. First published in 1995 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1 85260 426 3 Library of Congress catalog card No. 95-78112 Patrick Stephens Limited is an imprint of Haynes Publishing, Sparkford, Nr Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7JJ Typeset by J. H. Haynes & Co. Ltd. Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frame and London CONTENTS Introduction 7 Chapter 1 Modern Technology & Tactics: An Overview 9 Chapter 2 Launch 29 Chapter 3 Air Superiority 53 Chapter 4 Target Ingress 101 Chapter 5 Recovery 169 Chapter 6 Future Technologies 179 Glossary 195 Index 201 INTRODUCTION esigning, building, maintaining and flying lost in the quagmire of technical and professional Dmodern fighters has become an incredibly terminology. Much of this book, therefore, is written complex and expensive business, and one which is in layman's terms for fellow enthusiasts or those becoming increasingly mind-boggling in its breadth. enquiring into the subject for the first time: everything This has as much to do with the ancillary technology you wanted to know about modern military aviation, stuffed into, and strapped onto, modern military but were too afraid (or embarrassed) to ask. In many aircraft as the inevitable technological growth in instances I myself started from scratch and asked a lot airframes and propulsion, creating a veritable of seemingly unintelligent, stupid questions until it minefield of terminology derived from increasingly was possible to piece together what I hope is an compartmentalized sciences. accurate (albeit simplified in places) representation of Tactics at the sharp end, too, constantly being the technology, procedures and tactics employed in reshaped by these new technologies, continue to grow modern air warfare. American leading-edge at such a pace that only a privileged few are able to technology and tactics dominates, but many keep up with the multifarious developments around comparative illustrations are offered with competing the world. And in the aftermath of the Cold War, it is British, French and Russian hardware, which in some becoming increasingly clear that East and West instances has surpassed massively financed American created many diverging rather than copy-cat ingenuity or has built upon it. technological solutions in response to each other's real The initial and closing sections of the book take a and perceived military developments, further broader view of developments of the recent past and complicating the issue! Hopefully, the NATO-Russian future developments, respectively, while sandwiched Partnership for Peace deal signed in June 1994 will be in-between is a series of essays describing the various the harbinger of an exciting new era in cooperative missions and hardware, beginning with pre-flight development, however good competition might be at planning and ending, appropriately enough, with preserving the technical edge. aircraft recovery. Psychological and physiological This book sets out to unravel some of that aspects of flying modern high-performance fighters, technology, and how it has evolved since the Vietnam including some of the thrills and spills (ultimately the War, hopefully in an entertaining fashion. My brief real face of tearing about the sky), are also given from the publisher was to make this book accessible. thorough scrutiny within the confines of this work. In attempting to do this, I was astounded by how much Much of this should prove equally fascinating to has been taken for granted in past works, or simply budding aviators and engineers taking their first skipped over without adequate explanation and, as a glimpse at modern aerial warfare. It is also hoped that result, how little (at the outset, at least) I actually knew readers' eyes are not glazed over too much by the myself given the breadth of the subject matter. Many extensive use of terms and acronyms. These are past works have been written by engineers for other explained as they crop up and are reproduced in the engineers, by pilots for other pilots, or by politicians, Glossary. Partly owing to the multi-national flavour of analysts and planners for other like-minded folk, with this book which requires the use of some generic plenty of scope for laymen to become all too quickly terminology, and partly because of the current 8 MODERN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY & TACTICS acronym disease plaguing the Pentagon in such silver bullets is able to replace a much greater Washington, DC, this ultimately proved unavoidable; number of conventional fighters and their support there simply was no alternative if the narrative was to entourage. incorporate analytical perspectives, and there was The third advance is in data-linking and much of this to be accomplished in the light of the communications, and the fourth, allied to this, is the Gulf War, and more recent developments. increasing use of space satellites. The explosive effect Incidentally, many of the arguments reproduced that these latter two are having on a broad range of within these covers are intended to reflect the often technologies and tactics, from navigation to weapons differing opinions held by the professionals, some of employment, is best summed up by the slogan of the whom remain at loggerheads over certain issues. As I recently formed Space Warfare Center at Colorado am not privy to much of the detailed classified Springs in the western United States: 'In your face information (nor do I pretend to be) which might assist from outer space'! me in being unequivocal about these matters, both Had this book been compiled 12 years ago, very sides of the debate are presented wherever possible, little of these sweeping changes would have been albeit sometimes isolated. It is then up to the reader to included in the study at all. Quite how much will choose which camp he or she belongs to on any given change over the next 12 years remains to be seen. issue. In any event, many of the arguments and case Fathoming out the material for this book was a studies contained in this book should be of equal value long and rewarding process, but would have been to professional aviators and analysts too; sometimes, impossible without the generous assistance of many as the old saying goes, it is all too easy to lose sight of people, too numerous to list in full, who freely helped the woods for the trees. The inherent simplicity of the with ideas, information and illustrations. I would, approach taken within these pages, in going back to however, like to give special thanks to Bruce basics on many occasions, should help provide a Benyshek, Craig Brown, Jim Chamberlain, Peter E. clearer overall perspective of how technologies and Davies, Dale Donovan, Andy Evans, Douglas S. tactics are shaping today. And shaping they most McCurrach, Denny Lombard, Lois Lovisolo, Tim definitely are. Perry, Jim Rotramel, James M. Shaw, and my father In closing, it can be boldly asserted that there exist Dick Thornborough. Mention must also be made of four glaringly obvious factors remoulding the nature some of the organizations behind some of these names of modern air warfare, all of which feature strongly which responded specifically to help tie-up some throughout the book. The first is the impact of modern loose ends on this project, including Aérospatiale, microprocessors in everything from engines and flight Dassault-Breguet, GEC-Marconi, Hughes Missiles control systems, to weapons and defensive systems. and Radar groups, Lockheed Advanced Development The emerging range of new fighters, and their Company, Martin-Baker, Martin-Marietta, the MoD upgraded derivatives, are nothing less than computers Photographic Workshop, Northrop Grumman, RAF with wings on them, including many of the latest Strike Command, Rockwell-Collins, Texas previously besmirched but otherwise superb fighters Instruments, USAFE 3rd Air Force, Mildenhall, and of Russian origin. Similarly, it is interesting to reflect the US OASD in Washington, DC. Thanks also to Bob that most of the Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) Munro, and my publisher Darryl Reach at Haynes now being perfected in the West bear unit costs Publishing and his diplomatic editorial assistant comparable in real terms to early jet fighters, and are Alison Roelich, who patiently put up with numerous arguably more technologically sophisticated! delays in completing the project. The second factor is low-observable stealth fighter technology, and the impact this is having on current Anthony M. Thornborough force planning. It appears that a small force of Bristol, England, March 1995 Chapter One MODERN TECHNOLOGY & TACTICS: AN OVERVIEW he lightning air war in the Gulf in the opening lines of what sacked USAF Gen Dugan had Tmonths of 1991 arguably represented the first true indiscreetly outlined to the Press beforehand. When application of air power as a decisive factor in modern Coalition forces gave the enemy a temporary respite, warfare. As Gen Merrill A. McPeak, USAF Chief of it was because movements and developments needed Staff, noted, Operation Desert Storm represented 'the evaluating for the next thrust, not because the political first time in history that a field army has been defeated or military will to engage had run out of steam.