Dog fighting, also known as air combat maneuvering (ACM).

When the F-4 fighter was built, it was thought that the future world would be the era of missiles, and the pilot pressed the button, launched the missile, and the mission was completed.

There is no blood in killing, and there is no target in destruction.

However, the battle over Vietnam used bloody facts to tell the United States that in this era, dog fighting has not lost its importance, and relying solely on missiles will suffer losses.

Therefore, the United States has re-emphasized air combat and fighting, and because of the danger of dog fighting, it is generally placed in the last part of the training syllabus.

Only after the pilot has completed the run-in with the fighter plane and the run-in with the radar officer in the back seat can he fly the dogfight, requiring the pilot to master the performance of the aircraft in place and completely reach the point of integration of man and machine.

For Nathan, the training came quickly.

Nathan completed the cooperation with his old partner Steve as quickly as possible, practicing long-range launch of immortal birds and launching sparrows, in this case, Nathan just needs to fly the fighter plane honestly, and there is no passion at all.

Every training session can be completed 100%, Nathan seems to have become honest, and does not do anything out of the ordinary, of course, this is also very simple, there is no room for Nathan to play in this kind of action.

Time passed quickly, and after more than ten days of training, Nathan's crew completed the rest of the training and entered the dog fighting course.

"Air combat requires a fighter with a very low wing load and a very high thrust-to-weight ratio." Lieutenant Colonel Mark said in the flight preparation room: "Our Tomcat fighter, when the wings are fully deployed, meet these two characteristics, although our aircraft is very heavy, but it flies as agile as the MiG-21, if the confrontation with the Soviet fighter breaks out again, our Tomcat fighter will definitely not let us down." ”

The eyes of the pilots present were shining, and for a pilot with ideals, ambitions and skills, all kinds of dazzling tactical actions were their favorites.

"I emphasize two points, pay attention to the flight envelope, our engines are not stable, and if they fail, it is likely to cause serious flight accidents." Lieutenant Colonel Mark said: "Second, pay attention to the distance, fly all maneuvers exactly according to our training syllabus, and be careful of collisions. ”

In later generations, Nathan remembers quite clearly that for more than ten years, the Air Force paid attention to safety, and removed everything that was dangerous in the training syllabus, and as a result, during that time, the combat effectiveness of the Air Force declined rapidly, and the air combat was not carried out for many years.

Of all the flying events, aerial combat and ground dive targeting are the most dangerous.

Pilots are those who find their lives in danger, and Nathan has always been passionate about this kind of fighting.

After Lieutenant Colonel Mark finished speaking, he glanced at Nathan and said: "Training is the most important thing now, if someone maliciously violates discipline and leads to serious consequences, they may be banned from flying or even kicked out of the ranks of naval aviation!" ”

Of course, he said this to Nathan, and Nathan put on a straight face and shouted with the others, "Understood! ”

These days, Nathan also understands the character of this squadron leader, speaking very seriously, if he really comes according to his requirements, Nathan is long gone, he is actually very protective of the top flyer, and Nathan is even more different, this flying genius is definitely the pride of the gunner's team.

Stepping onto the Tomcat fighter and starting the engine, Nathan seemed to hear the call of the blue sky when he heard the roar of the engine coming from the tail.

Many times, Nathan even compares the J-15 of later generations, although it applies newer edge wings and wing-body fusion technologies, but when it comes to fighting, I am afraid that it will be like a fight with a tomcat.

The advantages that come with a variable sweep wing are quite enormous.

The MiG-23 is also a variable swept wing, but the variable swept wing of the MiG-23 is manually adjusted, and the Tomcat's is completely controlled by the computer, without manual intervention.

Like now.

With afterburner flames trailing in its tail, the Tomcat took off and flew over the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the aerial combat project finally began.

Nathan's eyes were looking at the airspace ahead, and at the same time, Steve, behind him, was also looking at the sky outside.

The radar officer in the back seat has to operate long-range and medium-range weapons, and when fighting at close range, the radar officer is mainly responsible for air observation, which is equivalent to an extra pair of eyes.

When the two cooperate tacitly, it is quite easy to search the airspace, for example, now, Nathan is mainly responsible for the ninety degrees in the airspace in front of him, and Steve on both sides is observed.

"I don't know where they're hiding." "Now that we're all around us, I have a feeling they're probably in the clouds overhead," Nathan said. ”

The fighting between novices and novices is dangerous, and the combination of novices and veterans is the best, and Nathan's crew is no exception, their opponent is the crew codenamed Owl, who has been in the Gunners squad for a year, flying more than two hundred hours on Tomcats, and Nathan has less than fifty hours in total.

Nathan looked at the white clouds overhead, even if he knew that the other party was hiding inside, he couldn't get into the clouds, it was quite dangerous, and if they collided in the clouds, it would be miserable.

Sure enough, just after they flew over the clouds, a tomcat suddenly came out of the clouds and swooped down on Nathan's plane!

"Eaglet, the target is behind us!" Steve caught a glimpse of the other party out of the corner of his eye, and immediately exclaimed, as long as the opponent locked on to his side with a Sidewinder missile, this combat training would be over.

What to do?

If it is a normal confrontation, then at this time Nathan needs to quickly pull up, accumulate a high degree of energy, and do a scissor climb to grapple with the opponent.

The performance of infrared missiles in this era is still backward, and it is necessary to bite the tail to attack, how to get rid of it is the basic of dog fighting, and biting each other back, it is even more of a leader in dog fighting.

Of course, Nathan will not do what is required on the training syllabus, the other party is more proficient in the syllabus than himself, if he does it according to the above requirements, then there will be only one ending, he will be bitten by the other party until the end of the fight!

Tossing yourself to the point that your muscles are sore, and then being educated by the old bird, this is definitely not the ending Nathan wants!

Nathan kept flying at level, and after two seconds, he jerked the throttle stick to the front, and at the same time, quickly pressed the button on his right side, and the airbrake was released!