Pete Bonanni: The Art of the Kill

Art of the Kill may be read straight through. However, maximum understanding of the air combat experience may best be gained by reading a chapter and then watching the segment in the “Fighter Air Combat Trainer” videotape that accompanies each chapter. This videotape intermixes a presentation on air combat skills with real air combat footage. It also includes historical commentary from retired Colonel Phil “Hands” Handley, a “MiG killer” fighter pilot, who had the only gun kill of a MiG-19 over North Vietnam.

Each segment in “Fighter Air Combat Trainer” is narrated and explained by author Pete Bonanni, and relates the desired objectives of the learning experience by discussing the relevant material. During the explanations, flight simulators and models are used to illustrate both the concepts involved and the actual maneuvers being discussed.

For those who are curious about the flight simulation used in the “Fighter Air Combat Trainer” video, Art of the Kill contains a free demonstration disk of Falcon 3.0, the most realistic F-16 flight simulation available outside of the military or the aviation industry. With this Falcon 3.0 demo, those of you who have access to an IBM computer can see for yourselves what air combat is all about, and can actually attempt the maneuvers you have read about in Art of the Kill and have seen in “Fighter Air Combat Trainer.”

Finally, for those who already have their own copy of Falcon 3.0, simulator training missions (called Red Flag Missions after the famous “Red Flag” fighter weapons school run out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada) are available for free downloading from the Spectrum HoloByte online bulletin board. [2] Spectrum HoloByte Customer Support BBS 510-522-8409 8-N-1

Together, the Art of the Kill book, the “Fighter Air Combat Trainer” videotape and the Falcon 3.0 flight simulator offer a fascinating glimpse into a world few of us have access to: that of the modern fighter pilot and of modern air combat.

Basic Fighter Maneuvers or BFM describe how aircraft maneuver against each other in one-versus-one (1V1) air combat. These maneuvers are the basic building blocks of all the other air combat tactics and techniques. You will never achieve true proficiency in any phase of air combat without first understanding BFM.

BFM describes specific concepts of fighter turns, turning room and turn circles. These principles will be discussed in this book in an air-to-air context. Principles of BFM also apply when you’re flying air-to-ground missions. A fighter pilot’s objective is to kill and survive in the skies over the battlefield.

BFM forms the foundation of the complex skills that a modern fighter pilot must master in order to achieve this objective. From this foundation, we will help you build an in-depth understanding of modern air combat. What you know is important, but in fighter aviation, it is not what you know but how well you achieve your primary objective — a sky full of the enemy’s hair, teeth and eyeballs. There are no points for second place. The following story will illustrate this point. Art of the Kill will start you on the road to mastering the principles of air combat. Enjoy!

Not long ago, I had a tussle with some Mud Hens [3] Mud Hens — F-15Es in a Dissimilar Air Combat Tactics (DACT) ride. I was in an F-16, and the bad guys were flying F-15Es. The F-15E is the ground-attack version of the F-15 which flew to fame in the Gulf War, attacking SCUD sites and just about every other kind of target in the theater. The F-15E is a two-seat jet equipped with conformal fuel tanks which increase its range, but limits its maneuverability.

The fight started with a customary “Fight’s on” call, and I immediately leaned my two-ship flight of F-16s southwest towards the sun. This move would force the bandits to look into the sun as we got within visual range. We were already outnumbered four to two, so we needed all the help we could get. To make matters worse, we had been briefed that the F-16s would be limited to simulated AIM-9M Sidewinders while the F-15Es would have AIM-7M Sparrows along with their Sidewinders. Because the AIM-7 has a longer range than the AIM-9, we started the fight in the “rope-a-dope” mode. In other words, we could not go right at them because they had the big stick (the AIM-7). When you are up against a fighter with a bigger stick, you have to use deception to keep from getting your cranium creased.

Our game plan for the rope-a-dope was to sort out the Mud Hen formation before we got to Sparrow range. Next, we would determine which one of us was targeted on radar by the F-15Es. If we were both targeted, then we would turn and run. No need to end up wearing a Sparrow. If only one of us was targeted, the targeted jet would drag, [4] drag — a turn away from the enemy and the untargeted Falcon would go to the merge and wring a few Mud Hen necks. In the unlikely event they couldn’t find either one of us on radar, we would both go to the merge. [5] merge — the point where the opposing fighters pass each other

As the fight unfolded, I got a radar contact on all four bandits. They were in a wall formation coming right down the snot locker. [6] snot locker — toward my nose I called to my wingman, “Lead has 4 contacts, 20° left, at angels 18 .[7] angels 18 — 18,000 feet altitude Wide line abreast formation, high aspect.” My wingman called, “Two’s same.” My wingman and I had all four of them on radar, and we already had some offset. I leaned the flight farther southwest and pushed it up to just below the Mach. [8] Mach — the speed of sound

Just after I completed the turn for more offset, my wingman called, “Two is spiked, left 1 o’clock.” An F-15E radar had found him. His call was followed by a roll and turn out of the fight. This was our planned maneuver if one of us was found by the F-15Es. With my wingman executing the planned drag, I checked my threat warning again. I knew I would get a tone if I was targeted, but these ears of mine have betrayed me in the past. When the pucker factor [9] pucker factor — anxiety level is up and the chips are down, only my eyes have proved to be 100% reliable.

Nope, the scope was clean. At 10 miles, I turned to put my targeted F-15E in the HUD. At about eight miles, I picked up a tally and called, “Lead’s tally 4, wide line abreast formation.” They hadn’t seen me, or if they had, they weren’t reacting. I closed the range and pressed down on the Z axis of the F-16 cursor slew button. When you press and hold down on the cursor slew button, you switch the Sidewinder from the radar slave mode to the boresight mode. I planned to take out the closest Mud Hen with a boresight Sidewinder shot and then switch to the farthest F-15E in the formation with a radar slave Sidewinder shot. This way I had a chance to kill two guys at the merge and have the other two guys out in front of me. Things were happening at the proper pace, and I was in the groove as I got a good missile tone on the closest Mud Hen. God was in heaven, and the birds were singing in the trees. All was right with the world as I squeezed the trigger in the heart of the Sidewinder envelope. I called, “Fox 2 kill on the southwest Eagle at 18,000 feet.”