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Flying Nightmares II will involved fixed wing aircraft against helos, a situation that is somewhat unusual. This article considers the engagement from the perspective of the helo pilot. This article is condensed from Shaws Fighter Combat.

Helicopters are not usually considered air-to-air platforms, but many attack choppers are heavily armed and can be a serious threat to fixed-wing fighters. When compared to conventional fighters, helos are slow and don't have the ability to seek out and engage faster machines. As a result, engagements are most likely to happen while the helo is minding its own business or making life tough for ground forces. The helo will usually be the target rather than the attacker, but a skilled pilot and well armed helo is NOT defenseless.

One of the first defensive actions when faced with a fixed wing attack is to dive as low as possible and accelerate while turning toward the attacker. This posture serves a number of purposes. First, low alt operation degrades the attackers weapon systems by denying its pilot the look-up position need to optimize radar operation and weapons guidance. Though Pulse Doppler radars are capable of tracking a low-flying target, there is a "jamming" effect in the helicopter rotor. The PD radar sees only moving objects, and the target will appear to be surrounded by many "targets" as each blade in turn increases and decreases speed over the ground with every rotation.

Similarly, this plays havoc with Doppler-rate fuzes, causing early fuzing and detonation. If the attackers weapon is a Doppler type radar missile, the pilot should fly at right angles to the attacker's approach, which will eliminate the primary radar return or hide it in ground clutter, leaving only the rotating blades as radar targets and complicating the task of the missiles guidance system.

Flying toward the bogey has other advantages. Increased closure rate reduces the attackers firing time for guns or missiles, and if the attacker attempts to track the target visually to fire a boresight weapon, the moving target will causes the attacker to steepen his dive angle, a very challenging and uncomfortable task for a high speed fighter! Pointing toward the attacker also minimizes the IR signature from the helos exhaust.

The helo pilot should also be aware of the background he is presenting to his opponent, and he should use all opportunity for camouglage. Dark camouflage over dark terrain works best, since shadows may highlight the low-flying helo on sunny days over a light colored surface. Mottled terrain is usually more effective than uniform colors, unless the helo camouflage match the terrain closely. Trees, shadows, and hills can also be very useful as hiding places. Water, tall grass, and dusty areas should be avoided because of the rotor wash effect.

The helo pilot should also attempt IR masking when faced with a heat seeking missile. Unfortunately, visual and IR masking are often mutually exclusive, and this reality will be exploited by a skilled opponent.Hot, light colored desert backgrounds offer the greatest difficulty for IR missiles. Unlikely surfaces such as water and show can also be effective reflectors of IR energy.

The helicopter is blessed with exceptional turning capability but very poor energy performance as compared to fixed-wing aircraft. As a result, angles tactics can be applied in their purest form.

Once low altitude is established and the pilot is moving toward his attacker, the pilot is faced with defeating any possible firing attempt made prior to the first pass. The attacker's job is more difficult if the helo is not flown DIRECTLY toward the bogey, but at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees instead. This tactic forces the opponent to turn in order to establish lead for a gun shot, unguided rocket or bomb, or to track with a boresight missile.

Once the boget is on the proper heading for releasing its weapon and is approaching firing range, the helo should turn sharply toward the attacker and pull him across the nose to the opposite side. This forces the attacker to turn in order to reestablish the proper lead or boresight heading. As the bogey approaches the proper heading again, the helo can pull across the nose again, keeping the attacker's nose our of phase and spoiling the shot. One or two of these jinks should be all that is necessary before the bogey reaches minimum firing range.

Defensive tactics should be applied with offensive tactics if possible, and helos equipped with forward-firing, turret-mounted guns may be able to hold the attacker under fire during much of his approach. Any opportunity to fire an all-aspect missile head-on should not be passed up, preferably as the bogey crosses the nose during a jink. Unguided rockets thrown up in front of the attacker can also have a deleterious effect on his marksmanship.

Though a bomb attack will rarely be encountered, if a pilot should unwittingly encounter an incoming strike flight such an attack is possible. If some sort of projectile is seen falling from an incoming attacker the helo should immediately turn away from the predicted impact point and increase speed to gain as much separation as possible.

Nearing the pass, the helo pilot should try to generate some separation and lead turn the bogey. Because of the helo's tight turn readius, even a small lateral separation can be converted to large angular gains at the pass. If the bogey continues straight or pulls up after the pass, the helo pilot can continue to pull the nose around for a shot before the target is out of range. If a shot is not successful the pilot should consider making a break for cover.

If the bogey pulls vertical at the pass and the helo pilot cannot make a shot, he should follow the attacker at low altitude and attempt to get beneath him as he completes the maneuver. This makes a second attack more difficult since it would necessitate a steep dive. As the bogey approaches overhead, the helo can pull up in a climbing turn beneath the attacker for a look-up shot, or continue to hide beneath the opponent.

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