Managing risk to aircraft - UNITAF Force Manual (FM)

FM/G199 - Managing risk to aircraft

Guide

FM/BG-957 - Tactical risk prevention

Guide

Effective aircrew limit risk by applying tactical movement and minimizing exposure. Terrain masking, speed, and irregular flight paths reduce vulnerability. Avoid flying directly toward or away from enemy infantry to complicate their aim.

Guide

FM/BG-958 - Gun threat avoidance

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Altitude is key when facing gun-based anti-air. Flying higher makes it harder for gunners to lead shots, especially when combined with speed and unpredictable flight paths.

Guide

FM/BG-959 - Missile threat avoidance

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Against infrared-guided threats, flare/chaff deployment before and after an attack run disrupts missile lock. Expect rear-aspect engagements post-run, and dispense flares to confuse in-flight missiles. For radar-guided threats, deploy chaff when locked up or upon missile launch.

Guide

FM/BG-960 - Countermeasure systems

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Flares target infrared-guided missiles by presenting false heat sources, either preventing lock-on or diverting launched missiles. Chaff confuses radar-guided threats by reflecting radar signals and creating false targets. In Arma 3, flares and chaff may deploy together unless modified systems allow separate use.

Guide

FM/BG-961 - Evasive manoeuvres

Guide

Jinking: The act of making sharp, sudden, and unpredictable evasive manoeuvres. Jinking makes it difficult to track and lead an aerial target. It is most effective against unguided weapons such as machineguns, cannons, rockets, etc.
Break Turn: A sudden, sharp turn typically of 90 degrees or more. This is often used to attempt to evade a rocket or missile system, or when a heavy machinegun or anti-aircraft artillery piece has engaged the aircraft.
Emergency Climb/Dive: The aircraft gains or loses altitude rapidly in an attempt to evade a threat.
Defensive Roll: The aircraft rolls so that the bottom of it is between the threat weapon (typically machineguns) and the crew. A roll is usually accompanied by pulling the aircraft in the rolled direction, resulting in the aircraft pulling away from the threat.