August 25, 20196 yr Hellos, I am hearing quite a bit about 'notching' AAMs these days. I am curious was this a tactic back in the Cold War or is this something new? Thanks.
August 25, 20196 yr I'm no authority but from a US perspective it seems to be a thing in the F-15 & F-16 days (post F-4. pre-widespread AMRAAM usage). Whether it is effective in late model F-15, F-16 and everything newer is a good question and probably depends upon the actual radar in use and even its software version and configured parameters. Naturally 'notching' seems to be a thing with SAMs as well. Answering your question directly, definitely something from Cold Wars days. It should be a less and less an effective tactic as time progresses. Here is a link to one of the better post-Cold War articles (which itself contains an obligatory Cold War data link) https://forum.keypublishing.com/forum/modern-military-aviation/117289-anti-bvr-tactics
August 25, 20196 yr Author Thanks Tony! Sure looks like the Russians knew of this back then (well enough to teach the Iraqi pilots to do this). Strange I never really heard about this tactic until just recently. Makes you wonder how well the aerial battles would have worked out with the Soviets. Edited August 25, 20196 yr by KellyC
August 27, 20196 yr It can still make sense to turn perpendicular to the adversary in a BVR missile exchange, but no longer because of Doppler notch.
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