TF Amethyst

TFA1 3.17 - Dogfight

As Vex was on Earth, General O'Neil had to picket in Operational Control Room twice in a row. From morning until noon, everything was calm and peaceful. However, just before the lunch Lt. Colonel Julius came over to General O'Neil with a hurried step.

"Sir, six Cloud Hawks are approaching from east, flying straight here, and have just crossed the 600 km limit."

General O'Neil nodded slightly before asking, "How is our Super Hornet status?"

"Two are undergoing routine maintenance, the other two are on standby and ready to take-off, while the last two are conducting a combat air patrol, theirs current position is 200 km in front of our guest."

"Connect me to the CAP flight leader."

"Sir."

Lt. Colonel Julius immediately grabbed the receiver on General O'Neil's desk. After entering some frequency codes and making sure the connection was online, he then handed the receiver to General O'Neil.

"Sir, Major Duran is on the line."

With a small nod General O'Neil accepted the receiver, and then he said, "Major, this is General O'Neil and I have a specific order for your CAP."

[We are listening, Sir.]

"Major, I heard you were a remarkable basketball player at the academy?"

[Yes Sir, an ace player for three years in row.]

"Then, you must know the main role of an ace player?"

[To destroy the opposing team's confidence by slaughtering their ace.]

"Good, now I want you to make sure, whoever sent six Cloud Hawks from the east, will lose their confidence as long as possible. Gather the data we need for the future aerial combat, and then pass on my message."

[Consider it's done, Sir.]

"Thank you, Major." General O'Neil then calmly put down the receiver.

Currently, TF Amethyst had received only a small amount of main weapon system from the total amount they should have. Therefore, General O'Neil decided to play the tactic of appearing strong when weak. He hoped it would make the opposing side took their step in full caution and give TF Amethyst more time to prepare themself.

'Hopefully everything goes as expected,' General O'Neil muttered under his breath.

--- 

Airspace 400 km east of Harley Quinn.

Two F/A-18E Super Hornets fly side by side at altitude of 20,000 feet. Both Super Hornets used white, gray, and a bit of black camouflage, and on its vertical tail there was a picture of a cute winged puppy embracing a pair of AIM-120C and AIM-9X as if she was hugging a baguette.

On the Super Hornet on the left, Major Duran turned to his wingman before opening communication. "Dagger Two, how is your puppy?"

[Belly is full, claw and fang are sharp, eyes and noses are good, ready for the hunt without additional drink.]

"Good, let's gain altitude and welcome our guests then."

[Randu]

The two Super Hornets then changed their course to the east while climbing to an altitude of 30,000 feet.

Before joining ACG, Major Duran and most of his colleagues were former F-15 or F-16 drivers in USAF. So when TF Amethyst canceled the acquisition for Eagle and Falcon and replaced them with Super Hornet, they were very disappointed.

In terms of radar, speed, range, altitude, fuel capacity, and the number of weapons it could carry, F-18 was far below F-15.  Therefore, in air superiority scenario, F-15 would prey on F-18 as a snack. Meanwhile, in a dogfight F-18 was less agile and nimble than F-16.

So, was F-18 a design flaw? The answer was no.

From the beginning, F-18 was designed as a multi-role fighter. In short, F-18 was a fighter jet with the character of good at everything but not great at anything.

TF Amethyst chose F-18 because of its multirole nature, plus the capability to operate from aircraft carrier it was born with. Therefore, if one day TF Amethyst intends to launch an intercontinental operation, then preliminary operations such as establishing a forward airbase or providing a large convoy of heavy tankers could be skipped.

Simply by sending a carrier strike group with 20 units F-18s and a serious bite deep into enemy territory could be launched almost in an instant, followed by a lightning retreat to avoid retaliation if needed.

Fortunately, fighter pilots from ACG slowly fell in love with F-18. During the pre-duty training, they wholeheartedly tried to understand and test F-18 capabilities to a level that was beyond the limits on paper. As if they were following the phrase, 'New girlfriend is new adventure and discovery. So don't be so sad.'

One example was what Major Duran and his wingman did. The two cheerfully held a race by flying upside down at an altitude of 40 meters, at full speed.

When Colonel Patricia Cruz called the two and questioned their actions, Major Duran who was a Lieutenant Colonel at that time replied proudly, "Ma'am, this is Super Hornet data when flying 40 meters above the ground at full speed, cockpit facing downward, and the pilot is under pressure of losing a bet of four month salary."

Colonel Patricia Cruz didn't know what to say and she could only demote Lieutenant Colonel Duran by one level, as well as removed his position as CO of Flying Puppies Squadron. Meanwhile, the data recorded by Major Duran was then sent to US Navy along with other Super Hornet flight data for internal studies.

Major Duran didn’t bothered by the punishment he received. Moreover, in an exercise with a USAF squadron, he managed to slaughter two F-16s in a 1 vs 2 dogfight exercise. After that, he always cheerfully recited the motto 'It's not the truck, but the driver behind the wheel.'

While occasionally glancing at the radar screen, Major Duran vigilantly surveyed the vast, cloudless sky before him. Until finally, six black dots appeared in the distance.

"Tally ho! Six bogeys up ahead. Dagger Two, do you see them?"

[I do.]

"Good! Prepare your recorder."

[Randu.]

Slowly and smoothly, Major Duran then lowered F-18's altitude and shifted its flight course to line up with six incoming Riders.

--- 

Major Duran didn't bother whether the six Riders before him identified him as an enemy or not. One thing for sure was, he had an order to execute. Therefore, he calmly placed M61 Vulcan crosshair towards the leading Rider, and at exactly 1 km away he opened a short burst.

B-Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!!

The M61 Vulcan's short burst tore apart the leading Rider and the Rider behind him precisely. The two of them then fell straight to the ground. Meanwhile, Major Duran took his Super Hornet into a mountain range below, and as expected, the remaining four Riders chased after him furiously.

"Good, it seems they have some balls," Major Duran muttered as he glanced at four Riders through the rearview mirror.

The chase between the cliff gaps was intense. Considering the Super Hornet couldn't fly at its top speed, while the four Cloud Hawks were able to fly with all their might and nimbly avoid crashing into the cliff.

As the gap between the cliffs drew close to a wide and deep valley, Major Duran made a small climb before rolling the Super Hornet so that the cockpit was facing downwards, and then he dived sharply into the valley.

Super Hornet had a fairly high climb rate. Therefore, if it dives in an upside-down position the dive rate and speed would increase. In short, the upside-down maneuver was not just a mere showing off. It's an absolute must if Major Duran didn't want the Cloud Hawk's claws tear his lovely Super Hornet.

Cloud Hawk could sense airflow and adjust the shape of its wings to reduce air resistance, and it would give them the ability to significantly boost their speed in a nose dive maneuver.

Noticing that the leading Cloud Hawk was rapidly approaching him, Major Duran bank hard to the left, but the Cloud Hawks easily followed him. The four Cloud Hawks deftly spread their wings while turning their head and upper body, the combination of these movements resulted in a super sharp turn without reducing their flight speed in the slightest.

From a distance, it looks like the leading Cloud Hawk had almost cut the trajectory of Super Hornet. But just before the leading Cloud Hawk's claw touched Super Hornet's wing, Major Duran took his Super Hornet climbed to the sky.

The high climb rate was one of the Super Hornet's good things, and this was where Major Duran demonstrated the superiority of man-made machines over muscles. No matter how fast or hard the Cloud Hawk flapped its wing, the giant bird couldn't possibly beat a pair of engines which was able to push an airframe weighing more than 21 tons to speed of 1900 km/h.

From the rearview mirror, Major Duran observed the four Cloud Hawks that were getting left behind. Without no time he then made a big clockwise turn, and when the four Cloud Hawks were at the 3 o'clock position, he launched two AIM-9X Sidewinders.

The Advanced Super Hornet Block 4 was equipped with joint helmet mounted cueing system. It would enable the locking of heat-seeker missiles without the need to point the nose of the aircraft towards the target. It was an advantage that super useful in a within visual range (WVR) combat scenario.

Realizing that two fire spears were flying towards their position, the four Riders immediately dispersed in four different directions. However, two of them were still fatally got hit by Sidewinder. Swiftly, Major Duran then approached the third Rider from behind and finished him off using M61 Vulcan.

'Well, please pass on the message from General O'Neil,' Major Duran muttered as he looked at the fourth Rider who flew away.

Then, as if the air combat he had just done was just a breeze, Major Duran calmly radioed his wingman, "Dagger Two, do you get the data?"

[Top speed, agility, nose dive, turn rate, climb rate, Rider mentality, we got it all.]

"Good, let's Read The Book then."

[Randu.]

The two Super Hornets then changed their flight course and flew towards Harley Quinn side by side.

*****

Footnote:

Randu: Received AND Understood