A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting (close range aerial combat). A fighter pilot with at least five air-to-air kills becomes known as an ace.
Fighter pilots are one of the most highly regarded and desirable positions of any air force. Selection processes only accept the elite out of all the potential candidates. An individual who possesses an exceptional academic record, physical fitness, healthy well-being, and a strong mental drive will have a higher chance of being selected for pilot training. Candidates are also expected to exhibit strong leadership and teamwork abilities. As such, in nearly all air forces, fighter pilots, as are pilots of most other aircraft, are commissioned officers.
Fighter pilots must be in optimal health to handle the physical demands of modern aerial warfare. Excellent heart condition is required, as the increased "G's" a pilot experiences in a turn can cause stress on the cardiovascular system. One "G" is equal to the force of gravity experienced under normal conditions, two "G"s would be twice the force of normal gravity. Some fighter aircraft regularly accelerate to up to 9 Gs. Fighter pilots also require strong muscle tissue along the extremities and abdomen, for performing an anti-G straining maneuver (AGSM, see below) when performing tight turns and other highly accelerated maneuvers. Better-than-average visual acuity is also a highly desirable and valuable trait.
Modern medium and long range active radar homing and semi-active radar homing missiles can be fired at targets outside or beyond visual range. However, when a pilot is dogfighting at short-range, his position relative to the opponent is decidedly important. Outperformance of another pilot and that pilot's aircraft is critical to maintain the upper-hand. A common saying for dogfighting is "lose sight, lose fight".
If one pilot had a greater missile range than the other, he would choose to fire his missile first, before being in range of the enemy's missile. Normally, the facts of an enemy's weapon payload is unknown, and are revealed as the fight progresses.
Some air combat maneuvers form the basis for the sport of aerobatics:
Basic
Split S
Immelmann turn
Thach Weave
The Scissors
Chandelle
Complex
Pugachev's Cobra
Herbst maneuver
Pilots are trained to employ specific tactics and maneuvers when they are under attack. Attacks from missiles are usually countered with electronic countermeasures and chaff. Missiles like the AIM-120 AMRAAM, however, can actively home in on jamming signals.
Dogfighting at 1 to 4 miles (1,600 to 6,400 m) is considered "close". Pilots perform stressful maneuvers to gain advantage in the dogfight. Pilots need to be in good shape in order to handle the high G-forces caused by aerial combat. A pilot flexes his legs and torso to keep blood from draining out of the head. This is known as the AGSM or the M1 or, sometimes, as the "grunt".
Many early air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles had very simple infrared homing ("heat seeking") guidance systems with a narrow field of view. These missiles could be avoided by simply turning sharply, which essentially caused the missile to lose sight of the target aircraft. Another tactic was to exploit a missile's limited range by performing evasive maneuvers until the missiles had run out of fuel.
Modern infrared missiles, like the AIM-9 Sidewinder, have a more advanced guidance system. Supercooled infrared detectors help the missile find a possible exhaust source, and software assists the missile in flying towards its target. Pilots normally drop flares to confuse or decoy these missiles.
Radar homing missiles could sometimes be confused by surface objects or geographical features causing clutter for the guidance system of either the missile or ground station guiding it. Chaff is another option in the case that the aircraft is too high up to use geographical obstructions. Pilots have to be aware of the potential threats and learn to distinguish between the two where possible. They use the RWR (radar warning receiver) to discern the types of signals hitting their aircraft.
When maneuvering fiercely during engagements, pilots are subjected to high g-force. G-Forces express the magnitude of gravity, with 1G being equivalent to Earth's normal pull of gravity. Because modern jet aircraft are highly agile and have the capacity to make very sharp turns, the pilot's physical body is often pushed to the limit.
When executing a "positive G" maneuver like turning upwards the force pushes the pilot down. The most serious consequence of this is that the blood in the pilot's body is also pulled down and into their extremities. If the forces are great enough and over a sufficient period of time this can lead to blackouts (called g-induced Loss Of Consciousness or G-LOC), because not enough blood is reaching the pilot's brain. To counteract this effect pilots are trained to tense their legs and abdominal muscles to restrict the "downward" flow of blood. This is known as the "grunt" or the "Hick maneuver", both names allude to the sounds the pilot makes, and is the primary method of resisting G-LOCs. Modern flight suits, called g-suits, are worn by pilots to contract around the extremities exerting pressure, providing about 1G of extra tolerance.
Notable fighter pilots include:
Sabiha Gökçen (World's first female fighter pilot)
8-Pass Charlie
A. Afshar
Adolf Galland
Adolph Malan (Sailor Malan)
Afkhami
Alexander Pokryshkin (The second top scoring Allied ace – Soviet Air Force)
Antonio Bautista
Billy Bishop
Buzz Aldrin
Sattar Alvi
Chuck Yeager
Douglas Bader
Erich Hartmann (highest scoring ace in the history of aerial warfare)
Ernst Udet
Brendan Finucane (Irishman who flew for the Royal Air Force who became the youngest wing commander in RAF history. Highest scoring Irish ace of World War 2.)
Francesco Baracca
Francis Gabreski
Saiful Azam
Frank Luke
Gerhard Barkhorn
George Beurling
Georges Guynemer
Giora Epstein
Günther Rall
Hans-Joachim Marseille
Heinrich Bär
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer
Hermann Göring
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa
Ivan Kozhedub (The top scoring Allied ace – Soviet Air Force)
Jalil Zandi
James Jabara
Ilmari Juutilainen The top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time
Joaquín García Morato The top scoring Spaniard pilot of all time
Johannes Steinhoff
John Glenn
John Boyd
Karl W. Richter
Kurt Welter
Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron)
Monath Perera
Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon
Nguyễn Văn Bảy
Nguyễn Văn Cốc
Oswald Boelcke
Max Immelmann
Mohommed Rayyan (Sky Falcon)
Muhammad Mahmood Alam (World record for shooting down 7 fighter jets in 1 minute, 4 of them were shot down in 30 seconds)
R. Stephen Ritchie
Randy "Duke" Cunningham
René Fonck
Richard Bong
Robin Olds
Saburo Sakai
Scott Speicher
Shahram Rostami
Tetsuzo Iwamoto
Yadollah Sharifirad
Władysław Turowicz
Walter Nowotny
Werner Mölders
Rashid Minhas
Matiur Rahman (One of the famous Bengali Pilot and awarded the highest bravery award of Bangladesh; "Bir Sreshto")
Until the early 1990s women were disqualified from becoming fighter pilots in most of the air forces throughout the world. The exceptions being Turkey where Sabiha Gökçen became one of the first female fighter pilot in history in 1936 and went on to fly fast jets well into the 1950s, and the USSR during the Second World War 1942–1945 where many women were trained as fighter pilots including Lilya Litvyak who became the top scoring woman ace of all time with 12 Kills and Katya Budanova a close second with 11 kills, although both were killed in combat. In the last decade of the twentieth century a number of air forces have removed the bar on women becoming fighter pilots (see below):
Turkey – In 1936 Sabiha Gökçen became one of the world's first female fighter pilots.
Canada – In 1989 Dee Brasseur and Jane Foster became the first female fighter pilots in the Royal Canadian Air Force after qualifying to fly the CF-18 Hornet.
Norway – In 1992 Mette Grøtteland became the first female fighter pilot in the Royal Norwegian Air Force after qualifying to fly the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Netherlands – Between 1993 and 1997 Manja Blok the first female fighter pilot in the Royal Netherlands Air Force was active flying a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon over Bosnia enforcing the no fly zone.
USA – In 1993 Jeannie Leavitt became the first female USAF fighter pilot, initially being assigned to a McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle squadron, and subsequently flying 300 combat hours, mostly over Afghanistan and Iraq.
UK – In 1994 Jo Salter was declared combat ready by the Royal Air Force flying a Panavia Tornado in 617 Squadron becoming Britains first female fighter pilot.
Sweden – In the mid 1990s Anna Dellham became Sweden's first female fighter pilot serving with a Viggen squadron, before in 2011 qualifying to fly the Gripen.
France – In 1999 Caroline Aigle became the first woman to receive the French Air Force's coveted fighter pilot wings. She was assigned to fly the Mirage 2000-5.
Belgium – In 1997 Anne-Marie "Mie" Jansen becomes the first Belgian female fighter pilot, flying the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
South Africa – Catherine Labuschagne got her wings in 2000 and flew the Impala and Hawk before in 2010 completing her maiden solo flight in the South African Air Force's Gripen Jas 39C, becoming the first woman fighter pilot ever to fly the Gripen.
Israel – In 2001 Roni Zuckerman became the first Israeli woman to qualify as a fighter pilot.
Finland – In 2002 Inka Niskanen became Finland's first female fighter pilot, flying F/A-18 Hornets.
Singapore – In 2003 Khoo Teh Lynn became Singapore's first female fighter pilot, flying General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons.
Denmark – In 2005 Line Bonde graduated from the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, USA, as Denmark's first female fighter pilot.
Chile – In 2006 Karina Miranda Cottenie started her flight training on Northrop F-5 and made her solo flight with F-5 Tiger III on April 29, 2010 became first female fighter pilot in Chilean Air Force.
Germany – In 2007 Ulrike Flender graduated from Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program to become Germany's first female fighter pilot.
South Korea – In 2008 Ha Jeong-mi became the first South Korean female fighter pilot, flying the KF-16 fighter.
Poland – In 2012 it was reported that Katarzyna Tomiak had become a Mig-29 fighter pilot in the Polish Air Force.
China – In 2013 China publicised the graduation of six of the PLAAF's first-batch of female fighter pilots.
Pakistan – In 2013 Ayesha Farooq became Pakistan's first female fighter pilot flying the Chinese-made F-7PG fighter jet.
United Arab Emirates – in 2014 Mariam al-Mansuri was UAEs first female fighter pilot, flying General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons in combat missions against ISIS in Syria.
India – In June 2016 Flight cadets Avani Chaturvedi of Madhya Pradesh, Mohana Singh of Rajasthan and Bhawana Kanth of Bihar, all in their early-20s, bring in a new era for the Indian defense forces.
Women Fighter Pilots Killed in Combat And Air Crashes
USSR – On 17 September 1942 Claudia Nechayeva was killed in action covering her leader Capt. I. Izbinsky from Messerschmitts
USSR – On 6 October 1942 Valeria Khomyakova was crashed and killed in a banal accident due to sleepless in night of heavy fighting during her last flight.
USSR – On 3 December 1942 Yevgeniya Prokhorova killed While she was escorting a VIP Li-2 plane carrying Lavrenty Beria, her Yak-1 fighter entered the fog and had hit a ridge when diving
USSR – On 17 July 1943 Antonina Lebedeva was shot down and killed in dogfight by Luftwaffe Focke-Wulfes
USSR – On 19 July 1943 Raisa Vasilyevna Belyayeva in a dogfight over Voronezh was badly injured and died when landing the aircraft on the airfield.
USSR – On 19 July 1943 Katya Budanova was shot down and killed in dogfight by Luftwaffe pilots
USSR – On 1 August 1943 Lilya Litvyak was shot down and killed in dogfight by Luftwaffe pilots
USSR – On 12 July 1945 Maria Batrakova died after being struck by lightning suffered last casualty of soviet female pilots after the war
USA – On 25 October 1994 Lt. Kara Hultgreen, aged 29, the first female carrier-based fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy killed instantly when she crashed her Grumman F-14 Tomcat into the sea on final approach to USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
USA – On 28 May 1997 Capt. Amy Lynn Svoboda , aged 29, a USAF Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II Pilot was killed on a routine training flight as her aircraft she was flying crashed at a desert training range, became her the first female fighter pilot in the Air Force to die in a crash.
Turkey – On 9 February 2001 Lt. Ayfer Gök , aged 24, A Northrop F-5 female fighter pilot in Turkish Air Force was killed when her F-5 Fighter jet had lost the of radar aircraft and crashed in a wooded area near the valley of Dara village. The Rescue team found her fighter jet among 2.5 meters in the snow in Karaman Yunta Mountain foothills.
Philippine – On 26 March 2001 Lt. Mary Grace Baloyo , a North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco fighter pilot in the Philippine Air Force, was killed in explosion of her aircraft when she was trying to divert her damaged plane from the heavily populated area she was over on Rather than ejecting to save herself.
Colombia – On 20 July 2006 Lt. Johana Ximena Herrera Cortés, aged 27, A Cessna T-37 Tweet fighter pilot in Colombian Air Force died in a tragic plane crash while the T-37 fighter jet she was piloting with her wingman Lt. Herman Ramírez crashed to the ground after losing a wing shortly before take off in the Palanquero air base. Lieutenant Johana Herrera was the first FAC female fighter jet pilot on 23 December 2004.
USA – On 11 March 2013 Lt. j.g. Valerie Cappelaere Delaney , aged 26, A Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler Naval aviator was killed when the jet she was piloting during a training exercise crashed into a field outside Spokane, in eastern Washington state, along with two other crew members, Lt. j.g. William Brown McIlvaine III, Lt. Cmdr. Alan A. Patterso.
France – On 28 January 2015 Lieutenant Marjorie Kocher , aged 29, A Dassault Mirage 2000N/2000D navigator (WSO) killed alongside 11 airmen (9 French) in the crash of a Greek F-16 fighter aircraft in Albacete air base, Spain.
Pakistan – On 24 November 2015, Flying Officer Mariam Mukhtar was the first woman pilot from PAF to be killed. Squadron Leader Saqib Abbasi and Marium were flying a training mission on an FT-7PG aircraft and encountered a “serious in-flight emergency” during the final stages, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said in a statement.
China – On 12 November 2016 Capt. Yu Xu , aged 30, the first female PLAAF Chengdu J-10 fighter pilot was killed in an aerobatics display at Hebei province whilst performing with the August 1st (aerobatic team). Some Chinese official press reported she was unable to eject ontime from her plane before it made impact with the ground, Others said she was forced to eject from her plane after air collision, but hit the wing of another J-10 and died.
