Tac-air Jargon

[petedavies]

As I sit in Shanghai Airport waiting to fly home my mind wanders around the subject of aircraft...

Can anyone here supply a description of how a ww2 or cold war Tac air strike is actually executed by a pilot?

This question was prompted by the phrase I have often read (particularly associated with the Vietnam war, but elsewhere too) of a pilot radioing "Rolling in hot" (or some variation) as they started an attack. What exactly was the "rolling in"...?

I can make a reasonable guess based on reading various memoirs and knowing a very small amount about how aircraft fly - but I'd love to know a more definitive answer!

This may be a question that computer gamers can answer as well as historians 

Cheers,
Pete

[Ithoriel]

For WW2 light bombers and fighter-bombers (aka Jabos) most of the descriptions I've read, where they bother with such specifics, have been of coming in fast and low before dropping bombs or opening up with MGs, cannon or rockets.

Dive bombers on the other hand came in high, flipped a wing over and came in in a steep, but not vertical, dive.

"If it shows up blue it's the Brits and the Axis duck, if it shows up grey it's the Germans and the Allies duck, if it shows up white it's the Americans and EVERYBODY ducks!"  

[Big Insect]

Cold War saw the introduction of 'lofting' whereby the pilots flew in towards their targets and then turned upwards at the moment of release - so in effect they almost 'threw' the munitions forward, adding the momentum of the aircraft to that of the falling weapon. It sounds as if it would be very inaccurate and clumsy, but in reality the pilots got pretty good at it - especially in a war situation. I think it first started in Vietnam (but would need to verify that).
There is a theory that it was brought in to combat some of the effects of the detonating munitions on the delivery aircraft (a particular potential issue with smaller nuclear weapons & smaller lower-flying aircraft - some aircraft were even built with armoured cock-pit 'hoods' that could be drawn up to protect the flight crews from the glare & radiation). But 'lofting' was also seen as an answer to hitting a target which was heavily defended by enemy AA as the aircraft could 'loft' the weapons at a greater distance from the target.

True - stand-off delivery has come into its own with the use of 'smart or lazer guided' weapons, but even in the Cold War the idea that a bomber could still 'stand-off' at high enough altitude and drop 'dumb' (or metal) bombs directly onto the target could still apply. Whilst most enemies will have high altitude SAMs, its often about having them in the right place at the right time and ensuring they are still operational as they are often the 1st target for the air-to-surface anti-radar missiles.

Obviously later on we get precision lazer guided weapons, where the target was often designated either by another much higher flying friendly aircraft or maybe even a ground based unit with a designator. Satellite targeting was also used in the Gulf War, but wasn't that successful (apparently) - for various reasons.

I'm not sure if that goes some way towards answering your question.
Cheers
Mark

[Last Hussar]

I remember listening to some people discussing the 'lofting' they had seen by the RAF in the 80s, against a cliff face.