CHAPTER 4 & 5 - LOW LEVEL OPERATION & THREAT REACTION Flashcards
What is LAT?
the briefed intent to conduct tactical flight where terrain avoidance is a significant factor.
intent to fly below 500 ft AGL
What is the difference between KNOCK IT OFF and TERMINATE?
KNOCK IT OFF - will stop an entire exercise for all who hear it
TERMINATE - should be used during exercises to stop local engagements or terminate LAT flight
What is comfort level?
lowest altitude at which an aircrew can accomplish both terrain clearance tasking (TCT) and mission tasking (MT)
a perceptual concept, never a hard altitude
Can you achieve MAC in a turn?
No. Only achieved in a wings-level descent, never in a turn
What will all aircraft do when KNOCK IT OFF or TERMINATE is called?
will roll wings level and establish climb-to-cope to a prebriefed altitude
When will aircrew call KNOCK IT OFF or TERMINATE?
Any a/c descends below the minimum prebriefed altitude
any a/c descends in a turn
any a/c becomes NORDO
loss of situational awareness
What is MAC (Minimum Altitude Capable)?
an altitude below the comfort level flown solely as a defensive response.
aircrew prioritizes TCT above all over tasks to attain lowest possible altitude
What are the weather minimums for tacnav?
Visibility shall be 5 miles or more
Ceiling shall not be less than 3,000 ft
What should you squawk on a VR route? on an SR route?
VR - 4000
SR - 1200
How far should you avoid airports on a tacnav?
within 1500 ft AGL or 3 NM
How far should you avoid cities and populated areas on a tacnav?
by 3 miles if below 2500 ft AGL
How far should you avoid MOAs/restricted airspace when on a tacnav (if you don’t have clearance)?
3 NM
How far should you avoid flying over noise sensitive areas?
below 3000 ft AGL
How far should you avoid nuclear power plants on a tacnav?
5 NM
How do you compute ESA?
adding 1000 ft (2000 in mountainous terrain) to the elevation of the highest obstacle or terrain feature within 25 NM of the route
How do you compute MSA?
adding 1000 ft to the elevation of the highest obstacle or terrain feature within 5 NM of the particular route leg.
The time of each leg on a tacnav should not exceed how long?
10 minutes
What airspeeds should you plan to fly on a training tacnav? in combat?
- 240 planned, 210 minimum
- per mission requirements
What fuel burn should you assume on a tacnav?
6000 lbs/hour
What are the two methods of route planning?
Which is the best line of defense?
Detection Avoidance Navigation and Threat Avoidance Navigation (DANTAN)
Threat Avoidance Navigation
What’s the preferred method of rectifying ahead times?
Timing triangles
How many NM per minute and second are you traveling at these speeds
240 KTAS
220 KTAS
180 KTAS
240 - 4nm/min or 1nm in 15 seconds
220 - 3.65nm/min or 1nm in 16 seconds
180 - 3nm/min or 1nm in 20 seconds
Timing Triangle
Cut the 90 degree corner
Turn the 45 degrees inside of course to intercept next leg
Turning at 2 mins to go will gain 70 secs
Turning at 1 min to go will gain 35 secs
Turning at 30 sec to go will gain 17 secs
Timing Triangle
S Turns
Turn 30 degrees off for 1 min then 60 degrees back for 1 min to lose 16 seconds
Turn 45 degrees off for 1 min then turn 90 degrees back for 1 min to lose 30 sec
Turn 60 degrees off for 1 min then turn 120 degrees back for 1 min to lose 60 seconds
Timing Triangle
CNI-MU ETA
Turn away from course line until CNI-MU ETA equals your pre-planned turn point time
Can be used to cut off legs without much effort
Works well if you are early
Timing Techniques
Ten Knot Rule of Thumb
Increase/decrease GS by 10 kts from planned
Will gain/lose 1 second for every 1 NM traveled
Timing Technique
Incremental Method (deviations less than 1 min)
Divide planned IAS by 6
Apply this to planned airspeed for 1 minute
You will gain/lose 10 seconds
Timing techniques
Proportional method
Increase/decrease planned IAS by same number of seconds late/early
Hold this correction for the time (in seconds) equal to flight planned IAS
Why should you avoid large bodies of water?
Camouflage is less effective; sound travels farther and radar detection is more likely
How to use sun to your advantage when flying
Plan to fly in shadows when possible
Place aircraft shadow in terrain shadow
Early morning or late afternoon since sun at low angle
Hide shadow in a ridge line, ridge shadow, cloud shadow, or dark vegetation
How many degrees within should the IP be planned from the DZ/ALZ run in
Within 30 degrees
What is direct masking?
Preferred and most effective method of terrain masking
Placing terrain directly between aircraft and threat
What is horizon masking?
Maintaining a sufficient standoff distance and altitude to deny radar detection.
Ducting can increase or decrease radar detection range of a system
What is indirect masking?
Placing aircraft so close to terrain that it is inside the radar resolution cell of the threat radar (one-half the pulse width, and cannot be broken out from the ground clutter)
What is one-half beam width masking?
Placing aircraft low enough to terrain to stay in the lower half of the radar beam causing ground clutter to mask radar signature
How should you ingress with regards to the sun position?
Fly early morning or late evening
Ingress with the sun to the back of the aircraft.
Makes detection and possible engagement from various weapons systems more difficult