‘Desperate to get this kill, I pressed the trigger till my guns went silent—no more ammo! Oh, if only I was carrying air-to-air missiles instead of these ground-attack rockets,’ Tahir Alam, 23 Sqn Pakistan Air Force, Shenyang F-6 pilot
Even though the Cold War years were a time of extraordinary peace in Europe, they also saw a number of small-scale but extremely intense wars around the globe, when air power was crucial.
Eight of these Cold War conflicts are discussed in the book Flashpoints by ex-RAF Tornado and experienced author Michael Napier: the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Congo Crisis in 1960–65, the Indo–Pakistan Wars in 1965 and 1971, the Arab–Israeli Wars in 1967 and 1973, the Falklands War in 1982, and the Iran–Iraq War in 1980–88. All of them featured a solid air force on both sides, one that was equipped with contemporary aircraft, and air power influenced the outcome.
Notwithstanding the postwar breakthrough in aviation technology and design, particularly in the areas of missile development and electronic warfare, pilots occasionally engage in dogfights reminiscent of World War 2.
Pilot Tahir Alam of the 23 Sqn Pakistan Air Force’s Shenyang F-6 (MiG-19) recalls an encounter he had with Indian Air Force Su-7s in the Narowal sector on December 8, 1971.
‘As leader called to check switches armed and standby for pull-up, from the corner of my eye, I saw a flash… it was two jets turning away from us, about 5,000 feet. They obviously hadn’t seen us yet. I called out ‘two bogeys eleven o’clock high!’ I cut in my afterburners, jettisoned my fuel tanks, and broke away from my formation behind the two Indian Su-7s. By now they had spotted me and broke into me with a hard high-G turn. I was not about to let this go to waste! I throttled back and was still closing in. A touch of speed brakes. My heart was beating like African bongo drums and my adrenaline was going through the roof! The Su-7s hit the deck and exited to the southeast. My leader called out for my position, I replied I was chasing the two bogeys and would soon ‘Splash’ them both! The Sukhois were line astern and at tree top level and max speed, with me about 3,000 feet behind and closing in. The Sukhoi leader was not giving his wingman any slack to be able to catch up and get into a low-level battle formation, where they could clear each other’s six o’clock. So here were two sitting ducks for me. I would get the wingman and then move my sight on the leader. We were at tree top level at max speed. I could see the blur of the tanks, trucks and trees whizzing by!
‘When I was about 2,000 feet behind the trailing jet, I pulled the trigger. The massive 30mm cannons opened up. The gunsight shuddered; the smell of cordite was sweet. I was certain that a short burst would do the trick. The total ammo in the F-6 is only 301 rounds, so I had to be economical! I was sure the bogey would burst into a massive fireball. The Sukhoi flew on with no visible damage. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t hit. It is a much larger target than my plane and in a straight and level flight should be a piece of cake. I raised my gunsight slightly and let go another 1-second burst. Again nothing … Nada, zilch, zero! The Sukhoi still running like a scared rabbit and me chasing it like a starved hound! How could I be missing at such close range? Another two-second burst. Nope, no hit. Lowering the gunsight pipper, another three-second burst. No joy! The gun round counter was showing only 40 rounds left. I thought I would fire with my plane yawing with my rudders. Just one round of the massive gun would be enough. Desperate to get this kill, I pressed the trigger till my guns went silent—no more ammo! Oh, if only I was carrying air-to-air missiles instead of these ground-attack rockets.
‘In disbelief, I realized my terrible mistake! The gunsight had two modes: Caged and uncaged, depending on if we were attacking tanks, trucks, bridges, etc., or flying targets. As we were streaking in towards the tanks in battle, the leader had commanded the formation to arm our guns and check gunsights caged for strafing the tanks. In the excitement, I had forgotten to reach forward and with one click, uncage my gunsight for air-to-air firing.’
Flashpoints is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Digital Combat Simulator, War Thunder, Adnanrail Own work, and Alec Wilson from Hampton-in-Arden, UK via Wikipedia