How do fighter jet pilots evade and dodge missiles

The general impression of many is that fighter jets cannot out maneuver missiles. Once you’re locked in, you’re locked in except if you have flares and chaff. Thanks to Hollywood movies showing missiles chasing jets like it has a mind of their own. In reality, though, this is not the case. fighter jet pilots can actually evade and dodge missiles like surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles.

Let’s get down to some points

Before I dig deeper into things, allow me to discuss how missiles to track and are guided to a target. They have two ways: infrared and radar. Heat-seeking missiles such as the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air and Stinger surface-to-air missiles use infrared homing. They lock on an aircraft’s heat signature generated on the frontal surface brought by friction and the hot exhaust. The second are radar-guided missiles such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile and most SAMs today. This uses radar homing to lock into a target.

Second, the speed of missiles can go beyond Mach 4. The majority of fixed-wing manned aircraft today cannot outrun missiles, especially those Mach 5 SAMs. However, missiles were never built to maneuver as tight as fighter planes. They can get close to jets but can never maneuver like one. Tight maneuvers are done at subsonic speeds, not supersonic.

So if you see missiles chase jet fighters wherever it goes, then that’s fiction. Missiles can turn, but not do tight turns. Instead, they predict where the target is going and head towards the predicted point.

Third, missiles can reach incredible speeds but only for a matter of minutes as their motors do run out too. During the rest of the way, the missiles trade gravitational potential energy with kinetic energy to do maneuvers.

So what happens when a missile is fired towards a fighter jet?

First and foremost, there are different options which pilots to train for and it all depends on the current situation. However, allow me to just share what generally happens when a missile is fired onto a fighter plane.

First is a combination of tight maneuvers, flares, and chaff. As mentioned earlier, missiles cannot maneuver as tight as fighter jets. Fighter jet pilots execute maneuvers that will drain the missile’s energy in order not to reach the target. Whenever a pilot maneuvers his jet in different directions, the missile will need to recalculate an intercept point and turn towards it. These turns create drag and eventually slow the missile down. The pilots also deploy flares and chaff to confuse the missile. Chaff is bits of reflective aluminum and metalized glass fiber that are countermeasures for radar-guided missiles. Flares are heat decoys used against heat-seeking missiles.

Fighter jets can also be equipped with ECM or Electronic Counter Measures that send strong electronic signals to radars to jam them.

Another way is through terrain masking. Just like in the movie TopGun: Maverick where the F-18s flew low to avoid radar detection, fighter pilots will attempt to fly low into like a valley to break the missile lock. The missile may most likely overshoot the jet and the terrain puts an indestructible cover between the plane and the missile. Usually, modern missiles will self-destruct if they lose lock to avoid any unexploded ordinance on the ground.

Don’t get a missile lock

The best option yet is to simply avoid getting shot at. Avoid threats, or get them before they get you. Technology like stealth and radar has greatly evolved where detection has been lessened and where you get to see the enemy first before they see you.

Avoidance is way better than dodging and evading a missile.