airomerix
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
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I would go back to the basics of air combat and find something called situational awareness.
First - I seriously doubt any pilot worth his salt wants to go down to tree top level at low speed at night.. even if it is to engage a lumbering Chinook.
Then he has to find the said chopper among ground clutter, which even the very effective APG-68 has trouble with.
Considering this was the mountainous terrain on our west; there was plenty of clutter available.
Then, comes as aspect of other threats nearby along with a degrading electronic environment which was faced that day.
So unless we want a CFIT like a few days ago - pilots tend to want to engage choppers with missile systems from altitude and not try to gun it. When they do, its mostly positioned slash and dash dives in the hope that the chopper has not seen them. If it does see them, even the vulnerable Chinook can turn 30 degrees per second to get out of the way.
What matters at the end is the combination of all these things and the pilots; and while we Pakistanis tend to have some of the Indian tendencies to think our pilots are invincible.. those SoF pilots are among the best helicopter pilots in the world and routinely play tag with A-10 pilots in exercises.
I would repeat what I said before - Pakistan was outclassed by a MUCh stronger force with many more and advanced resources. Not to mention the Leadership factor which sealed the fate of any face saving.
I see your point.
However, Pakistani F-16 pilots are not just average everyday trainees. They are seasoned pilots with lots of hours of training which includes close air support.
The problem is, while these choppers were sitting inside Abbottabad for 20-25 minutes, they could have been taken out by a variety of means. A strafing run by our single fighter would have rendered these helicopters useless.
None of this happened because Army knew whats happening and F-16s were'nt allowed to even engage. Whats the point of chasing a fleeing slow moving aircraft after it spends half an hour in your territory, and you're sitting in a fighter?
As for air combat basics, a couple of AIM-9L's was more than enough to pick up the Chinook's heat signature. 30 degrees or not, sidewinders pull in excess of 70g's so targetting can never be a challenge.
All i'm saying is, this hunt never took place, simply because Americans would never risk their choppers and men to go inside Pakistan WITHOUT air cover unless they have an understanding on the diplomatic level that there will be no military response..
EDIT: I have not yet touched the night capability of F-16s and other Pakistani assets. Your theory was true if we were in 60s or 70s with F-6s.