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ORIGINAL: Jdegani

Another gutsy option that has saved me a few times is to fly in high with sensors blaring just within range. Get them to fire off some shots at you and then turn 90 degrees (heading back out of range) and hit the burners. They'll take a much longer path getting to you and will be out of fuel by the time they reach you and won't impact...usually. Rinse and repeat as many times as the AI will keep up the fun and then when the SAM stops firing then move in for the kill. A smart opponent won't waste all their SAMs falling for the same trick over and over again but it will mean a good number of missiles you'll never have to worry about again.

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ORIGINAL: Primarchx

Believe it or not the 'skimming on the outside of a SAMs envelope daring it to shoot' technique was used with a degree of success during the Yom Kippur War.

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According to an unsigned story on April 12, 1976, in the early phases of the war Prime Minister Golda Meir ordered the assembly and arming of 13 nuclear bombs. The story suggested that it was that specter of nuclear escalation that led U.S Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to act firm and fast to provide Israel with the most massive weapons airlift in history.

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Between October 14 and November 14, 567 flights of C5A (Galaxy) and C141 (Starlifter) cargo planes brought to Israel 22,325 tons of military hardware, including tanks, Armed Personal Carriers, artillery pieces, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGD), and electronic equipment. In addition, 36 Phantom F-4s were flown directly to the Lod airport and entered combat immediately.

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In early 1970, the Soviets initiated Operation Caucasus, and deployed an overstrength division of Soviet PVO air defence troops, comprising 18 battalions in three brigades, led by General Smirnov of the PVO, and drawn from PVO units in the Dnepropetrovsk, Moscow, Leningrad and Belarus districts. Each battalion comprised four SA-3 batteries, a platoon of ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs and supporting SA-7 MANPADS teams. While these units were ostensibly “instructors”, they were dressed in Egyptian uniforms and provided full crewing for the deployed SAM systems. Through early 1970 the PVO units were deployed along the Suez Canal. Operational doctrine was similar to NVN, with batteries relocating frequently, and setting up ambushes for Israeli aircraft, using multiple mutually supporting batteries.

The Soviet S-125/SA-3 Goa was designed primarily to provide point defence of fixed target areas against attacking aircraft at low to medium altitudes. The command link guided weapon had a fixed thrust solid propellant rocket sustainer motor, and was supported typically by an X-band SNR-125 engagement radar, and a P-15 Flat Face UHF-Band acquisition radar, with respectable low altitude clutter rejection performance. Nominal redeployment time for a battery was several hours, not unlike the S-75/SA-2, dependent in part on battery crew proficiency, and in part on terrain, as a large convoy of vehicles was required for movements.

In subsequent engagements against the Israelis, the Soviets are claimed to have shot down five Israeli aircraft using the SA-3, making for a cumulative total of 22 lost to SA-2, SA-3 and AAA during this period.

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I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the world’s fastest jet, accompanied by Maj Walter Watson, the aircraft’s reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We had crossed into Libya and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape when Walter informed me that he was receiving missile launch signals. I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapons-most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles capable of Mach 5 – to reach our altitude. I estimated that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn and stayed our course, betting our lives on the plane’s performance.

After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean. ‘You might want to pull it back,’ Walter suggested. It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit. It was the fastest we would ever fly. I pulled the throttles to idle just south of Sicily, but we still overran the refueling tanker awaiting us over Gibraltar.

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ORIGINAL: DirtyFred

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ORIGINAL: Primarchx

Believe it or not the 'skimming on the outside of a SAMs envelope daring it to shoot' technique was used with a degree of success during the Yom Kippur War.

Sorry, but it was not a success at all:

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When the Israelis recognized the effect that the Egyptian AD was having they changed the prioritization of targetry to hitting enemy AD sites first before engaging other targets. Such operations are known as Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD). The Israelis put the lessons learned from the American air experience in Vietnam into place with respect to engaging targets and attempted to attack enemy SAM sites first. However, the Egyptians had anticipated this and deployed anti-aircraft guns around their SAM sites in order to protect them against low flying aircraft. These smaller weapons forced the Israelis to abandon their low altitude approaches and attack the SAM batteries from a higher altitude, exposing them to SAM fire. The Egyptians also showed a high degree of field expediency in protecting their SAM sites. They used fire barrels to attract thermal rockets and smoke screens to throw off the television guided rockets. In the face of primitive Arab methods, Western technology was sometimes rendered obsolete.

The Israelis also learned a hard lesson in radio security. During the opening phase of the war, the Israeli air commander broadcast an attack order to his pilots over a radio channel in the clear that was monitored by the Egyptians. As a result, the SAM batteries were waiting for the Israelis.