weapons employment. He highlighted the
stress, exact timing and precision required
for flying in such a demanding environment.
He said: “On the base leg I verify that I have
selected the designated target and that I have
a correct ranging. The turn onto the target is
then flown with around 4g and geometrically
timed in a way that I can perform an unloaded
roll with my nose pointing at the target.”
As the attacks are flown with up to four aircraft
simultaneously, the required manoeuvres for
the parcours depend on the chosen attack
profile and on the position the pilot is flying.
“Around three to five seconds are required to
adjust the aiming of your pipper using smooth
control inputs, making sure that your formation
leader is out of your sights. You then select the
master switch to ‘arm’ and pull the trigger.”
The Hornet will be approaching the target at a
speed of around 430 knots indicated airspeed
(KIAS) when firing a short salvo from the gun.
This provides only a very short amount of time
and full concentration is required. “Target
fascination is not an option,” the pilot added.
“We want to disengage immediately after
releasing the trigger to avoid any ricochets.
Then we do an ‘off safe’ call and disengage in
a tactical way so that we have minimal visual
exposure to [potential ground-based] threats.”
Disengagement is achieved with a descent into
one of the valleys surrounding the range or diving
inverted above one of the nearby mountaintops.
Flying close to terrain at high speed requires
thorough preparation and increases the pilot’s
AS532UL T-335 of the
Super Puma display
team. The team
is currently led by
Lt Col Lukas ‘Luki’
Rechsteiner.44 // JANUARY 2018 #358
Axalp 2017