NARRATOR: Modern fighter
aircraft stalked the enemy in total darkness. With an incredible array
of sophisticated radar and air-to-air missiles,
there is little difference between day and night ops. But it wasn't always this way. The pioneers of night fighting
took to the skies decades earlier, battle testing new
technology and tactics that enabled them to own the night. Now, you're in the cockpit
as heroic night fighters in Hellcats, P-61 Black Widows,
F3D Sky Knights, and F- 15s take to the skies. Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive the dog fights
of the night fighters. [theme music] July 4, 1944, 4:30 AM. Under cover of night, four
American planes of VFN-76, one of the US Navy's first
night fighter squadrons, make their way to the island
of Chichi-jima in the Pacific. The four Grumman F6F
Hellcats are radar equipped, a new technology that uses
radio waves to detect and track other aircraft in
total darkness. Their instrument panels
glow in dim red light to preserve night vision. [dramatic music] 21-year-old Buck Dungan
flies element lead. The Hellcat was
such a stable machine. We all fell in love with it. NARRATOR: Dungan
and his wingman, Johnny Deere, split off
from their flight lead. They each carry
one 500-pound bomb to hit shipping in Futami Cove. The drone of the Hellcats'
Pratt & Whitney engines is heard for miles around,
alerting the Japanese to the specter of
an American attack. Enemy antiaircraft gunners fire
blindly into the night sky. Dungan steers clear
of the tracers, while using his
compass, altimeter, and artificial
horizon to navigate, called flying on instruments. Though nighttime combat had
occurred as early as World War I, it wasn't until the
advent of this sort of advanced instrumentation
in the late 1930s that true night fighting
and navigation was possible. Soon, Dungan spots a
target in the water below, a likely armored Japanese
destroyer escort. We saw a small ship
leaving the harbor, and it had an umbrella
of fire above it. So I said, Johnny, let's
make a low side run. NARRATOR: The Hellcats
dropped to wave top level for the risky broadside attack. Dungan carefully
monitors his altimeter and artificial horizon to
avoid hitting the water. The gunners on board
the Japanese destroyer have no idea where the night
fighters are coming from. [guns firing] Dungan unleashes a torrent
of 50-caliber ammunition at the ship. A 50-caliber slug is as big
around as your thumb and about as long, too. At 2,400 rounds per minute from
six guns meeting at one place, it's going to knock holes
in just about anything. NARRATOR: To preserve
night vision, the Hellcats don't use tracers. Even without the tracers,
you had a great flash, but you don't look at it. You keep your eyesight way
ahead, away from light. NARRATOR: Dungan and
Deere pull hard back on their sticks to climb
over the top of the destroyer escort. I said, Johnny, the
upstairs is open for us. They're inviting us in. And so we made a high side run. NARRATOR: Below them,
the ship's gunners still have no idea
where the Americans are. The Japanese begin firing
low out over the water. Dungan and Deere rake the deck,
firing down the smokestack, directly into the engines. Flames erupt, and smoke
belches from the wounded ship. It is dead in the water. So here, two Hellcats with
six 50-calibers a piece took on a fighting ship that
had a lot of armament. And we beat up on
it, and we sunk it. NARRATOR: Without
being detected, the Americans have made
quick work of the enemy ship. The Hellcats turn their
attention to the island itself. They split up, each patrolling
his own sector of sky. In night fighting, you assign
an area, because then anyone you see is not friendly. He's a target. NARRATOR: Suddenly, a
shadow passes overhead. It's a Japanese Navy Zero
equipped with amphibious floats. American pilots call
these planes rufes. The rufe pilot can navigate
at night on instruments, but he has no radar
to see in the dark. Undetected, Dungan closes
on his enemy's 6 o'clock. I knew the fuel was
carried in the float. And so I aimed on a
strut between the float and the cockpit and just
touched the trigger-- just one little pip. NARRATOR: The Zero bursts
into flame and plummets. The explosion has given away
the night fighters' position. Suddenly, tracers rip
through the night sky. And I turned and looked. And I had three came back at
me, who were firing at me. NARRATOR: But Dungan's top
secret training as a Navy night fighter is about to
be put to the test. In 1943, Buck Dungan joined
the US Navy's night fighter program, code-named
Project Affirm, based at Quonset
Point in Rhode Island. Project Affirm and almost all
other night fighter programs utilized a technology
that in World War II was only in its infancy, radar. Radar or radio
detection and ranging uses radio waves to detect
objects beyond visual range. Radio energy is transmitted
from an antenna. An object in the sky reflects
some of this energy back to a detector, where these
radar returns can be processed and used to determine the
distance to the target, altitude, and
direction of travel. Next to the atomic
bomb, the development in various forms of radar
was the number 2 priority for both America
and the British. NARRATOR: The British
used ground-based radar to combat Luftwaffe
daylight bombing during the Battle of Britain. As losses mounted, the Germans
were forced to fight at night. The RAF needed a new form of
radar, something small enough to fit on an
individual airplane. This onboard radar would
be a fighter pilot's eyes in the dark, allowing him to
steal in close to an enemy and make the kill undetected. The radars were big, bulky
pieces of equipment, vacuum tubes, and a lot of
heat, and a lot of-- needed a lot of power that
the airplanes of the day just couldn't deliver. So the British did a
lot of the development of these early radars to be
able to fit inside still fairly large aircraft-- a twin engine
versus, say, a Spitfire. NARRATOR: This new radar called
Airborne Intercept allowed night fighters to track
individual aircraft in total darkness. The British shared the
technology with the US Navy in 1940. By 1942, radar sets could fit
on single-engine fighters. Project Affirm, America's first
night fighter training program, was born. Now, Project Affirm
night fighter Buck Dungan is in the cross-hairs
of three Japanese rufes. But luckily, his wingman,
Johnny Deere, is in the area, still undetected by the enemy. And he said, Buck,
are you all right? And I said, I've
got some company. I'm having all
this fun by myself. I'm going to invite
you to the party. NARRATOR: Dungan is here. Deere is here. Dungan plans to lead the enemy
fighters directly into his wing man's line of fire. Johnny Deere streaks in,
using the Japanese gunfire as an aiming reference
against the night sky. Deere has claimed
two of the rufes, but there's still one
left behind Dungan. Dungan must reverse
direction quickly to turn the tables on
the remaining rufe. I made a real fast
kill-your-speed turn, you know, up like that, and
pulled around it, and came in on the
fella down here. He just kept coming right at me. And he was firing. And I gave him a short burst. And he blew up. NARRATOR: Dungan and
Deere, once again, split up to search
for new targets. Dim predawn light
breaks on the horizon. Suddenly, Dungan spots more
tracer fire arcing towards him. He's been spotted. I saw a plane coming toward
me about 3 miles away, and it-- his guns were all firing. NARRATOR: The inexperienced
Japanese pilot is firing too soon. He runs out of ammo. Dungan carefully puts the
pipper on the rufe's silhouette and fires. He's made quick work
of his opponent. But more rufes are in the air,
waiting for the rising sun to light the battlefield. Then I got involved with a
very clever fellow, who liked to play tag in the clouds. NARRATOR: Dungan is here. Another rufe is here, trying
to duck into a cloud bank. Visibility is already
next to nothing. Only the most skilled pilot
would attempt to dog fight in the clouds at night. But Buck Dungan is confident
and very aggressive. He throttles up and chases the
Japanese pilot into the abyss. July 4, 1944. [suspenseful music] In almost total darkness, Navy
night fighter Buck Dungan, in a radar-equipped Hellcat,
pursues a Japanese float plane into a cloud deck. FRED "BUCK" DUNGAN: He
disappeared in the thick part of the cloud, then came
out in the light part. When he came out into
the-- into visibility I'd given a burst, even though
I wasn't lined up with him. It let him know
he's got company. NARRATOR: The Japanese
pilot must do something to shake the tenacious
American night fighter. He will throw his aircraft
into a steep descending spin. He's hoping Dungan will shoot
past and lose sight of him in the darkness. The rufe pops his nose
up and begins the spin, but Dungan is one
step ahead of him. He pulls up to keep from
overshooting, then quickly throws the Hellcat
into a spin of its own. A spin is an easy thing to do. It's a fall back with a stick
and right or left letter. And your nose comes up. And you just trail
down like this. NARRATOR: The Hellcat spins
erratically as the aircraft plummets. But Dungan is in
complete control, waiting for the right
moment to pull out. When you want
to come out of it, the reverse rudder and
push the stick forward, and you'll stop the
spin immediately. NARRATOR: The rufe
pulls out of its spin. Dungan pushes the
stick forward slightly and applies right rudder. The Hellcat responds smartly. Dungan swings in on
the rufe's 6 o'clock. I could see him landing in
a cove quite a distance away. So I elevated my guns
and found that, by gosh, if I shot up in the
air about 20 degrees, my bullets were
landing around him. NARRATOR: With no
tracers, Dungan is accounting for the
ballistic drop of the rounds and zeroing in on the rufe. Slugs land all around the rufe
as he hits the water and skips. Dungan fires another burst. White-hot incendiary bullets
rip into the fuselage. It's an incredible feat
of aerial marksmanship. Dungan streaks past the wreckage
and climbs back to altitude. Dawn approaches. The night fight
will soon be over. Japanese antiaircraft
guns have opened up again, ignoring the risk of
hitting their own aircraft. FRED "BUCK" DUNGAN: And I
was marking the position of the antiaircraft battery. And bam, I felt a big explosion. I heard off my left side. And I felt I was
hit in the shoulder. Then I turned the mirror
down to take a look at me. And I've got a ruddy
complexion, always did have a ruddy complexion, but
the person looking back at me was totally white. And I thought, I don't want to
look at that ugly face anymore, so I pushed it up. NARRATOR: Dungan's F6F
has taken the hammer blows of an unseen rufe's
20-millimeter cannon fire. Shrapnel is buried
in his left shoulder. His clavicle is shattered. He is in no condition
to continue to fight. Oh, it hurt terribly. So I knew it wasn't too bad. Had it been numb, I
would have been worried. But it hurt so much
that, oh, [inaudible].. I had shrapnel all in
my shoulder in the back. NARRATOR: Dungan
establishes radio contact with Johnny Deere. Deere's Hellcat
has also been hit. Now separated, they
head back to the safety of American-controlled waters. [dramatic music] At daybreak, Dungan manages
to make an emergency landing on the carrier Yorktown. His wounds will end
his combat career. The three victories
on July 4, 1944, bring his total to seven, making
him an ace, a deadly, effective night fighter. The US Navy and Marine Corps
focused on single-seat night fighters, embodied in the
radar-equipped Hellcat. The Army Air Force opted to
develop an entirely new type of airplane designed
specifically for night missions, the
Northrop P-61 Black Widow. WARREN THOMPSON: The P-61 was
the only aircraft in World War II designed from the
ground up for night fighting, the only one. The RAF and the Luftwaffe
wrote the textbook for night interception, and
that started in late '38. The P-61 took everything
they learned from the RAF and incorporated
it into that plane. NARRATOR: Engineers knew a
good night fighter needed three things-- speed, heavy armament,
and excellent radar. The P-61 had all three. It was equipped with twin
Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, giving it a top speed
of 365 miles per hour. A crew of three-- a gunner, a radar
observer, and a pilot. Four 20-millimeters
and four 50-calibers-- tremendous firepower. NARRATOR: At the
heart of its night fighting mission was the P-61's
Airborne Intercept radar, which operated in a similar fashion
to previous night fighters. A rotating antenna in the nose
emits long wavelength radio energy called microwaves. This energy is reflected back by
any aircraft within five miles. These radar returns are then
processed by the radar operator and used to track the
enemy in total darkness. Experienced night
fighter pilot Al Jones flew the P-61 over Europe. It was a great airplane. It looked kind of clumsy
sitting on the ground, but it was very agile
and very responsive. NARRATOR: Despite its
late arrival in combat, the P-61 became an
icon of night fighting. April, 1945. A lone P-61 Black Widow
piloted by Al Jones circles a German airfield,
completely unseen. Jones and his radar
operator, Lefty Rodovsky are waiting for enemy night
fighters to return to base, called an intruder mission. We were all within Germany. And the Lancasters
were bombing Kassel, which is a city in Germany. And we could see them
off to the south. NARRATOR: The Black Widow's
radar probes the night sky, searching for prey. My radar operator picked
up a signal on his set that there was an aeroplane
coming into the airport. NARRATOR: The enemy
aircraft is here. Jones is here. Rodovsky will skillfully guide
Jones into firing position using only the P-61's radar. Rodovsky uses two scopes
to track the German plane. The A-scope indicates
the range to the target. The B-scope tracks its
elevation off the nose. He uses this information
to relay instructions to the pilot. Rodovsky instructs
Jones to turn right. Deep in enemy territory,
stealth is their only ally. They must carefully position
themselves on the German's 6:00 without being detected. Soon, Jones gets a visual, a
German ME 410, a twin engine fighter often used
for night fighting. We followed him when
we was at 300 or 400 feet above the runway, like
going in for landing. NARRATOR: Undetected,
Jones closes in and lines up his shot. All the guns
were fixed forward. And we could select them,
either machine guns only or cannons only or all together. NARRATOR: At night, a single
burst will reveal his position. Jones carefully centers
the pipper on the target. He squeezes the trigger. [guns firing] [boom] The German night fighter
plunges down in flames. The airfield below erupts
with antiaircraft fire. Al Jones pulls up,
opens the throttle, and makes a hasty departure. Amazingly, he arrives
back at base unscathed. World War II laid the
foundation for night fighting and drove technological
innovation. But the struggle
to own the night would continue unabated into
a new era in aviation, the jet age. Air combat in a pitch black
conditions at over 500 miles per hour will test American
pilots as never before. January 12, 1953. In total darkness, a formation
of American B-29 bombers approaches their target at
Sinuiju, North Korea, escorted by F3D Skyknights of
the US Marine Corps. The F3D is equipped with
powerful onboard radar, one of the first jet fighters
built specifically for nighttime combat operations. It achieved the name of
Willie the Whale real quick. It looked like a black whale. And the radar operator and
the pilot sat side by side. It had a huge fuselage,
twin engines, subsonic, but tremendous
firepower with four 20-millimeters and
outstanding radar. NARRATOR: The F3D's radar covers
a 170-degree sweep in front and a 144-degree sweep in back. Marine Major Jack Dunn
pilots one of the Skyknights. Dunn and another F3D pilot
circle the bomber box to maximize the coverage
their onboard radar provides. As the B-29s make their
drop, the Skyknight's radar peers into the dark,
scanning for threats. Then ground control
crackles over Dunn's radio-- MiGs are in the air, but
they're not engaging. The B-29s begin their egress. Suddenly, a MiG-15
thunders past. Somehow, the Skyknight's onboard
radar has missed the bandit. The guy probably
came up from an angle beyond the 170 degrees, down. The cone radar did
not pick him up. NARRATOR: Dunn's night
fighter instincts kick in. He charges after the MiG. Radar operator Larry Fortin
begins tracking the target. As Dunn closes the gap,
he can't believe his eyes. The MiG has left
his wing lights on. This is not standard
operating procedure. Something's wrong. He said, I'm being
lured into a trap. NARRATOR: The Marine pilot
is aggressive, willing to take the risk to make a kill. He throttles up, continuing
to close with the MiG. It's just the mentality
of a Marine fighter pilot. I want to get the MiG.
The heck with it. You know, and they
took their chance. NARRATOR: Suddenly, blinding
light fills the cockpit. Searchlights from below
track the F3D's movement across the sky, and
anti-aircraft gunners open up. He said it just lit up the
cockpit like it was noon. It lit them up to where the
AAA could get a beat on them. NARRATOR: The only way to
track the MiG is with the F3D's onboard radar. Larry Fortin will have to
talk Jack Dunn through a dog fight with a MiG-15. The MiG-15 is a fast
and agile opponent. The swept-wing jet fighter is
armed with two 23-millimeter and one 37-millimeter
cannon, an airplane built to climb to altitude
and destroy American bombers. The MiG-15 is much faster
and is more heavily armed. The Skyknight's slower speed
allows it to turn tighter. But at night, the
F3D's onboard radar is its greatest advantage. They had a tail warning
radar that went out 4 miles. So if a MiG tried to
slip in behind an F3D, they would-- the pilot
would be alerted way before they had gotten fired on
and could take evasive action. Then they had a lock-on
radar for the guns. Once they got locked
onto that target, it had a range of 4,000
yards, which is over 2 miles. Then the pilot could take
over with the RO's help, close the gap. You get a good
solution on the radar, the radar would lock the guns
on fire, and you had a kill. NARRATOR: With searchlights
tracking him across the sky, Jack Dunn relies solely on
the instructions of his RO, Sergeant Larry Fortin. Antiaircraft shells burst
all over the night sky. BRICK EISEL: It's been said
that being a night fighter is akin to being a police
car chasing a bank robber, except the police
car driver is blind, and you're having to describe
to the driver what the other car is doing, when to
turn, when to speed up, when to slow down, and
do that all at night. NARRATOR: The jets
streak towards the deck. Dunn flies in and out
of the searchlights, angling for a shot. I mean, they were
flying in pitch black. And Fortin was
saying, You got him. You got him. You're closing. You got him. Stay with it. NARRATOR: At 700
yards, the F3D's radar locks on and adjusts the
pipper to help Dunn line up an accurate shot. He fires it first. The MiG is hit, but
he stays in the fight. The North Korean pilot pitches
down into a screaming dive. Dunn follows, his
eye on the altimeter. Somehow, he must make the kill
and still leave enough time to pull out. The MiG plummets, the
Skyknight in hot pursuit. January 12, 1953. Marine night fighter
Jack Dunn dives in pursuit of an enemy MiG-15. Dunn must make the kill, but
leave enough time to pull out. His eyes dart between the
altimeter and his target. Dunn already had the momentum,
and he was within range. Followed him down
three short bursts, and the MiG caught on fire. NARRATOR: Lethal
20-millimeter cannon shells arc through the night
sky and shred the MiG. Dunn jams the stick in his
gut, straining against the pull of G. The ninth
fighter soars skyward, the smoking wreckage of
the MiG-15 in his wake. He throttles up
and heads for home. His aggressiveness has paid off. He has scored his first
kill, one of only six made by F3D crews during
the entire Korean War. The Korean War showed that jet
combat at night was possible. During the following decades,
night and all weather radar intercept capabilities
steadily increased. WARREN THOMPSON: Once
Korea was over with, the weapons became much
more sophisticated. So to make the kill,
all you had to do was make sure your weapons
were locked on, fired it, and they found the target. NARRATOR: Night and
all weather fighting started to be incorporated into
the conventional capability of all fighter aircraft. By Vietnam, the
dedicated night fighter was becoming a
thing of the past. The number of
aircraft types just kept shrinking and shrinking to now. It's gone from four or five
true night fighter types in World War II-- Hellcat, Corsair,
P-61, Beau fighter. It's dwindled down now, where
anything flying in the day can do the same thing at night. NARRATOR: In the decades
following Vietnam, the United States advanced the
tactics and technology of night fighting and
beyond-visual-range combat more than any other nation. No fighter embodies this
more than the F-15 Eagle. March 24, 1999, the first night
of Operation Allied Force. The combined air forces of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO,
descend on Serbia. F-15 Eagles fly MiGCAP for the
massive multi-national strike force. One of these flights is led by
Major Robert Renner, call sign Cricket. I had flown combat missions
over Northern Iraq in 1995, but was honestly
thinking, you know, this was going be a
little bit different. It's not just enforcing
a no-fly zone, where you might occasionally
see someone shooting at you, but this was going
to be for real. NARRATOR: Flying element
lead in the flight of four is Lieutenant Colonel Cesar
Rodriguez, call sign Rico. He's an experienced
F-15 pilot with two MiG kills in Desert Storm. CESAR RODRIGUEZ: It was only
two of us who had Desert Storm experience in our squadron. We had a whole new
generation of fighter pilots that was more technically
proficient, in my opinion, than those of us who
fought in Desert Storm. Because they were seeing
the benefits of Desert Storm in how the radars were
developed and the new weapons were developed. NARRATOR: Shortly after
arriving on station, Rico picks up an unknown
contact on radar. At any time of the day or
night, modern fighter pilots coordinate with Airborne Warning
and Control aircraft called AWACS. The AWACS and F-15 use
sophisticated radar and electronics to illuminate
the nighttime battlefield. An AWACS on-station
over Northern Italy confirms Rico's contact, a
Yugoslav Air Force MiG-29. The MiG-29, designed
during the 1980s, is a Mach 2 capable air
superiority fighter. It uses both heat-seeking
and long-range radar-guided missiles. The 1970s era F-15C Eagle
was the first US fighter specifically built
for air-to-air combat since the F-86 Sabre. The F-15C's radar can
identify and track targets at 90 miles, day or night. Still over 40 miles away,
Rico's F-15 locks up the MiG. It was really what I call
a very amazing moment. We were at 30-plus
thousand feet. We were doing Mach 1.4. We're, as we call, hauling
the mail, and I take my shot. I'll remember this forever. I hear him call Fox
3 over the radio, meaning he's just shot
an AMRAAM at this MiG-29. So I'm 20 miles away, and I see
the little point light come off his airplane and start
tracking, you know, go on to tracking MiG-29. NARRATOR: The AMRAAM is
first guided by the F-15. Then its own active radar in the
body of the missile kicks in. The missile makes
tiny adjustments as it streaks through
the night sky. Seconds later, impact. That was actually fighting
over a piece of ground that was not only mountainous,
but covered in snow. So that fireball takes the
reflection of the fire, multiplies it by all
the mountains around us. If you were to take two or
three football stadiums right next to each together
and then all three of the main light
switches, you switch them on at the same time,
that's what it looked like. NARRATOR: Rico Rodriguez has
scored his third MiG kill. It's a stunning demonstration
of the dominance of technology in modern night fighting. But there are more MiGs rising
to defend their homeland. To the north of
Rico and Cricket, another F-15 pilot, Captain
Mike Shower, call sign Dozer, streaks into battle. He is informed of Rico's
engagement over the radio. We heard through
AWACS that there was an engagement in the south. We got a "Splash 1
in the south" call. It kind of-- it piques
your level of attention up a little bit. NARRATOR: Dozer's
senses are heightened by the presence of the enemy. He monitors his radar
constantly, his only means of peering into the dark
abyss that surrounds him. Soon, he will find himself in
one of the most intense dog fights of the entire conflict. March 24, 1999. [suspenseful music] F-15 Eagle pilot Captain
Mike Shower, call sign Dozer, escorts a formation of F-117s
to their targets near Belgrade. The stealth fighters
are virtually undetectable at night, but they
have no air-to-air defense. Dozer and three other F-15s are
tasked with protecting them. Dozer's radar scans
the night sky, searching for any
sign of the enemy. Soon, he gets a contact. I break lock,
look a little bit. About 30 seconds later, now I
see it starting to march back down the scope. Because, initially, it
was going away from me, so we were kind of
chasing it this way. And now it's turned hot. NARRATOR: AWACS confirms its
identity, a Yugoslav MiG-29. It's headed directly
for the strike package. The MiG-29 is at 10 o'clock
low and 25 miles away. The F-15 gains radar lock. Dozer fires two missiles. They're called missiles--
they miss-- not hittles. So, you know, always
shoot two to up what we call your PK,
your probability of kill. NARRATOR: Dozer watches
the missiles streak away, but the darkness
conceals another aircraft in the middle of the fight,
invisible even on radar. In the meantime, which I
didn't know and I found out the next night, there was an
F-117 directly between myself and the MiG. Before the war, I asked him-- I said, Hey, you know,
we're going to be above you. Depending on where the MiGs
are and where you guys are at, we may be shooting through
you, flying through you. Is that OK? And the weapons
officer was like, Yeah. It's Big Sky Theory.
Don't worry. We'll never be
close to each other. NARRATOR: The missiles roar
past the F-117's cockpit, within feet of knocking
the aircraft down. And all of a sudden,
that first missile-- phew-- over the top of his airplane.
Motor burn. Second missile-- phew--
over the top of his head. He said, oh, good god. And he said he starts
doing this look. And, you know, what-- so
he's like-- he's got MiGs on. He's like, I'm in the middle of
a doggone shootout right now. NARRATOR: Unaware of how close
he's come to knocking down a friendly aircraft, Dozer
monitors the missiles. First missile times out-- nothing. And then I wait for the AIM-7. Just as the AIM-7
times out, the target starts to maneuver
in a right-hand turn towards the beam. So I'd be looking
at him like this. NARRATOR: Dozer is here. The MiG-29, alerted
to his presence, is now in a climbing
right turn towards him. The F-117 is here. The stealth fighter is
undetected in the middle of the dog fight. Dozer banks into a left turn
to close with the MiG-29. He uses radar to see in
the dark and maneuver against his target. He fires another missile. The F-117 tells
me, at that time, I'm about a thousand
feet away from him. He said he looks over.
Phew. Missile goes right
in front of him. I fly right in front of him. NARRATOR: With a third
missile airborne, the MiG-29 breaks back hard
left, directly into Dozer. The Serbian pilot is
breaking into the attack, trying to engage
Dozer at close range. So now, I'm diving like this. The MiG is in a left hand turn,
coming up towards me like that. We're 10,000 feet apart. The, you know, hair on
the back of your neck stands up a little bit. NARRATOR: The missile
tracks almost straight down. Then a burst of flame. So now, like a hundred foot
of flame or whatever it was, I can see his airplane
kind of spiral with the head going downhill. And I continue to kind of do
a left-hand turn over the top, watching it, quite honestly
not do anything tactical because I'm just going, wow,
look at that because I've never seen that before. NARRATOR: It is
Dozer's first MiG kill. The MiG-29 spirals down in
flame towards the ground below. Dozer pulls up out of his
turn and starts climbing back to altitude. The victorious F-15 pilot
retakes his position above the strike package
and continues the patrol. In modern air combat, there
is very little difference between night and day. Precision weapons
and long range radar have made the dog fight
a long-distance affair. As technology
improves, the distance becomes even more remote. The next generation of fighter
aircraft like the F-22 Raptor adds stealth to the arsenal
of the fighter pilot. I think the future of an F-22
is going to be almost boring, which is good for our side
and bad for the enemy. NARRATOR: But technology
is never static. Every breakthrough
spawns a counter-measure. The quest to command
the sky, day and night, will continue long
into the future. [dramatic music]
