Expression "Hit and Run"

Le "Hit&Run" est également une manoeuvre de combat aérien.

However, a number of fighter experts, such as Claire Chennault, believed that dogfighting was an obsolete tactic. They noted that, even in the First World War, most kills were achieved by surprise and most dogfights ended in a draw. Chennault perfected hit-and-run tactics that relied on speed, firepower, and ruggedness rather than outstanding maneuverability, and which took maximum advantage of surprise when it could be achieved. Such tactics would prove effective against such outstandingly maneuverable Japanese aircraft as the Zero and the Oscar.

Guadalcanal
When the U.S. forces invaded Guadalcanal in August, 1942, the big prize, the island's strategic importance, was an unfinished Japanese airstrip on the north side of the island. Later that strip would become Henderson Field. Days after the first infantrymen occupied the area, Marine Corps Wildcats landed. In the ensuing weeks and months, those stubby fighters protected the tenuous American hold on the island.

While bloody battles were fought on the ground at Guadalcanal, air power made the difference. Almost every day, Japanese Betty bombers and Zero fighters made the long flight from Rabaul to strike at Guadalcanal. Forewarned by the Coastwatchers and by radar, the F4F's of the "Cactus Air Force" would scramble in time to gain altitude, and then hit the Japanese raiders. In the first few weeks, Major John Smith's VMF-223 flew their Wildcats "into the ground."

The Wildcat was aptly named; it was tricky and unforgiving to fly. Its landing gear was not well-suited to the muddy and dusty conditions of Henderson Field. The controls could be mushy when maneuverability was most needed. There was no way to jettison the hood. The pilot's seat was cramped and too low for optimal visibility. It was not as agile as the Zero. Usually, the F4F pilots tried to zoom through the screening Zeros and go after the bomber directly. With altitude, they could adopt hit-and-run tactics; their rugged construction resisted the Japanese 7.7mm machine gun bullets.

I had full confidence in my ability to destroy the Grumman and decided to finish off the enemy fighter with only my 7.7mm machine guns. I turned the 20mm. cannon switch to the 'off' position, and closed in.
For some strange reason, even after I had poured about five or six hundred rounds of ammunition directly into the Grumman, the airplane did not fall, but kept on flying. I thought this very odd - it had never happened before - and closed the distance between the two airplanes until I could almost reach out and touch the Grumman. To my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag.
With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was unable to continue fighting! ... A Zero which had taken that many bullets would have been a ball of fire by now.

sebastien levente a écrit:
La nouvelle génération utilise le Hit & Forget, un missile est lancé sur une cible et va vivre sa vie de manière totalement autonome car le vecteur n'a pas besoin de le suivre mais peut l'oublier pour chercher une nouvelle cible, le missile étant locké sur sa victime ..