Cobra maneuver

In the case of the Su-27, the pilot initially disengages the angle of attack limiter of the plane, normally set at 26°.[2] This action also disengages the g limiter. After that, the pilot pulls back hard on the stick. The aircraft reaches an angle of attack of 90–120° with a slight gain of altitude and a significant loss of speed. When the elevator is centered, the drag at the rear of the plane causes a torque that makes the aircraft pitch forward. At the same time, the pilot adds power to compensate for the reduced lift.

In a properly performed Cobra, the plane maintains nearly straight flight throughout the maneuver. The plane does not roll or yaw in either direction. Proper entry speed is necessary because, if the maneuver is entered too slowly, the pilot might not be able to complete the maneuver, while entering at too high a speed would create g-forces so high that the pilot loses consciousness or the airframe is damaged.

While the Cobra can be executed using only standard aerodynamic controls, it can be achieved more easily with modern thrust vectoring. In either case it is an example of supermaneuverability,[8] specifically poststall maneuvering. The Herbst maneuver and the helicopter maneuver are examples of similar post-stall maneuvers that are often carried out by 4.5th Generation and 5th Generation fighter aircraft, often employing thrust vectoring.[9]

Swedish J 35A Draken

Several decades prior to Pugachev showing off his cobra, during the early 1960s, the maneuver was performed by Swedish pilots flying the Saab 35 fighter jet.[13] It was invented during training on how to recover from super stalls (also known as deep stalls) which the double delta tailless design of the Saab 35 is prone to.[14] Simplified, a super stall is an uncontrollable stall which is much harder to recover from than a standard stall. Super stall plagued the early years of the Saab 35's service life, leading to several deaths, which in turn lead the Swedish air staff to implement extra training on how to counteract and recover from it.[13] It is currently not known exactly when and how the Swedish invented or discovered the Cobra but it was during this intense training period the Swedish pilots discovered how to do it. When pulling high alpha, the pilot would have noticed that he was going into super stall, and he would then have pulled negative alpha to get out of it. The effects this maneuver had on the aircraft's speed were noted and pilots started to purposely use it as a way to lower speed.[13]

Saab 35 Draken doing a sharp turn, visually reminiscent of a Cobra.

The Swedes named the maneuver "kort parad", or "short parade" in English, likely referring to the way the plane stands up during the maneuver as if on parade. The Swedish pilots quickly started to theorize on how to use this move in combat as a way to get a pursuing aircraft to overshoot, and it was not long until it was proven viable during mock dogfights.[13][1] In real combat, depending on the situation and the execution of the maneuver, it could be used to confuse the enemy by making it lose the target or to overshoot, which would allow the pursued pilot the opportunity to either flee from combat or to set up a new engagement. However, the maneuver was too difficult and dangerous to use as anything more than a last-ditch maneuver, as without precise execution the aircraft's low speed after the maneuver would make it an easy target.[15]

The maneuver originated with the Bråvalla Air Force Wing, who were the first wing to receive the Saab 35 fighter plane. As the plane was in time adopted by other wings, so was the maneuver. The Scania Air Force Wing apparently called the maneuver "Wacka", which has no real meaning in Swedish.[1]

As Sweden effectively shared borders with the Soviet Union over the Baltic Sea, both sides regularly flew into the international space between the two. Due to this, the Saab 35s had to regularly intercept and escort Soviet planes away from Swedish airspace. Sometimes these meetings would result in non-combat dogfights, which were either of playful or threatening nature.[13] Apparently, the Cobra maneuver was used during some of these engagements, much to the surprise of the Soviets.[5] Later in the Saab 35's service life, the maneuver was used as a secret weapon by Saab-35 pilots in mock dogfights when facing the more advanced Saab 37 fighter plane. The Saab 37 was unable to safely enter super stalls, and therefore its pilots did not receive any major training against it. Due to this, the Cobra maneuver was unknown to many Saab 37 pilots prior to facing it in combat.[1] Due to the interesting nature of the tactic, some Saab 37 pilots tried to do it with the Saab 37, but to their dismay it was unable to effectively do it above speeds of 350 km/h as the Saab 37 couldn't safely take the necessary gs to do it above that, effectively rendering it useless in combat.[1]

When the Saab 35 went out of service, the maneuver did as well, as the next generations of Swedish warplanes, the Saab 37 and the Saab 39, couldn't effectively perform the maneuver. Due to the secrecy of the Cold War era and other factors, the Swedish Cobra was largely unknown to the world, until some former Saab 35 and 37 pilots brought it up years later in books[1][13] and articles,[5][15] although this was long after the Soviets had been credited with its discovery.

In an interview, former Finnish Air Force pilot Ari Saarinen recalled performing the maneuver in a Draken while intercepting a Royal Air Force Nimrod over the Baltic Sea; the Nimrod pilot reduced power in order to get the Finns to overshoot, but the Finnish Drakens performed the maneuver to slow down, which according to Saarinen caused the British pilot to praise them over the radio.[16]

According to a video uploaded by the Scania Air Force Wing comrade association (Swedish: F10 Kamratförening), the Swedish Cobra was taught to Austrian pilots training on the Saab 35 in Sweden.[17] It is unknown if the Austrians used this as a combat maneuver or just as training against super stall.

Beyond Sweden, Syria also discovered the maneuver prior to the Soviets.

In 1961 when Syria left the United Arab Republic, they were left with a very weak air force. Due to this, the Syrians had to order new combat aircraft, which resulted in the procurement of the F-13 in June 1962.[18] Once the aircraft had arrived and been integrated into the fleet, a problem became apparent. All of the unit commanders had been selected based on political associations and loyalty to superiors, instead of knowledge in air combat. Due to this, the newly established commanders were over-reliant on advice from about 30 Soviet advisors assigned to the Syrian Air Force to help them work with the new planes, and were generally ineffective. This era of power over knowledge, however, also meant a handful of pilots with powerful connections were able to disregard Soviet advisors and orders from their commanders.[18]

One of these pilots, Mohammad Mansour, then a novice MiG-21-pilot fresh from conversion course in the USSR, had an older brother, Fayez Mansour, with deep connections high up in the chain of command in Damascus. Those connections enabled him to challenge Soviet advisors and demand greater operational flexibility for himself and other pilots of his unit.[18]

During Mohammed's first clashes with the Israeli Air Force, he realized that there was a need for an effective defensive maneuver for close combat that made a pursuing plane overshoot. His initial solution was based on Soviet manuals and consisted of rapid descending turns followed by a sudden activation of the afterburner and a climb. However, during a test flight in early 1967, Mohammad inadvertently pitched the nose of his MiG-21 too hard, so that the forward movement of his aircraft nearly stopped. In reaction, he engaged the afterburner of his MiG, and ended with the plane standing vertically on the verge of stalling out of control. Mohammad managed to recover the plane from that state, just in time to prevent a crash. Intrigued, he decided to try and replicate the maneuver in a controlled manner, this time by engaging the afterburner beforehand, as the Tumansky R-11 engine of the Mig-21 had to spool for full effect. After successful replication of the maneuver, it became clear that this was the defensive maneuver for close combat that he had been looking for.[18]

The Syrians came to name the Cobra the "zero speed maneuver" (Arabic: مناورة السرعة صفر, "munawarat alsureat sifr"). Mohammad soon saw combat again with the Israeli Air Force but never got to use the maneuver.[18] The Cobra quickly became a standard part of defensive tactics for Syrian Mig-21s.

Egyptian Mig-21

With time, as different air forces were stationed in Syria, the maneuver spread to both the Pakistan and Egyptian air force, who also started using it as a standard defensive maneuver for their MiG-21s, as well on their F-7s.[18]

It is believed by some that the Cobra maneuver was performed in combat by an Egyptian pilot during the Yom Kippur War, but the theory is based on the quote of an Israeli pilot that doesn't mention anything more than an Egyptian MiG-21 apparently standing on its tail when trying to evade an attack.[18]

When the cobra came to the Soviet Union's attention is unknown. It is possible that they first learned about it from the engagements with the Swedish over the Baltic Sea during the 1960s, but one story says that the Soviets, during their visits to Egypt between 1970 and 1972, saw the maneuver being performed by Egyptian MiG-21 pilots, and brought it back to the USSR.[18]

However, as there is currently no known material on the Soviets performing the maneuver prior to the 1980s, it is also possible the maneuver was independently discovered by pilots like Viktor Pugachev or Igor Volk when testing advanced Soviet planes like the MiG-29 and Su-27.

In the Cobra Climb, the aircraft initiates the Cobra, but instead of remaining in altitude and continuing forward, it starts to stall climb (climbing vertically). The maneuver is similar to a regular stall climb except that the change from level flight to stall climb happens much faster. However, unlike a regular climb, this still achieves the effect of the Cobra and the aircraft will still stall momentarily which lowers speed and momentum. The maneuver ends with the climb and the aircraft can return to common flight in various ways.[20]

In the Cobra Stall, the aircraft initiates the Cobra, but instead of returning to level flight, the aircraft instead fully stalls out after which it applies thrust and rudder to change the direction of the aircraft.[21]

The Cobra Turn is an air combat maneuver.[22] It is a variation on the Cobra maneuver where the aircraft performs the pull-up, but instead of returning to level flight applies rudder or thrust vectoring and turns downward. The aircraft achieves a negative angle of attack, ending the maneuver in a dive, therefore regaining airspeed sooner than the common Cobra. John Turner of BAE considers the Cobra maneuver to have little use in air combat maneuvering. It could also be argued that the combat effect is likely to be similar to the “Vectoring In Forward Flight" or VIFFing maneuver. In theory, VIFFing allows the aircraft to effectively slow down or stop while the enemy overshoots, leaving the aircraft in a favorable position to attack the enemy.[23]

Unlike VIFFing, however, the fully developed Cobra maneuver leaves the aircraft in a precarious and non-offensive attitude, with no energy, with weapons pointing toward empty sky and with the pilot having lost sight of the enemy. If the pilot exits the Cobra by using rudder, this is a very slow version of the Hammerhead. At the same time, the aircraft is defenseless, unable to maneuver, nearly stationary, offers the largest lateral visual and radar target and is creating a massive plume of hot exhaust, making it an easy target for any type of weapon and attack which an enemy might choose.

The transition from Cobra maneuver to effective and controlled flight takes several seconds, and airspeed sufficient for defensive maneuvering is not recovered for more than ten seconds. While entering the Cobra is effective as a "speed brake" maneuver, usefulness in combat is limited at best, and then only if exited while sufficient energy remains to bring the weapons to bear before the opponent can break into an evasive maneuver—or, worse, loop back and attack. One simple defense-into-attack maneuver is for the opponent to Split-S, pass under the Cobra aircraft, then half-loop again to bring the Cobra aircraft into the cone of fire. The primary danger for the opponent becomes the possibility of a mid-air collision with the slowly moving target.

The Cobra Turn first gained widespread attention after it was performed by the Sukhoi Su-27, Su-35 and Su-37 at various European airshows.

In the Cobra Roll, the aircraft initiates the Cobra but instead of returning to level flight, the aircraft uses its ailerons and rudder to initiate a barrel roll at the peak of the initial nose climb which ends the maneuver with a barrel roll.[24]

The Cobra Hover is an extension of the original maneuver in which an aircraft initiates the Cobra but remains in the "Cobra state" for a longer period of time by the use of thrust control, thus achieving the "Hover" part of the maneuver. After which the aircraft can complete the maneuver in various ways depending on its energy.[25]

• Saab 35 Draken[1]
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21[18]
• Sukhoi Su-27[2] and variants (Su-30/Su-30MKI/Su-30MKM, Su-33, Su-34, Su-35,[26] Su-37 and Shenyang J-11)
• Sukhoi Su-57[27]
• Mikoyan MiG-29A[28][29]
• Mikoyan MiG-29M OVT[30] and Mikoyan MiG-35

• Rockwell-MBB X-31
• High Alpha Research Vehicle
• McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL/MTD
• General Dynamics F-16 VISTA
• Sukhoi Su-47
• Chengdu J-10 (J-10B TVC Demonstrator variant)[31]