The term dog fight in terms of military aircraft refers to close range battles where aircrafts try to outmaneuver and bring each other down.
The term was first used during the World War I, when allied and German pilots tried to get behind the opponents tail in order to get a clear shot with their rifles and machine guns. The sight closely resembled dogs locked in combat trying to grab each others tails.
Even in modern aviation despite advances in avionics and sensor technology pilots are trained to conduct supersonic dogfights. Even though modern fire and forget radar guided and infra red homing missiles are a far cry from bricks and ropes that were being thrown at each other by earlier pilots, they can still be evaded using electronic counter measures, flares and maneuverability.
The term was first used during the World War I, when allied and German pilots tried to get behind the opponents tail in order to get a clear shot with their rifles and machine guns. The sight closely resembled dogs locked in combat trying to grab each others tails.
Even in modern aviation despite advances in avionics and sensor technology pilots are trained to conduct supersonic dogfights. Even though modern fire and forget radar guided and infra red homing missiles are a far cry from bricks and ropes that were being thrown at each other by earlier pilots, they can still be evaded using electronic counter measures, flares and maneuverability.