Twelve jets, one order: squadrons
Published
In short: line fighters fly as squadrons of twelve Strikers. One click selects the squadron, one order moves it, and when it fires, every jet fires at the same target.
At a glance
| Size | 12 Strikers |
| Mix | one type and one Mark, never mixed |
| Shape | three chevrons of four, about 90 m wide and 110 m deep |
| Orders | move, engage, move & engage, like a single fighter |
| Stances | reckless, cautious or evasive |
| Losses | counted per jet: “Squadron 1 · 9/12” |
How it flies
The squadron holds its shape on the move, in turns and through a fight. Each jet keeps its slot and banks into the turns; the squadron never breaks apart.
How it fights
A squadron takes the same stances and orders as a single fighter, and makes the same decisions. Every time it would fire, all its remaining jets fire, so it hits like twelve fighters on one target.
Losses are counted jet by jet. Each jet’s worth of damage downs one jet, and the formation closes up.
Why twelve
Air forces fight in pairs and fours[3], inside squadrons of about twelve. In the Second World War a British fighter squadron fought twelve aircraft strong[1], and most US Navy squadrons today have no more than twelve[2].
Twelve guns on one target is the point. In testing, a squadron beat twelve spread-out fighters of the same Mark and lost 2 jets. Twelve single fighters in the same fight lost 11.
Squadrons are the many. Rarer top-of-the-line ships are planned to fly as single named units.
More: formations, the Striker, Marks.
Related
- Rings round the biggest ship: formations and give-way
- Reckless, cautious, evasive: how your pilots fight
- 10 g and 500 m/s: the Striker fighter
Sources
- Squadron (aviation), Wikipedia.
During the Second World War, a British fighter squadron was a fighting strength of 12 aircraft
- Squadron (aviation), Wikipedia.
usually do not have more than 12 aircraft authorized/assigned at any one time
- Finger-four, Wikipedia.
was made up of two pairs