What is "supermaneuverability"

n. (context aviation English) The quality of aircraft defined as a threshold of attitude control exceeding that which is possible by pure aerodynamic maneuverability.

Supermaneuverability is the ability of aircraft to maintain pilot control and perform maneuvers in situations and ways exceeding those that are possible by pure aerodynamic mechanisms.

This capability was first researched in the United States, and eventually resulted in the development of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL/MTD as a proof of concept aircraft, the result of research begun in 1975 at Langley Research Center, a full 8 years before the Soviet Mikoyan MiG-29 claimed this as a new, revolutionary capability. The British, however, used supermaneuverability in the Harrier & Sea Harrier VTOL aircraft in the 1960s. "Viffing" or ..."Vectoring in Forward Flight" was used to great effect in the Falklands War. The Harrier VTOL jet is able to rotate its engine nozzles at any speed & power setting, making radically tight, controlled turns. In a dogfight, this can be used to out-turn an opponent despite the Harrier's relatively high wing loading.

The USAF abandoned the concept as counter-productive to BVR engagements as the Cobra maneuver leaves the aircraft in a state of near zero energy, having bled off nearly all of its speed in performing the Pugachev's Cobra maneuver without gaining any compensating altitude in the process. Excepting 1-on-1 engagements, this leaves the aircraft very vulnerable to both missile and gun attack by a wingman or other hostile, even if the initial threat overshoots the supermaneuvered aircraft.

In 1983, the MiG-29 and in 1996, the Sukhoi Su-27 were deployed with this capability, which has since become standard in all of Russia's fourth and fifth generation aircraft. There has been some speculation, but the mechanism behind the supermaneuverability of the Russian-built aircraft has not been disclosed to the public. However, post-stall analyses are increasingly used in recent years to advance maneuverability via the use of thrust vectoring engine nozzles.

Russian emphasis on close-range slow-speed supermaneuverability runs counter to Western energy–maneuverability theory, which favors retaining kinetic energy to gain an increasingly better array of maneuvering options the longer an engagement endures .