“Stroke 3 defending 6!” Tullia can be heard shouting over the radio while suffering under the immense G-force strain of his maneuvers. You can hear Tullia let out a groan over the radio just as the SA-6 screams by–because the pilot was sure it was going to hit him. Tullia would later report that the missile flew by at such close range, he could hear the rocket motor burning. Just then, he gets yet another alarm. There was another missile heading his way.

With so little speed and altitude left after dodging the previous missiles, Tullia was forced to go into a dive to gain escape speed, which meant flying straight into the cloud of anti-aircraft fire below. Eventually, Tullia managed to the 6th missile like he did all five previously: with nothing but expert flying. His chaff and flares failed to function throughout the entire ordeal.

THE PHYSICAL STRAIN OF EVADING A MISSILE

While taking evasive action in the movies seems a lot like taking a hard turn in your mom’s Ford Taurus, the reality of flying an F-16 at its limits is nothing of the sort. Executing hard turns in a fighter jet, or high-G maneuvers as some call them, can kill you just as readily as a missile.

“Under 9Gs, the world appears to shrink until it looks like you’re viewing it through a toilet paper roll,” F-16 turned F-35 pilot Hasard Lee explained to Sandboxx News.

“Blood is being pulled out of your head towards your legs and arms, resulting in the loss of peripheral vision. If too much blood is pulled out, you’ll pass out, resulting in incapacitation for around half a minute. Due to the speeds we fly, there’s a high probability the jet will crash before you wake up,” Lee added.

After executing these maneuvers, pilots will feel the repercussions for days, or even the rest of their lives.

“After high-G flights, my arms and legs will have what appears to be chickenpox: blood has pooled in my extremities and caused the blood vessels to rupture. It’s similar to a bruise and usually dissipates within a few days. The long-term effects of high-Gs can result in neck and back issues – most pilots deal with some level of general pain due to Gs,” Lee said.

In footage recorded from the nose of his aircraft, you can not only see the hair-raising combat environment these pilots found themselves in, but you can also hear the bravery, professionalism, and stress in their voices as they worked to find their targets, stay alive, and look out for one another. In what is perhaps the most hair-raising portion of the video, you can hear the physical stress and exhaustion overtaking Tullia’s voice as he calls out that he is once again attempting to avoid getting hit.

To make matters that much worse for Tullia, his chaff and flares, tools designed to distract incoming infrared and radar-guided missiles, were not functioning. He would only discover the malfunction after landing. Not only did Tullia defeat six surface-to-air missiles, he did it without any chaff or flares.

UNDERSTANDING THE FOOTAGE

To anyone who hasn’t spent years obsessing over military aviation, the ten-minute video above may be hard to follow. These pilots are also so supremely professional that, at times, the life-or-death struggle unfolding within is coupled with brief statements in practically conversational tones. Such is the confidence, training, and capability level found in Uncle Sam’s combat aviators.

So, let’s break down what happens in this video in terms we can all appreciate, to better understand these incredible circumstances.

What you see on the screen

This footage was recorded from Major Emmett Tullia’s F-16, flying under the callsign, “Stroke 3.” He receives his first warning of an inbound missile shortly after the 3:00 minute mark.

On the top left-hand side of the screen as the video starts, you can see how many Gs the aircraft is currently pulling, with calibrated airspeed just below it. Below that, you can see the maximum Gs the aircraft has pulled thus far in the flight.

The right-hand side shows altitude, with altitude above the ground (radar altimeter) below that.

• At approximately 3:16, you can hear Tullia under duress, calling out, “Stroke 3 defending SA-2” as the aircraft can be seen banking left. The SA-2 Guideline is the NATO reporting name for the Soviet S-75 Dvina high-altitude air defense system, which leverages radar to guide its missiles to their targets.
• At approximately 3:44 you can hear one of the pilots say “jettisoned, egressing.” Tullia and some other pilots jettisoned their external fuel tanks to reduce the weight of the aircraft and increase their ability to maneuver. This was a risky move, as without those external tanks, Tullia couldn’t be sure he’d have enough fuel to make it back.
• By 3:50, Tulia’s Stroke 3 has already managed to make two inbound surface-to-air missiles miss.
• At 4:36 you can hear another pilot shout “Stroke 3 come on! Stroke 3 check right, break right! Stroke 3 break right!” as he sees the third missile fired at Tullia’s aircraft.
• At 4:52 you can hear pilots say, “someone got hit,” and “Stroke 4 got hit” as another F-16 is hit by a missile. After, you can hear pilots with increasing stress in their voices calling out, “Stroke 4 status?” to check on their downed friend, but by then, he is unable to respond.
• At 5:22 you can see the aircraft making aggressive turns to try to avoid being hit by an incoming SAM.
• At 5:32 you can hear a pilot say, “second one, break” telling Stroke 3 to evade as another missile closes in. After Tullia dodges it, you can hear someone say, “that’s two” meaning he dodged both inbound missiles. At that point, Tullia has already dodged four SAMs.
• At 5:58 you can hear a pilot call out, “Another SAM launch, another SAM launch same location!”
• At 6:02 you can see the contrails from multiple SAMs that had been recently launched.
• At 6:14 you can hear Tullia call out, “Oh shiiiii…” as a SAM comes very close to hitting his aircraft.
• At 6:20 you can hear labored breathing as Tullia calls out, “Stroke 3 defending” under heavy Gs. The G indicator suggests he’s pulled more than 6 Gs.
• At 6:38 you can hear pilots asking aloud, “Stroke 3 are you still there?”
• At 6:53, Tullia responds, “Stroke 3 is headed south.”
• At 6:59 you see the aircraft go inverted as Tullia once again calls out, “Stroke 3 defending 6” as yet another SAM flies his way. That “6” indicated an SA-6, or Soviet 2K12 “Kub” — which is a more capable weapon system than the SA-2’s fired earlier. His breathing is becoming increasingly labored by this time. He’s now pushing 6.5 Gs.
• Shortly after that, Stroke 3 is able to make it out of the fight

About the Author 

Alex Hollings is a writer, dad, and Marine veteran.

This article was first published by Sandboxx News.