Without engagement, there is no probability of kill. Without detection, no engagement is possible. The defender attempts to complete each stage. Probability of kill means applying enough firepower not only to hit the other aircraft but to actually destroy or disable it. Engagement means fighters attempting to close with the enemy or ground-based defenses tracking and firing. Detection refers to spotting and tracking enemy aircraft. There are three parts: detection, engagement, and probability of kill.

Elements of the survival duel emerged first during World War I, before the appearance of radar, and reappeared in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm. Primitive airborne radar sets were installed in night fighters in the later years of the war. Radar height-finding assisted anti-aircraft gunners on the ground. Early detection gave defenders much more time to organize their air defenses and to intercept attacking planes. By 1940, however, radar could spot incoming aircraft at a distance of more than 100 miles. Even in the late 1930s, defenders expected to listen and watch for attacking aircraft. During World War I, visual detection in daylight did not exceed 15 miles. However, invention of radar on the eve of World War II radically changed the balance of power in the air. They mark the latest phase of the radar game.ДЇor decades, the balance between the air attacker and air defender has shifted back and forth. The Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has a different and far more limited type of stealth. Future plans for the Air Force F-22 and the triservice Joint Strike Fighter call for the nation to continue to procure advanced Low-Observable (LO) aircraft for the military. Stealth technology minimizes aircraft signature in several ways but most notably by greatly reducing its radar signature. Since the 1970s, the Department of Defense has focused special effort on research, development, testing, and production of stealth aircraft, designed to blunt the power of defenders to detect them and thus defeat or destroy them. The effort to make aircraft harder to shoot down has consumed a large share of the brains and resources dedicated to military aircraft design in the 20th century. Highly survivable aircraft will contribute directly to achieving joint force objectives, and the ability to project power with efficient and effective air operations will depend on winning the radar game.ДЄircraft survivability depends on a complex mix of design features, performance, mission planning, and tactics. The winner of the radar game gains the ability to bring the maneuver and firepower of air forces to bear against a foe or to deprive an enemy of this power. Since World War II, the radar game between attackers and defenders has determined who will control the skies.

Game air force