What this is about
A wingman pair is not a double act of two solo fighters but a split into two roles: anchor and hunter. The anchor binds, the hunter shoots. Wanting both at once leaves you with two half pilots.
The situation
Two against one, two against two, two as part of a larger group. The role split works in all three cases.
What the opponent does
He will try to catch one of you alone – usually the anchor, because he flies defensively. That is exactly what the role split builds on: the anchor is meant to be hard to hit, not dangerous.
What you do
As the anchor: fly defensively, keep the opponent busy, stay in sight of your partner. Your job is not to hit but to be seen and not be hit. The defensive spiral is your craft.
As the hunter: stay out of the turning fight, keep your speed, attack while the opponent is busy with the anchor. Your manoeuvre is the attack run – not turning along.
Both: call it when you swap roles. A role swap without a call is a fight with two anchors or two hunters.
Follow-up
After the hunter’s attack the roles swap automatically: the opponent turns onto the hunter, the anchor becomes free. If you expect that you have prepared the second attack while the first is still running.
How the opponent answers
He breaks off and looks for one of you alone – or he has a partner himself. Then it becomes a fight between two pairs, and the pair that keeps its roles wins.
What you need
Working comms and the function that cycles allies – otherwise you lose sight of your partner.
As a pair what matters most is being able to cycle allies and attackers separately – and that your comms work.
| Game action | Default keyboard/mouse | Default joystick | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lock Target Under Reticle | not bound by default | not bound by default | single press |
| Cycle Lock - Hostiles - Forward | 5 | not bound by default | single press |
| Lock Selected Target | not bound by default | not bound by default | single press |
| Cycle Lock - Attackers - Forward | 4 | not bound by default | single press |
| Cycle Lock - Friendlies - Forward | 6 | not bound by default | single press |
| Pin Index 1 - Pin / Unpin Selected Target | Left Alt + 1 | not bound by default | toggle |
| Decoy - Launch Burst (tap), Set and Launch Burst (hold) | H | Button 3 | hold |
| Noise - Deploy (Tap) | J | Button 5 | single press |
Game default binding, game version 4.10.0-hotfix (55227). If you rebound it yourself, your binding applies.
Anything marked “not bound by default” you have to bind yourself in the game settings – we do not guess a key.
HOTAS/HOSAS: the joystick column is the default binding of ONE stick. On two sticks you assign pitch, yaw, roll and lateral strafe yourself – which axis a manoeuvre needs is listed in the HOTAS / HOSAS section.
Typical mistakes
- Both attacking. The classic mistake: two hunters, no anchor, and the opponent picks the weaker one.
- Flying too close together. Then one burst hits both.
- Swapping roles silently. Without a call nobody knows who is binding.
- Not keeping the partner in sight. An anchor without a hunter is just a target.
Exercise
- Goal
- As a pair, pin down one opponent and shoot him down without both doing the same thing.
- Preparation
- Three pilots: one pair, one opponent. Comms agreed, fixed roles for the first run.
- Task
- One is the anchor: he keeps the opponent busy and flies defensively. The other is the hunter: he attacks while the opponent is focused on the anchor. Swap roles after each kill. Five runs.
- Success criterion
- You win three of five runs without both attacking at the same time.
- Partner
- required
- Functions needed
- Lock Target Under Reticle
- Cycle Lock - Hostiles - Forward
- Lock Selected Target
- Cycle Lock - Attackers - Forward
- Cycle Lock - Friendlies - Forward
- Pin Index 1 - Pin / Unpin Selected Target
Next step
What applies to two applies all the more to four, only with more coordination: group exercises. A ready-made training template is in Mission Control: dogfight training.