An example of the Thach Weave

The Thach Weave was an aerial combat tactic developed by naval aviator John S. Thach of the United States Navy early during World War II. Thach had heard of the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero's extraordinary maneuverability and climb rate before he ever experienced it and devised a tactic meant to give the slower-turning American fighters a chance in combat. Every evening while he was based in San Diego, he would think of different tactics that could overcome the Zero's maneuverability, and tested them in flight the following day. Image File history File links ThachWeave. ... Image File history File links ThachWeave. ... Tactics is the collective name for methods of winning a small-scale conflict, performing an optimization, etc. ... John Smith Thach (19 April 1905 - 15 April 1981) was a World War II naval aviator, air combat tactician, and Admiral in the United States Navy. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest... Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero Model 52 The Mitsubishi A6M was a light-weight carrier-based fighter aircraft employed by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. ...

He eventually came up with what he called "Beam Defence Position", but what soon became known as the "Thach Weave". It was executed either by two fighter aircraft in formation side by side or as illustrated by two pairs of fighter flying together. When an enemy aircraft chose one of the two fighters as his target (the "bait" fighter) the two wingmen turned in towards each other and crossed each other's path. After the fighters had separated in opposite directions in this manner, they would then commence a turn back towards each other, thus bringing the enemy fighter into the gunsights of the other fighter - the "hook" fighter. If the maneuver was executed correctly, the enemy fighter has little chance of escape if he had followed the "bait" fighter through its turn.

The tactic was first tested by Thach during the Battle of Midway, when his flight of four F4F Wildcats was attacked by a gaggle of Zeroes. Thach's wingman, Ensign R. A. M. Dibb, was attacked by a Japanese pilot and turned towards Thach, who dove under his wingman and fired at the incoming enemy aircraft's belly until its engine ignited. The Battle of Midway took place on June 5, 1942 (June 4 – June 7 in U.S. time zones). ... The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the standard carrier-based fighter of the United States Navy for the first year and a half of World War II. An improved version built by General Motors (the General Motors FM Wildcat) remained in service throughout the war, on escort carriers where newer, larger...

Soon enough, the maneuver had become standard among US Navy pilots, and the Army Air Force pilots also adopted it. So effective was the maneuver that it was still used by American pilots in the Vietnam war, and is still a valid tactic today. The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and its allies — notably the United States military in support of...

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