Cobra Turn

The Cobra Turn is a fighter aircraft maneuver. It is a variation on the Pugachev's Cobra where the aircraft performs the pull-up, but instead of returning to level flight applies rudder or thrust vectoring and turns downward. John Turner of BAE considers the Pugachev's Cobra to have little use in air combat maneuvering (It could, however, also be argued that the combat effect is likely to be similar to the Vectoring In Forward Flight" or VIFFing maneuver. In theory VIFFing allows the aircraft to effectively slow down or stop while the enemy overshoots, leaving the aircraft in a favorable position to attack the enemy).