Why Fighter Jet Battles Are Often Called Dogfights

A dogfight is a slang term used to describe any close-range aerial combat between military aircraft. It's typically credited with being coined during World War I when perhaps the first written account of the word as it was associated with air combat appeared in a British newspaper in May 1918, describing how German fighter Ace Manfred von Richthofen (aka The Red Baron, one of the most legendary fight pilots in history) was killed while engaging in a "dog fight." 

The term "dogfight" has been around much, much longer (think the 1650s), and it means exactly what you think — a fight between dogs. The connection is believed to have been made because, in some real sense, the chaotic nature of early air combat resembled a battle between dogs. There's even an odd assertion that because a fight between women is called a catfight, and only men (sometimes disdainfully referred to as dogs) flew planes, a dogfight between men was more appropriate. Whatever the case, the term became widely used during World War II.

Today's modern fighter jets can fly at Mach 1 or faster speeds that cover over 11 nautical miles in one minute. Thanks to far more advanced technology and capabilities, dogfights (which really don't happen anymore despite the "Top Gun" films) are far different from the scrums they once were. Still, pilots must out-maneuver each other using an array of tactical aerial moves (like barrel rolls, steep dives, or climbs) commonly referred to today as Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) in order to create an advantageous firing position.

Dogfights have been happening almost since the inception of the airplane, certainly long before jets were ever invented. However, there's some discrepancy surrounding when the first one occurred. Some sources claim it happened during the Mexican Revolution in 1913. Back then, planes were fragile and expensive and typically only used for reconnaissance or to drop the occasional bomb/grenade (by hand). Two American mercenaries – Dean Ivan Lamb and Phil Rader, who happened to be very good friends — were hired to conduct recon for opposing sides.

When Lamb, flying a Curtiss D "Pusher" biplane, encountered Rader in the skies, they fired wildly at each other with revolvers until their ammunition ran out, waved, and flew back to their respective sides. This first "dogfight" was really nothing more than an aerial pistol duel. Other sources point to several exchanges that took place the following year (1914). On August 25, while flying a Morane Parasol, French airmen Roland Garros and Lt. de Bernis shot at and damaged a German airplane, becoming the first to do so to an enemy plane.

Two weeks later (September 7), Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov did, in fact, destroy a plane (becoming the first to do that), but only after he rammed his Morane into an Austrian Albatros. Everyone died. Almost a month later (October 5), the first "official" aerial combat victory occurred when another French pilot (Sgt. Joseph Frantz and his mechanic/gunner, Louis Quénault), shot down a German biplane (how did they avoid shooting their own propellers?) near Reims and returned safely.