Back in the mid 1970s, my USMC squadron sent a Sikorsky CH-53D [Super Jolly Green Giant) to Top Gun. They bolted a gun camera on the sponson and programed the range computers as if it was armed with Sidewinders.
Our pilots figured out that if they stayed right down on the deck, the fighter radars of that time did not have good ‘look down/shoot down ‘ capibility. So the helo would stay low, looking up for the fighters. Once spotted, they would turn toward him, wait until his dive angle got too steep and he broke off. Then the CH-53 would do a “buttonhook” and pop a Sidewinder up the fighter’s tailpipe.
The 53 was 50-50 against all fighters in the inventory, except the Harrier, which won 90% of the time.
That sounds very familiar to me. I recall similar exercises where the Harrier pulled up vertically 100 feet, pointed their radar and missile tracker at the fighter jets, and recorded multiple kills.
Nowadays, such a thing can be done with drones as far as I can tell.
Do ya got a link to the original article?