This maneuver differs from the defensive high-g barrel roll in that a great loss of speed to force an attacking fighter to overshoot is not necessary. The g forces can therefore often be quite small. Closely resembling the rollaway, the barrel roll attack is used to alter the angle of approach to the defender without losing a lot of speed. It is used when the attacker becomes aware that he is going to overshoot a turning target. He rolls the wings level, pulls the nose hard up, then rolls away from the direction of turn. This three- dimensional maneuver is completed by sliding in astern of the target.
The counter to a well executed barrel roll attack is for the defender to dive away and increase speed. While doing this he must keep a sharp lookout for a missile attack and be ready to evade it. If he reverses his turn, he will probably set himself up for a gun attack.