>В начале маневра там самолет видит цель? Или использует внешнее целеуказание (например, данные разведки), а цель находит и захватывает уже в процессе?
не видит. он ее обнаруживает в процессе маневра. В ЮАР это применялось по целям с известными координатами (передовые авианаводчики в воздухе, БПЛА у них использовались, разведчики давали целеуказание или стационарные цели). Выглядело так в словесном описании (тоже из книжки Дика Лорда):
Golden Eagle
During the annual Golden Eagle force preparation exercise, Captain Spook Geraghty flew a bombing sortie to Roodewal range, which he remembers as a highlight of his period on F1s. On the run-in to attack, his aircraft was subjected to wide-band frequency jamming. Five different audio signals began ringing in his headphones and his bombing computer failed prior to pitch-up for a Gatup attack profile. This profile was designed to destroy the tracking solution of enemy radar-guided anti-aircraft artillery, while allowing the pilot to watch for threatening surface-to-air missiles.
Running in low-level at 550 knots, Geraghty decided to release the bombs manually—not an easy task. He pitched-up into a 4G manoeuvre until the aircraft’s nose was 70° above the horizon. Then he rolled through 90° to focus his eyes onto the target, while inverted. Quickly pulling the nose down onto the target, he rolled out and fired a laser shot. The laser fires a burst of energy that marks the target in the computer system. This action takes a fraction of a second, after which Geraghty initiated the pullout of the dive. Under normal circumstances, the bombing computer releases the bombs at the correct instant. Geraghty had to judge when to release his bomb, then press the release button. The instant the bomb was clear of the aircraft Geraghty broke off the attack, turning through 120° before reversing to check his tail for missile smoke trails as he descended rapidly to the comparative safety of low level. His practice bomb, released manually during this hectic manoeuvring, landed 30 metres from the target, an outstanding result.
Понятно, что это применительно к конкретному способу атаки конкретного Миражу Ф.1АЗет с его БРЭО, но общая первоначальная идея похожа у всех - маневром с большой перегрузкой набрать высоту, обнаружить цель, измерить до нее дальность, а дальше кто во что горазд, кому что БРЭО позволяет.