Gilligan

Would this allow me to chaff and flare independently? That's something I can set via the DED or in the new DTC system?

Start with a good boresight on the mavs. IIRC there's a building on the hill at the west end of Akortiri that is pretty close to 7 or 8 nm out that you can use to boresight. I put the HAD on the left MFD, the TGP also on the left MFD with a different OSB button, and the WPN page for the MAVs on the right MFD (PRE Mode). Get the emitter on the HAD MFD and lock it from >10nm out, ideally between 10 and 20. Then find it on the TGP, save it's position as a markpoint, and set that markpoint as your current steerpoint. Zoom out with the TGP until you have a sight picture similar in size/appearance to what the MAV is seeing and try to collate the images (IE - okay so it's the centermost dot in the middle of the circle of dots, OR, okay it's 3rd from the left in this line of dots, etc.) Finally lock that dot that you've picked out on the TGP as your target with the MAV when you're nose hot and in range. Don't forget you can zoom the mav in a little bit with the FOV EXP button if you have it mapped.

I'm not sure what changed, but AI flights now employ harms as directed/planned.

Second.

mods probably. There is no way in game that i'm aware of. You should post in the wish list though, because I'd love to see it some day.

Yes. Start up the Jet like Normal. Turn the AMG 65's ON as soon as the avionics power up so they can start their power up procedure. Set Ground Jettison to ON. Set Master arm to SIM (On works too but is a little sketchy lol). The most difficult part is choosing an appropriate object to align on, ideally you want to choose something a few (5-8) NM away from you to use to align the TGP and MAV Seekers, but that's not always possible. It's primarily for this reason I prefer air alignments, but sometimes it works out. Once you've picked something to align them on, align the same way you would in the air: In AG mode, set one MFD to the TGP, and the other to the WPN screen with the MAV selected in the SMS page. Set the TGP MFD as SOI and slew the TGP cross hairs on the intended object & press TMS up short The WPN MFD will become the SOI, slew the crosshairs on the intended object, press TMS up short, if lock is achieved press the OSB for BSGT. If you have MAVs on both wing stations 3 and 7, press the OSB button to switch to the other side and repeat the process. There is always going to be some parallax to deal with when using Mavs unless you're consistently locking targets at the same distance you bore sighted them, which is going to mean some displacement from where the TGP is looking and where the MAV seeker is looking. I never use the auto-hand-off feature, generally preferring to lock the mavs up manually. The Mav's are pretty fiddly. Just the way it is.

I had the same issue. You're not alone.

Things may have changed in recent updates, but at least in the past, the SAMs were always on (unless scripted otherwise), even if your HTS pod is not getting a fix on them. For example, even if you didn't have a sam emitter on the HAD display indicating the HTS pod was picking it up, you could launch in POS mode at a steerpoint co-located with the emitter, and the HARM SHOULD still track that emitter. Remember that SAM's require both a search and track radar to function Optimally (though they can still function with Just a track radar to some degree), and sometimes these show up separately on the HAD (EX: Snow Drift Search Radar and SA 11 TEL Track Radar vs SA 6 Straight Flush Search/Track Radar vs SA 2 Fan Song + Separate EW Search Radar like a Spoon Rest). Track Radars are generally directional and might not be looking in your direction until you are picked up by the search radar, or may be tracking other threats, which would mean your HTS pod isn't seeing that track radar beam to display it on the HAD screen. At least that's my understanding of it.

If a threat goes inactive or is no longer detected by the HTS sensor, after about 2 minutes the symbol in the HAD display will turn green, and then disappear after another couple of minutes. If the radar emitter goes inactive and you launch on it before the symbol goes green, or if it goes inactive while the missile is in the air, it is more likely than not that the missile "goes stupid" and flies right on into the bozosphere. However, without custom scripting, SAMs typically do not behave this way in DCS, and emit until they are destroyed. That said, the emitter you were tracking/launched on could have been destroyed before your missile got there, which would have the same effect. In my experience the HARMs in DCS do not remember the location of threats and just go ballistic once tracking is lost. Sometimes they also just miss. To have the best chance of hitting your intended emitter, launch when the symbol turns red (indicating that you are being tracked by the track radar) and try to keep the radar track active as best you can.

I had a similar issue with my original input setup. The MAV definitely slews at a different rate than the TGP/other sensors (Radar), and I had trouble making fine enough adjustments to use them effectively. Not disputing if this is an accurate recreation or not, but I did find it difficult. My personal solution may not suit everyone, but I bound a second input for TDC slew with a much slower curve. I have a TM 16000M throttle with a "Coarse/Fast" TDC slew curve on its joystick, and a WingWing F16EX with a "Fine/Slow" curve on it's thumb joystick. If you are limited to once TDC slew input then this may not work, but if you have second input option this may be worth a try.

Yes you can use the TGP to look at the ground with no AG Weapons loaded. In NAV or AG master mode, set the desired MFD as the TGP display. Hit the STBY OSButton and select AG You can slew the SPI from here, or create a new Markpoint/Steerpoint with the JHMCS on the ground and the TGP will focus there. To create a Markpoint (Steerpoints 26-30) with the JHMCS, in NAV or AG master mode press "7" on the ICP to enter Markpoint Mode. Use the Dobber (Right) to cycle the first field in the DED until it shows HUD. If it says HUD already, leave it there Hold TMS up long and you will see a large circle appear in you JHMS display. Look at where you want to create a new Markpoint/Steerpoint and hit TMS up Short once. This will "Drop" the SPI indicator on the ground where you are looking. You can slew the SPI box from here to refine the location if desired. When you are satisfied with the location of the marker, hit TMS Up Short again and it will save the coordinates at that point, you will see the coordinates update in the DED display. Hit "0" on the ICP to set this markpoint as the current steerpoint. Dobber left to exit Markpoint mode. If you do not have a JHMSC installed you can put the intended location in the HUD and slew the circle to where you want it and follow the steps from there.

Possibly. I have successfully contacted Tusk in the past on that mission tho, and as far as I can remember, the AI wingmen never hit their targets, so I'm not sure. I think there's also an issue presently with any AI aircraft being unable to use HARMs without some sort of script directing them to, so the AI SEAD flights are completely ineffective in this campaign. If you have tac-view I would check that and be sure that Tusk isn't just being hit by a SAM early on.

IIRC you need to be using the "alt" comms menu ( "Ctrl" + "\" ). Sometimes he gets shot down before you're at the point in the mission where you're supposed to contact him.

There's a "Village" on Saipan Named Puerto Rico, which is where the PLA troops land on Saipan in the campaign.

Finished the campaign earlier today, and I gotta say, incredible work. Groundpounder Sims continues their streak of highly polished, high quality, immersive campaigns with incredible depth & world building.