HB_Painter

Hey thanks for the report! We will take a look at this

Hey thanks for the report! We will take a look at this! Is this only occuring in the F-4E or also in other modules?

Hey thanks for the report! Normally it should be rearmed when rearming (what a sentence ) Do you have track by any chance so that we can take a look at it?

Hey thanks for your reports! Yeah if you can't get a shoot cue its mostly due to having a bad lock. A small tipp of mine would be to lock in HEAT mode as this centers the CAA search pattern and has a lower chance of locking sidelobes so the "checklist" would be HEAT selected -> Cage mode -> CAA Mode -> Acquire lock -> select Radar again and fire Edit: Here is also the manual link for CAA maybe that explains a bit more background stuff: https://f4.manuals.heatblur.se/stores/air_to_air/acm_modes.html#computer-automatic-acquisition-mode-caa

Great to hear! Will set the status to resolved then

Thanks for the report! This was also already reported by other users and will be fixed in the next Patch/Hotfix

So you would like to shoot the AGM-45 Shrike off of your shiny new Phantom and LARP that you are an F-4G or a Wild Weasel of yore. The first thing thats probably on your mind after playing around with it is probably “this missile is broken” and “how the hell does it work even”. Hopefully this guide can help clear up some of the confusion about the original Wild Weasel anti-radiation weapon and help you figure out how to use it in DCS. How the AGM-45 guides Everybody is probably wondering about the new seekerheads you can select with the arming and rearming menu, but first lets start with the basics. How does the AGM-45 actually fly to its target. “Its just an ARM” you say, “if it sees the emission of its target it should guide on it.” Yes and no. There are several things that have to occur for the shrike to guide. Lets start with an overview of the Shrike itself. The seeker The seeker is a passive Radio Frequency seeker that has a 45 degree field of view in DCS and a 150 second operating time, the seeker is on once the shrike is armed and will give you a high pitched tone, similar to a sidewinder, that indicates when it is tracking something inside its field of view. This tone may stutter or change as the emitter that the seeker is tracking rotates or changes modes. Once launched the seeker is always tracking or attempting to track something that it can see within its field of view. Guidance control The guidance control section is the “autopilot” that gives the commands from the seeker to the fins to steer the missile. This section is not enabled until after launch and certain conditions are met. You can choose the conditions that will enable the guidance control by selecting LOFT ATTACK or DIRECT ATTACK on the rearm fuze selection menu, or in the mission editor. You cannot change these via switchology in the jet (there is an exception but it is not implemented yet. If this changes I will update this to represent this) LOFT ATTACK: This is the most complex set of conditions to enable the guidance control section. The conditions are: Missiles barometric altimeter detects a pressure increase of 1 PSI (~1-3000 feet depending on altitude and temperature) Missiles barometric altimeter sense that the missile is below 18,000ft MSL ONCE BOTH OF THESE CONDITIONS ARE MET THE GUIDANCE CONTROL SECTION WILL UNLOCK and the signals from the seeker will be sent to the control section and the fins. Until these conditions are met the missile will be flying completely ballistic and unguided, even though the seeker may see and be tracking the emitter the entire time. DIRECT ATTACK: With this selected the altitude sensor for the loft attack is bypassed and the guidance control unlocks approximately 3 seconds after launch. This is your “shoot it straight down the throat” guidance control selection. The AGM-45 will naturally roll at approximately 55-60 degrees per second, and the guidance control system does not attempt to stop this once it enables. Additionally the fins only actuate with BANG-BANG control inputs, which you can watch if you observe the missile via F6 after launch. All of this is to say that once the guidance enables the AGM-45 will be corkscrewing and its fins will be BANG-BANGing constantly, which results in a very high potential energy loss once guidance begins. What all this means for employment and range DIRECT ATTACK guidance missiles will have VERY short range, and the depression angle is very important, the more the missile has to glide to the target, the more likely it will just run out of energy and fall extremely short. Recommend trying to fire by getting 20 degrees or more nose down pointed straight at the target, or being right on top of it if firing at low altitude. Both of these will result in very short ranges. LOFT ATTACK guidance however can get quite good range if lofted accurately. The fins remaining locked and the missile flying ballistic until guidance enable allow it to retain much of its energy and usually results in a fairly steep (30-45 degree) descent angle when it enables guidance. However remember that the seeker only has a 45 degree field of view, and the target must be inside that field of view when the guidance section activates (below 18,000 feet and missiles altimeter detects a 1 PSI pressure increase). This means you have to actually get that missile quite accurately to a window above the target when the seeker activates where it can detect it and guide. You can employ a LOFT ATTACK shrike directly pointed at a target or level (not in a loft) as well, and it will get more range due to the fins staying locked for longer, however the missile will not start guiding till much later, so for short range immediate guidance scenarios it may not be the best. With all of that How do you shoot the Shrike in the F-4E Ok so you understand what the DIRECT and LOFT ATTACK modes do, and what the up and downsides of each mode are and what effect they have on the missiles guidance and energy. Now we get to how do you actually Use them in the F-4E. There are 3 modes you can use to employ Shrikes in the F-4E: LABS Loft WRCS Direct WRCS AGM-45 We will cover these three after going through the basic cockpit setup. Basic cockpit switch setup For all these modes you must: Select the station for the shrike(s) you wish to employ Select ARM on the weapon select knob Select one of the 3 modes on the LABS/WRCS knob (LOFT, DIRECT, or AGM-45) (optional) Turn the Flight Director on (if you want the needles on the ADI indicating shrike seeker look angle) (optional) select A/G on the Sight Turn Master ARM on LABS Loft Selecting LOFT on the LABS/WRCS knob will allow the LABS LOFT circuits to fire the shrike automatically. However this works Exactly Like it does for bombs, it simply applies the launch signal to the shrike launchers, instead of a release signal to bombs. So it is setup and used the exact same way. You will need to plan out an IP, a run in time to your loft point, and pick a loft angle, enter them in the LABS computer and timer in the backseat. Once these are entered, you then overfly the IP, hold the pickle button down, point at the target, and follow the ADI needles, as you rotate through the preset loft angle with the pickle button held down, after the expiration of the run in timer, the missile will depart the jet. This mode obviously requires preplanning, and the ability to know ballistically what angle you want to release the shrike at, and at what range to start the loft, and then use this to enter in the run in timer, select an IP and pick a loft angle. None of this is calculated for you, so only via trial and error and practice will you be able to figure out what settings will work for you. For more information about Loft you can also take a look at our manual: Lofting & Tossing WRCS DIRECT Selecting DIRECT on the LABS/WRCS knob makes the selected shrike launch approximately 1 second after you hit the pickle button. That's it. Center up the needles, or dont center up the needles, pickle and the shrike will go on its merry way. There is zero automation, so if you desire to fire the shrike in a loft, you will have to manually pull up based on your own practice and situational awareness. There is also no indication that you are in range or out of range. WRCS AGM-45 Selecting AGM-45 on the LABS/WRCS knob is the “preferred” way of employing the shrike, it will give you ranging indications for the shrike and let you know if you are in range to loft, perform a level release, or a diving release of the shrike. If you want to perform a loft or level release with this mode, you should be using a LOFT ATTACK shrike. The WRCS has no way of knowing which type of seeker guidance you have selected and will always be calculating assuming the LOFT ATTACK logic is occuring. Thus if you fire a DIRECT ATTACK missile following the loft or level release cues, it will probably start guiding immediately, and fall far far short of the target. WRCS AGM-45 makes use of the “target altitude” setting in the computer panel in the WSO cockpit to trigonometrically calculate a ground range to your INS depression angle as displayed on your ADI. Any time your nose is below the horizon it should be calculating the range to where the ADI depression intersects with the set target altitude, if you would like your reticle to match, you need to have it depressed by 35 mils. For the most accurate ranging you will want that target altitude set to a representative altitude of the theater or target area you are pointing at. One interesting use of this is even if you have no shrikes on the aircraft you can select this mode, and if you depress the reticle 35 mils, you can use this to get a range to locations on the ground by pointing at them with the reticle (assuming the target altitude setting is relatively accurate.) This range should be displayed on the range readout on the HSI any time the nose is below the horizon and the calculation is running. The max range this system can calculate out to is 30 miles. This is a limitation of the WRCS, it will not display a range greater than 30 miles. As soon as it calculates a ground range the WRCS will calculate if you are in range for a shrike and if you are in range for a loft, level, or diving release. Indication that you are in range will be one of your AOA indexer lights lighting up to indicate which of these deliveries are available to you. The indications you could get are: Out of range, no lights light up In range with a loft, upward pointing chevron illuminates In range for a level launch, donut illuminates In range for a diving direct launch, downward pointing chevron illuminates Remember these indications are based on your current nose depression angle, and will be calculated and displayed regardless of whether your shrike sees anything, or even if you have a shrike on the aircraft. Only one of these should turn on at any time until you pickle, once you pickle and hold the donut will eventually illuminate to inform you the launch is about to occur. Just to visualize this, if you start out of range to a threat, and fly towards it, with the nose pointed at the target (in a dive), first the loft cue (upward chevron) will illuminate as you get into range for a loft, then once you are close enough for a level launch, the upward chevron should go out and the donut should illuminate. Once you are too close for a level launch and approaching minimum range, the donut should go out, and the dive cue (downward chevron) should illuminate. If you get too close for that, then all the indexer lights should go out. To use the system, select a shrike and point towards a target, once you get a signal and the needles deflect, center up the needles, once you have the needles perfectly centered in your ADI, your ADI should be directly pointed at the targets location and assuming your target altitude in the rear cockpit is somewhat accurate, the calculated ground range and LAR should also be fairly accurate. You could also do this if you visually see a target SAM site or SAM launch, if you know the type and have the correct type of shrike seeker selected, with your reticle set to 35 mils (matching the ADI boresight) you can put the reticle on the target SAM to get your dip ranging as well. Once you have an in range indication (one of the AOA indexer lights has illuminated) with the ADI or depressed reticle centered on the target location. Pickle and hold as you maneuver for the release. Pickling will save the range calculated and start the release computation for the shrike. Remember to continue to hold the pickle button down as you fly the launch maneuver and until the missile leaves the jet, this can take several seconds. If you elect to do a loft with the upward chevron illuminated, pull up keeping the vertical needle centered while holding the pickle button, the donut will eventually illuminate to let you know that the missile will launch in 5 seconds assuming no parameters change. If you continue to pull up after the donut illuminates, it is possible for it to launch sooner than 5 seconds as the parameters are changing after the donut illuminates. If you elect to wait until the donut illuminates and perform a level release, simply hold the pickle button and pull to level, the donut should remain illuminated and within 5 seconds the missile should launch. If you wait until the dive cue is illuminated, keep the target centered in the ADI needles, pickle and hold, the donut should illuminate and the missile should launch within 5 seconds. The DF REJ switch on the center pedestal should remain in DF REJ (down), this uses the very accurate INS depression angle (requiring you to dip your nose to align the needles on the ADI) to calculate the range. NOT IMPLEMENTED CURRENTLY-DF REJ is always used regardless of switch position You can also move the switch to NORM (center position) This will then just use the raw shrike seeker depression angle in the same calculation, not requiring you to dip the aircraft's nose. However, the shrikes seeker depression angle is very inaccurate, and this will more than likely result in gross ranging errors which can result in your missile going too far or too short and never finding the target. NOT IMPLEMENTED CURRENTLY-DF REJ is always used regardless of switch position The recommendation from the real world manuals and how heatblur have modeled the shrike seeker indications in the cockpit is to leave the switch in DF REJ and perform the dip ranging maneuver before launch. Gotchas The LABS/WRCS knob has ZERO effect on whether the AGM-45 performs the LOFT ATTACK guidance enable logic or the DIRECT ATTACK guidance enable logic. This can be the source of much confusion. You could choose LOFT on the LABS/WRCS knob, and fire a DIRECT ATTACK shrike, it will then enable guidance 3 seconds after launch, and pull down out of its loft to track the target it sees. You could choose DIRECT on the LABS/WRCS knob and fire a LOFT ATTACK shrike, it will then follow the LOFT ATTACK guidance enable logic detailed above, enabling below 18,000 feet and after detecting enough of a descent. The other thing is there is very little actual automation or computation with either LABS LOFT, or WRCS DIRECT, you are essentially doing all of the planning or in range assessment yourself in these modes. Practice will be necessary and some trial and error to determine what altitudes, loft angles, and ranges will work. Seekers The following table will help you understand which seeker can sense which radar. The above table is confirmed guidance for various seekers. Thank you to Jusik for testing which seekers work. MK 37 for SA-3 is not confirmed by testing. Sources F-4E-34-1-1 1986/1995 F-4G-34-1-1 1985 AGM-45-7A SHRIKE. FINAL TEST REPORT McMaster; 1977 ( https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/th83m2998 ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqxfNAEkQo8 IRON HAND: Smashing the enemies air defenses, Thornborough; 2001 DCS weapons lua

I meant that the axis could be off causing the issue you just described but you can disregard that if you solved the issue

Hey thanks for the report! Did you check your axis assignments to make sure they are correct for the F-4?

Hey so one of my friends also had a bind problem where it would show as bound but didn't do anything in game then (apparently it wasn't saved correctly or smth) after restarting DCS and rebinding it worked so maybe this also can help you Let me know if it worked

Hey great to hear that and don't worry nothing to be embarassed about Most important thing is that you can now enjoy the Phantom with more FPS

Hey thanks for the report! We will take a look at this together with ED

Hey thanks for the report! We will take a look at this togetther with ED

Hey thanks for the report we will take a look at it

Hey thanks for the report! We will take a look into it

Hey thanks for the report. Please make sure you have the Global Cockpit Illumination activated. If it still is too dark just callback

Hey thanks for reporting so just to be sure you hit the Jester context action short two times and he doesn't exit the Cage mode by himself?

Hey thanks for the report! We will take a look at it asap!

Hey thanks for the report! This can be fixed for most users by using the HB UI Override. Please take a look at this: https://f4.manuals.heatblur.se/dcs/special_options.html#hb-ui

Hey thanks for the report! Do you have any mods installed? As razo+r states if so please remove those as mods can and will interfere and cause different bugs!

Hey thanks for the report we will look into it!

Hey thanks for the report we will take a look at it!

Hey thanks for the report! We will look into it!

Hey thanks for the report! We are investigating this and trying to fix it asap

Hey thanks for the report! Could you explain the circumstances a bit more please?