Arkle

Dude, chill out? Keep in mind forum posters are paying customers who support your livelihood?

The problems lies in the fact that on the Georgian map, there is a border between grid zones 37T and 38T. If both your aircraft and your target lie in the same grid zone there is no problem. HOWEVER, there are a lot of instances (especially close to the Black Sea coast area) where your aircraft can be at an IP in one grid zone whilst your target can be in another grid zone 10 miles away. It's the ever-vexing grid zone border conundrum. Someone earlier suggested to me to simply enter the JTAC's coordinates normally, then check target distance. If it's hundreds of miles off, simply change your grid zone from either 37T or 38T (has to be one of the two), and re-enter the coordinates. This is the easiest way I've found. If you know the exact locations of the JTAC and target before a mission begins, you can always reference a MGRS map also.

Ok, same results as you on my sim. I think what is happening is that your JTAC is positioned too far away from his targets (he doesn't have a clear line of sight) for either a Type 1 or Type 2 attack, and is therefore causing him to go to Type 3 (the least restrictive). In this scenario the JTAC does not have eyes on either the target or the attacking aircraft and basically simply clears you to engage after you readback the 9 line. He doesn't care if you attack from the IP or even check in at the IP. He won't further clear you hot or anything else; it's basically "I can't see anything, go bomb stuff and let me know when you're done. I don't care how you attack it, just get it done and call me back." If you position the JTAC closer to the targets and give him a clear line of sight to them, he should then call for either a Type 1 or Type 2 attack. In either of these scenarios he is required to carefully monitor your aircraft's position and have eyes on the target. He'll now require you to attack from the IP, and furthermore report "IP Inbound", and then he'll call "Cleared Hot" after you report starting your attack run on the target. He may additionally require you to make a final attack heading to his specifications, but he'll still want to initially ingress into the target area from the IP. Try moving him in closer and see how it works for ya. If you still are having problems, holla back.

Weird, everything looks ok. My JTACs are correctly reporting the IP in my missions with version 1.1.1.1 Can you upload your mission here and let us try it? I've attached a quick and simple mission I made with 1.1.1.1 in which you use a LGB to attack a armed building via JTAC laser designation. I also uploaded the track file. The IP in the nine line brief works fine is this instance. Jtac laser designated house target.miz jtack laser guided attack on house.trk

You don't see this stuff very often - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=621RNJMunnU&list=UUqbOeEdeKU6HmR5sClQ3gDA&index=16&feature=plpp_video

Aha, good question! The answer lies in taking away the JTAC's 'EPLRS' (his satcom transceiver thingy) in the advanced waypoint actions menu with the mission planner. If he has no EPLRS he can neither transmit his location or the location of the target to your onboard TADS display. Thus, you are left with manually inputting the target coordinates yourself. It's a fun alternative to using the SADL network and EPLRS, albeit more labor intensive. SADL digital uplinking is definitely the wave of the future in modern warfare, but it isn't widely used in current USAF air to ground operations at present due to lack of commonality in digital networking protocols among both USA and NATO forces aircraft. The higher-ups are currently trying to iron out the details to settle on a common digital format among all forces. With the DCS A-10 sim, however, SADL uplinking is still a necessity in certain circumstances due to the sim JTAC's current limited ability in relaying high resolution MGRS target coordinates through the Nine Line brief. I think at present he relays a 100 meter x 100 meter grid coordinate. If you are armed with JDAMs and use his low resolution MGRS numbers, you will not be very precise hitting a target like a house or tank, etc. You might bag a bridge or factory though. ;) In this instance, the JTAC's relaying more precise targeting information via EPLRS and SADL is a have-to-have, at least with weapons like JDAMS. Of course you can always use the low res JTAC MGRS coordinates to slew the TGP on the target and afterwards get a precise target SPI via TMS UP LONG command, but this requires the pilot's eyes on target before weapons release. What if there are clouds obscuring the target and the JTAC dude has no EPLR capabilty? This is where JDAMS shine, they are drop and forget, all weather capable precision munitions, but you need precise targeting coordinates. Again, SADL and EPLRS render the point moot, but you know it's more fun to monkey the targeting info manually into the CDU sometimes. :)

I dunno. I personally use the MISSION rotary select on the CDU to manually input and utilize target-related waypoints/steerpoints like you, then switch back to FLTPLN mode to navigate back home after I blow everything up and the locals on the ground start hurling rocks at me. :pilotfly:

LOL. I hate it when someone points out the obvious like this. I felt so damn brilliant up until now with my Rube Goldberg methodology. Thank you though - your method would work much more efficiently.

YES!!!! You would receive the Coolest Person Ever Award from the International Association of Very Cool People. In addition to the obvious worldwide exposure this would afford your efforts, you will also receive a coupon for a FREE medium-sized Slurpee at your local participating Seven Eleven store. Seriously though, this would be a very useful mod and make things much more realistic!

My interim solution..... Hey, thanks for all the responses guys. One roundabout solution I have found is to make note of the JTAC's bearing and distance references from the IP to the target - he'll always give you this information in the nine-line. In either EXP1 or EXP2 mode on the TAD, you can then select HOOK CSR mode on the TAD, hook the IP, then run out the JTAC supplied distance and bearing from the IP via the TAD cursor. When your cursor is at the correct bearing and distance from said IP, make a TMS right short MARKPOINT at this position, switch back to HOOK OWN mode, Hook the new Markpoint, and the TAD will finally display correct Grid Zone coordinates at the target vicinity. OMG though, this makes things complicated, lol. Good 'ole EPRS and SADL sure takes the sting out of all this, but that's just SOOOO easy. No challenge in that, hehe. Interestingly, it seems from my research on JTAC directed airstrikes in the current Afgan war that the USAF doesn't use SADL technology all that much at present. There is still not complete uniformity in digital up linking equipped aircraft among coalition forces, and the SADL protocol used in the A-10C is one among many. Coordinating the different digital comm protocols among USAF, Naval and Marine, along with NATO aircraft is an ongoing problem. If the SADL protocol is ultimately selected for universal digital comm format, the A-10C is already ahead of a lot of it's peers.

Hi, Does anyone know of a way to get the JTAC to relay the MGRS Grid Zone reference in addition to the regular truncated coordinates he gives you in the 9-line brief? For example, on all of the missions I make with a JTAC, he relays target coordinates minus the Grid Zone, something like "KM 5777 2333". The problem is that in some places on the Georgian map these coordinates could either be in Grid Zone 37T or 38T. If I enter the wrong Grid Zone in the waypoint page the target position is off by hundreds of miles. Can I make the JTAC give the Grid Zone in his 9 line? If not, I'm wondering how you guys normally reconcile this sort of thing during mission planning and/or execution. It would be fairly easy to reference a map of the area with MGRS coordinates (if one knew the approximate target area during mission planning), but I'd really like to be able to make a mission with conditional options, etc., where the JTAC finds targets of opportunity; a CAS mission in which the player doesn't know the exact coordinates of a target beforehand, etc. I obviously haven't been able to sleep, eat, or even have sex worrying about this predicament, so any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.