Cmptohocah

All jokes a side, did an online flight after a long time in the non 80's theater and I have a few questions/concerns regarding the performance of the fore mentioned weapons: 1. What is the search capability of the AIM-120B once the launching platform has lost lock on the target? From my flight analysis it's a volume of space that goes at least 40° in vertical and at least 56° in horizontal. This is a huge area to cover and with such a tiny antenna (tiny compared to what fighters have). Frankly, it seems a bit too much. This basically means that AIM-120B is not only "fire-and-forget", but also "fire anywhere and forget" as it does not need support of the launching platform what so ever. Just fire the missile in a general direction and it will take a role of a "tiny fighter" , find the target and lock on to it. This can be seen on the attached track called track01-search-area-notch.zip at time stamp 00:01:10. The enemy launched the AMRAAM in TWS mode and I have turned cold. The missile clearly flies blind and then acquires me at 56° right of its nose and 20° down. Also it seems not to go below mach 0.7~0.8, but I guess it's cause it lofted earlier and now it's going down. The case of "fire anywhere and forget" can also be seen in tack02-search-and-r27t.zip at timeline 00:00:16, where the launching platform fired @ roughly 25km and then lost lock. Side view: Top view: 2. Doesn't the AIM-120B suffer from notching? In the track track01-search-area-notch.zip at time stamp 00:02:02, two AIM-120C are descending down on me with a 90° angle compared to my plane of motion. This means that my relative velocity in relation to their radar is around 0, and since they are in a look-down situation and I am also dispensing chaff. How is it that they still manage to keep track? I am not 100% about this one, so if someone with more knowledge on the matter can step in, that would be great. 3. Why is the tracking of R-27T so bad? In the attached track tack02-search-and-r27t.zip at time 00:03:52 I fire first R-27T (unguided rocket) and it looses energy due to enemy maneuvering - nothing strange here. Then at 00:04:04, second R-27T comes of the rail and has a clear line of sight to the target. What it does is, it decides to lock on and destroy the first R-27T that has its engine already burned out. It doesn't go for the flares, it doesn't go for the target's afterburners, but to a trashed rocket that is gliding in the sky. This all happened at around 10km distance from the target. I was so sure that the missile hit the target, that I actually called out a "splash" - little did I know. Thanks in advance for reading. tack01-search-area-notch.zip tack02-search-and-r27t.zip

Yeah, I meant to say in MP. I don't really fly simulators in single-player mode - I forgot to mention that.

@Fri13, I understand where you are coming from. I also enjoy the "as real at it gets" aspect of DCS, but I am afraid we lost the battle in that regard. The fact is that money is the key factor here and people just want to jump into {insert module here} and shoot down as many people as possible. Most of the servers have external views on, GCI can see everything on the map including what missile was fired and where, etc. My point is that a lot of things make absolutely no sense, but developers don't care. Modules are selling, money is flowing and FC is slowly dying off. That's why no one flies F-15 (well almost no one) anymore. On some servers there are no FC3 planes being flown at all. No one simply cares about the Russian jets and there's not much, sadly, we can do to change that.

Apparently the Huey's gunners see through buildings and trees and engage targets, even though they shouldn't. I just had an encounter in multiplayer where I was hidden behind a building in an artillery piece, and the Huey's gunners were trying to shoot at me through the building, behind which I was hiding.

Yes, this was the section I was referring to (pages 01.0.264 and 01.0.265). But I still can't understand how is that connected to the appendix ("Dopune") section and the ECM environment. Am I missing something obvious here?

In the manual I am looking at, these are the normal operations and there is no mention of the ECM what so ever.

From the MiG-29A manual. Time to lock up a target. For the radar lock: in mode "B" (ППС), 2-7s in mode "Д" (ЗПС), 1-4s in mode "БЛ. БОИ" (vertical scan), 1.5-2s However, this time period can increase to 7-10s at large movements of the radar strobe or when maneuvering (horizontal/vertical plane) due to the errors in positioning of the search antenna's center in relations to the target. Also, the radar can't track targets which are closer than 5km in ППС mode and in both ППС and ЗПС modes, the ranging error can be up to 8km. In ЗПС mode, false targets appear due to ground interference. For the EOS lock: in mode "ТП(СТРОБ) (search mode)", 0.5-6s in mode "БЛ. БОИ" (vertical scan), 0.5-9s in mode "ШЛЕМ" (HMD), 0.5-15s EOS gets the ranging data only from the laser ranger. Search and track information can be performed autonomously or supplemented by the radar complex.

Oh I see. I've never realized that the radar is involved there. Wouldn't that trigger the target's RWR? I don't think it does in DCS, but yet again I am not 100% sure. I will have a more closer look in the manual, regarding the locking times...

Well, to be fair we also enjoy some benefits in the MIG29 which we shouldn't, as the real thing is a bit different. Mainly, our EOS somehow provides ranging information well beyond 6-8km, which should be the max range of the laser. The real thing, takes sometimes a pretty long time to lock up a target in EOS (2-15s depending on the mode used), and we have it instantly. Same goes for the radar. We usually lock it pretty much same moment it appears on the HUD and the target lock button is pressed. I've been sifting throught the MiG29A manual, and was quite shocked when I realized how much crappier, our sensors should be in-game. I am guessing the same applies to blue side. We just have everything a bit too perfect.

On one of the MiG-29 cockpit videos, I came a cross something really strange on the HDD (Head Down Display) and I am wondering if anyone has an idea or information on what it might b? I am talking about that little green line on the right side of the screen, between the bank indicator and the right-hand side vertical line that sits below the altimeter reading. I think the MiG is in EOS mode, since there are letters "TП" displayed. It might be an indicator of a target, since there is an aircraft off to its 2 o'clock position, but it definitely does not look like the in-game horizontal target index "--" Here's the link to the video with the timestamp: https://youtu.be/z-aOSJY2_g8?t=144

+1 Trimm in the 29 currently feels like two drunk men that are fighting over a vodka bottle. I have no idea why the MiG wobbles so much in DCS.

Hello, Will we ever be able to control SAM batteries like the KUB, BUK etc. from first person? This option would be amazing to have. Thanks in advance.

+1 :thumbup:

Try practicing the following: If there is only one hostile in the area and he/she is hot on you: 1. keep your radar off and EOS on and make sure you force them into a look-down situation 2. when the SPO (RWR) is 3/4 full, turn 80-100 degrees to one side and alternate your heading between those values (dispensing some chaff is also beneficial) 3. fly in such state for a while and then you can perform a "Split-S" maneuver, which will basically keep you abeam but you will now be traveling in another direction 4. keep your eyes on the RWR at all times 5. if you decide to engage, turn into the hostile and quickly lock 'em up and fire - then do an "F-pole" What this does is: 1. in case you were shot at in TWS mode that ARH missile will have a hard time finding you 2. hostile's radar will have a hard time tracking you since you are notching all the time 3. gives you an element of surprise as the enemy is trying to find you and all of a sudden they are being engaged Bottom line: try sneaking around and presenting your self as a difficult target - don't focus too much at shooting down the enemy. This will most certainly improve your skills and your situational awareness (SA). Soon you will find your self, shooting down more and more enemy aircraft. Sneaking between the mountains should be a last ditch strategy, since it puts you in a really disadvantageous position.

I think the problem is that people rely too much on 1vs1 combat. Your airplane has inferior radar, missiles, {insert disadvantage here}? Get a wing-man. Still not enough, get another one. Form a squadron, practice, teamwork and communication. Get a CGI. In this scenario, the disparity kind of melts and the level of fun goes up!

What? FC3 aircraft don't have programmable countermeasures like some full-fidelity modules. This script enables users to have a way of programmatically dispensing CM by using their joystick. How? By using an application called "AutoHotkey" which can be programmed to send keystrokes to the game and control the CM dispensing. "AutoHotkey" can be programmed via the "ahk" scripts (located in the attachment). Requirements Windows machine AutoHotkey Text editor Joystick/s Use Install "AutoHotkey" Download and unzip the scripts from the attachment Find your joystick's ID number and the button number (more details in the appendix) * Edit the ".ahk" files in order to configure the dispensing programs and save changes (edit program settings and joystick ID and buttons) Compile the script to ".exe" files by right-clicking on the appropriate ".ahk" files and selecting Compile Script Run the compiled files to start the scripts Press and hold the appropriate joystick button/buttons to start the dispensing sequence. Release the button to stop dispensing. Options (version 0.0.1) Time between sequences - on line #12 there is a number representing the time between two sequences in milliseconds. Adjust as desired. For example, to set 2s delay (pause) enter the number 2000 Number of bursts - on line #28 there is a number that sets how many bursts (releases) should happen per sequence. For example, to release countermeasures in pairs of 4, set this number to 4 Time between bursts - on line #35 there is a number representing the time between the releases within a sequence, in milliseconds. For example, to set the release time to 0.1s, set this number to 100 * - to detect the joystick ID number as well as the button number you can use this test script here: https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/scri...m#JoystickTest On some machines the auto-detection of joystick ID doesn't work, so you need to manually change the JoystickNumber variable in order to correctly identify the button number. Once this is done the scripts can be configured by changing the entries which have the text 2Joy2 or 2Joy3. First number is the Joystick ID number and the second number is its button number. For example 3Joy5 means: Joystick ID 3, button number 5. cm-dispenser.zip

Yes, you are right. I had another look from the cockpit and it seems that the target really was engaged in a look-down situation. Does this imply that the radar can loose a lock in this way, regardless of the target distance, ie. power of the radar signal? This is the area, I don't really have great expertise in.

Hi draconus, if what you wrote is true, and this is what I was thinking also, there should be no reason for the radar lock to drop as I was below the target, ie. no ground returns. We are then back to square one: why did the lock break, if it did, and if it didn't, why did the R-27R not track the target? I understand that R-73 is fire 'n' forget, I was just referring to why didn't it track the target when EOS clearly had no issues keeping track? Not only that it didn't rack it, it seems to have flown away in completely different direction.

That's an interesting point. I do have some things that are not clear to me though. First thing is: Does radar suffer from notching in a look up position? If yes, why? I understand why it works in a look-down, as the radar can't separate the target from the ground returns, ie. there is no shift in frequency. Second: If my EOS was able to track the A-10, why was the 2nd R-73 flying away from the A-10? Does EOS have better tracking capabilities than the R-73? Thanks for your answers guys!

Hi dundun92, the lock was not broken at all, and why would it be? The radar was not in look-down situation.

Thanks for replying fudabidu. From what I can see in TacView the first R-27R @ 14:55:37 seems to be intercepting initially, but as the flight path develops it's evident that it's flying in a straight and very shallow climb. Radar lock was never broken, chaff are being dispensed from the rear of the A-10, so I am wondering what stopped it from either tracking the target or the chaff as it usually does? Beaming defeats the doppler radar, 'cause the radar can't differentiate the a/c from the ground. The lock was kept throughout, so what turned the missile seeker blind? The last R-73 is running away from the A10 as it got scared :D Would understand that it went for flares, or tracked and lost the A-10, but instead it went in completely opposite side and in a very sharp turn too. But what confuses me the most is the R-27R. I just don't understand what effect would it cause to do this?

Could someone please explain to me what is my R-27R tracking instead of the enemy aircraft? Please see the TacView file in the attachment - r27r.zip Engagement is between Su-27 Flanker (Nix)and A-10C Thunderbolt II (afof). I fire an R-27R from 4.2km and (with the radar lock, on) it flies in a completely straight line as if I fired an unguided missile instead of a SARH. After that an R-73 is fired at 14:55:33 server time (track time 00:00:15) and it too decides to chase some ghosts. I realize that the target was beaming, but that should present a lock-on issue, not a tracking one. Also I have no idea what the R-73 was thinking. Any input is appreciated. r27r.zip

Yes, I think you are right. It seems it's more of a R-27 tracking bug.

MiG-29 is one of the most potent aircarft in DCS, if used correctly. It's super fast and accelerates like a rocket. IMHO it's unmatched in dogfights. Sure, you can't expect to dominate the skies against AMRAAMs, but with a good CGI/AWACS and a wingman you can really mess up some blue adverseries. Was and still is my favourite plane in DCS.

Something I've noticed before but never really gave it much thought up until now: F/A-18 seems to be "immune" to R-27R missiles. Let me explain what I mean by this. I've noticed that I am having a really hard time taking down F/A-18 in particular from aspects and distances that would usually end up in a kill. First time I got suspicious, was when one time on an online server an F/A-18 dodged 5-6 SAM missiles and my R-73, but initially I have accredited that to an excellent pilot in the seat. Then in the next encounter I had to come up really really close and get a kill with R-73. I have also accredited this to exceptional flying from the adversary. But this casual flying around the SAMs started emerging as a pattern for the F/A-18, so I got a bit more suspicious about this bird and the tracking issues with it. Now after quite some time, it seems to me (I might be mistaking here, but hear me out please) that there is quite a problem with R-27R (possibly other missiles) tracking the Hornet. I the short TacView recording, one is able to see this weird behavior in action: Basically with some mild maneuvering and chaff, two R-27Rs from my self and another person from my coalition both missed from roughly 10km (2nd R-27 [12:49:43]) distance and 9km distance (1st R-27 [12:49:14]). Please bare in mind that in both engagements the F/A-18 was above/co-alt both MiG-29s, so there should not be any ground filtering effects. I also experienced problems of R-27T not getting launch warning when the R-73 already had them - that's some 10km distance, so I stopped using these all together. Again it was against, you guessed it, F/A-18. Surely a pilot can't be expected to just lightly fly around dumping chaff and avoid a SARH missile, or am I wrong?