captain_dalan

Will consider it and continue with experimentation when able. Not soon though, as my schedule is pretty cramped right now

Related to this. While i see why many people demanded it, personally i find it less useful that i get airspeed updates more often then bandit callouts. I know it's just a personal preference so i would not ask it go away, but it would be nice if there was an option to tell Jester to prioritize one over the other. Like make 3 bandit calls for each airspeed call, or at least a 50-50 ratio.

1. It will depend on mach and altitude. I can't and won't reveal my exact numbers (for obvious reasons), but for the above example, try something like 10-12s offsets from the moment you receive the launch warning and work from there. The key is to always "drag" the missile around, always making it work extra for every mile it gets closer to you. Try it in a mission then study your tackview. Repeat until you find what works best for you. 2. I don't even think about the MAR. Not in this kind of engagements that is. For one, the bandit is the one without FOX-3 capability here. He has to decide if he will defend or commit. My goal is to get one of Buffaloes to go active. After that, it's a lost fight for the Fox. The instant he turns cold or notches to defend his R-33's are trashed. The MAR is in this case a relict of bygone time when missiles went active off the rail (because of how short range they were) and you had the luxury of shooting and scooting ad infinitum. All the "BVR" fights were a series of point, shoot, break and reacquire if needed. Not wise in this case. If you turn cold on a bandit with longer sticks, longer legs and just right out faster then you, you're dead or out of the mission. 3. 1v2 is indeed doable and practically the same as 1v1. In reality you should never do it alone, but alas, DCS wingmen in the F-14 are hard to motivate into taking AIM-54 action. Under most normal circumstances, they just refuse to engage with Phoenixes. I've done some experimenting, and it seams they are willing to use them (this may still need more attempts to make sure it works) if you order them to engage at extreme ranges. Essentially as soon as they can detect them. Even so, they will only use 1 Phoenix, most likely in STT mode. Here is a short demo for that. Just be ready to have to face them alone in case they refuse to act: 4. Actually no. In my video i end up in a merge because of extremely sloppy fencing that resulted in sub-optimal Phoenix employment. Had i done everything right, i would have scored a kill some 20-30NM from the bandit. However, a merge is actually a desired outcome against a target with longer sticks. Unless you can ambush him that is. Then go for that, but good luck doing that against an AI. So if the enemy can engage me from ranges longer then what i can, i am willing to take a merge as well. Especially against a MiG-31. He's helpless up close. 5. Against other air targets, the situation is usually reversed. It is them who need to "weave" their way through your missile curtain. At least the good ones will. Fortunately a vast majority will opt for more...... "conventional" approaches. So yes, you are right. I'm not a proponent of launch and leave. Maybe it's just me being too "green" or maybe it's me not being "indoctrinated" with the baggage that is DCS BVR, but i think there are a number of situations where the common DCS dogma is not just obsolete, it's actually harmful. Especially in cases that don't involve "bird watching" tactics. Or to say in other words, when you actually have a job to do and not play hide and seek or alternatively play for "scores". If you want i can make another video, with "proper" missile employment. The tactics are the same, you just set your radar a bit different and you fire a bit closer. ADDENDUM: Of course you gonna get hit. That's why you don't mess up. Think of it this way. The alternative is to turn cold and run. You'll survive maybe, unless the MiG runs you down. But let's say you survive. The strike package you were supposed to escort is now doomed. The carrier you were supposed to protect is now vulnerable to attack. So what good is your continuous survival if you don't even have a boat to return to? It's mission failed.

It's not that hard really. It just takes some practice

I fully agree with you!

Indeed, but it should make the tracks dropping as a result of too much closure (either way) less frequent. I don't have enough confirmed cases, but on one training run i did notice the radar would fail to build tracks until i switched it from nose to flanking.

Here is a little video i made for this topic. I did everything (well almost everything) wrong here, except execute the cranks. Even in the F-14A (which means no going past mach 1), without target size set to large, using the AIM-54C (inferior to mk60 A's) AND wasting my shot by firing too early, i still get inside visual range with the MiG-31, set to ACE, armed with 4 R-33's. I did this from the first try, in 2AM, with 2 glasses of rum inside me. On the 2nd try i shot the thing down from 48NM away. So..... yea...... practice your time tables and cranks mate....

1. When the target starts notching you, did you change the radar aspect from nose to flank? 2. TWS is not the expected radar mode for engaging small nimble targets. You are expected to engage them in PD or P-STT.

Sorry to be a bit snarky here, and this is not aimed at you, but according to this, should the Viper be dropped from competitions? To any mods out there, if you consider this response offensive, quarrelsome or against the rules of conduct and any way, please delete it.

AH, oki-doki, i was afraid it might be the aspect setting for the radar. Just a patch away or so it was always set to flanking and there was no way to tell Jester to change it

Stable or open beta?

No big surprise there, it seams to be using the old AIM-54 FM (or something very similar), which means mach 3+ at 10-15000ft. In other words, laws of physics are thrown out of the window.....

Glad to see you sorted it out!

You are of course right. Most of the cases where he tells us "he lost lock", it's not him that lost it, it's the radar. Then honestly, it sounds like it's your fault. You need to take proper anti notching/beaming maneuvers if you want to lock to persist. Especially against AI's that have "omniscient" SA. Work on your intercept geometries, plan and execute your pre and post fencing maneuvers and actions well. Once you've perfected those enough, you'll maintain locks more often then not. After disabling the auto-P-STT feature, my success ratio went from something like 20-25% to over 90%.

What @Skysurfer said. It takes some practice. Don't fly into the missile and make it fly to you.

You'll have to wait for the current OB version to reach stable then

Tow possible cases here: 1. The target is outside your radar cone. Consult the before mentioned manual for limitation in radar coverage. You have a fairly narrow cone in which you can detect targets. At 30 miles (from memory, but it was a long time ago, so i may be wrong) you have about 10000ft above and bellow you if your scan elevation is neutral (at the horizon). You need to position your antenna (through Jester) up or down do scan above or bellow these limits. Even so, some targets will always be outside your scan if there is enough delta in altitude between them; 2. Targets pop on your radar, but no TWS track file is built. The target is beaming or heading away when your radar is set to nose geometry (aspect). Or is closing/heading away too fast while your radar is in beam aspect. You may need to change the aspect to match. This is a fairly resent feature, that we didn't have to keep in mind before. Think if HPRF, MPRF and interleaved PRF in the F-15 (if you ever flew it), but you have to manage this through Jester. It's the BVR, radar options, just like the aspect and elevation options. Babysitting Jester is a must in more complex environments, and it's a skill that takes some practice.

I'm not sure you set it on a HAT. I have mine set on the POV analogue mini-stick on the TCS throttle. Press activates the menu. I think you may need an actual button click for the menu to pop up and stay open.

I was thinking about creating one myself! Jester - TID range settings with TWS guided missile in the air

Maybe the targets were hiding in the valleys and canyons? There's a lot of those on the Caucasus map, and as there is no mission to fly on the "airqauke" servers, people spend most of their time playing hide and seek at treetop levels. Also, maybe they were notching you all the time? Might want to play with the target aspect settings in such a case.

Ah awesome! And it explains why i could never pull it off. I fly the A almost exclusively and it struggles to go supersonic that high

Thanks guys, kudos to both of you! I guess i may need to revisit my key-bindings sometimes soon. I was about to map some utility stuff like SAS switches anyway, why not Jester commands as well Anyways, here is another item for the Jester refinement wish list! Though i can't seam to find the topic right now

I have pulled some 20NM shots too, usually above 20000ft and supersonic or transonic. 15-20000ft though, i usually stick to 15NM for my first shot (coming out of a crank) and 7-10NM for the following shot, of needed. Bellow 5000ft though (the way most DCS users fight on most open servers), yeah..... it makes little sense to launch them beyond 10NM. I've never managed to pull a 30NM kill though. Not even against an AWACS or a tanker. What parameters were you in when you managed to score that kill? And against what kind of targets? Fighters? Bombers? Hot? Super HOT?!

Question for the OP?

Shouldn't this be inverted? First alt hold (or whatever you wish to select), then AP engage? I always do it in this order. Direction hold, alt hold THEN AP engage.