Nerd1000

1.5 degrees is the limit when scanning for targets. When a target is locked the radar can look down something like 15 degrees.

This works with the caveat that there are actually about 1.8 km to the nautical mile, so you need to keep in mind that simply halving the range in km will underestimate the range in nm. To use your example, 20km is actually 11.1 nm.

Use the white outer wingspan scale when the gunsight is in 'auto' mode and the red inner one when the sight is in 'manual' mode. You can also set the radar to fixed beam mode and lock your target. This will cause the radar to pass range information to the sight if it is in auto mode, with a few caveats- The radar's minimum range is 400m, and AFAIK there are some calculation errors that may cause you to miss.

Only prop planes can be lawnmowers (how does a jet cut the grass without a propeller?). Low and slow jets should be called Leafblowers. :smartass:

Slightly off topic to discuss BFM maneuvers here, but I usually prevent overshoots on much slower targets by pulling up into a zoom climb, rolling around to keep the target in view and then coming back down from above (essentially a big vertically stretched barrel roll). I'm sure its a pretty transparent move that could easily be countered by a pilot who knows what is going on, but IMO its better than wasting energy by slowing to the target's speed. It also gives you more options- if your enemy starts turning you can quickly change it into a high yo-yo, for example.

Most modern missiles can turn tightly enough to hit a 8-9G target under favorable circumstances. In any case, how do you know when the last minute is? The general technique against radar guided, BVR missiles is the 'doppler notch'. Essentially it involves putting the incoming missile 90 degrees off your wing and diving so that from the missile's perspective you are below the horizon. Doppler radars like those used on modern fighters and missiles distinguish targets from the ground clutter by using the doppler effect to measure how fast a return is moving towards or away from the radar. By putting the radar 90 degrees off your nose and diving, you are making yourself move towards the incoming missile at the same speed as the ground, which hopefully will make you impossible to distinguish from the terrain. You combine this with chaff (which itself is pretty effective against SARH missiles in DCS). In the F-15 you also have the distinct advantage of having active homing missiles- if your enemy fires on you, pop a couple of 120s his way before starting your doppler notch. He'll be compelled to break off his attack to avoid your missiles, and if he only has SARH (like the Flanker) this will cause his missile(s) to go dumb. Against an IR missile you want to reduce throttle to idle (or at least drop out of afterburner), pull hard and spam flares.

Hold on, some people look at the HUD rather than their enemy while in BFM? I thought that watching your enemy would be the natural, obvious thing to do.

Barthek's ground textures mod helps immensely with this. Way easier to spot ground targets with FLIR. The Black shark and Toad both use a visible light camera, not a IR one. Targets sometimes blend into the terrain due to camouflage, but you don't get that horrid noise effect that effectively blinds IR cameras.

Its very easy to lose track of your enemy in a visual range dogfight. With enough practice you can learn to predict where he is likely to be and look for him after you lose contact (I generally start by checking my six...) The F-15 also has two useful dogfighting radar modes available: Vertical scan, which scans a vertical 'pie slice' in front of your jet, and boresight, which scans a narrow cone straight ahead. Both of these modes will lock the closest thing to your jet automatically (IIRC you have to push the lock button, but I'm not a F-15 flyer so don't take my word for it). These modes mean that- if you can guess where your foe is likely to be- re-acquiring your target is as simple as pointing your nose at his probable location and pressing the lock button. The other nice feature for finding difficult to see targets at close range is the sidewinder missile. Its seeker scans a narrow cone in front of the plane like the radar's boresight mode and will lock on without prompting. The little circle that tells you where the sidewinder's seeker is looking will then jump onto the target. Given that if you're merged you probably already have the sidewinder selected, that little feature can be a big help. Finally, you can use other cues. The MiG-29, for example, has engines that are well known for producing ludicrous amounts of black, sooty smoke unless the afterburner is running. Sometimes you can follow his murky trail of pollution straight to him (Then give him a missile courtesy of the EPA :D). As for servers, the 104th phoenix server (Located in the western United States, I think) is usually well populated and provides a convenient 'arena' for practicing A2A vs other players. I get acceptable pings on that server, and I'm logging on from the other side of the pacific through the developed world's slowest landline internet. You should have no problems. There's also usually a few people on the teamspeak server, and they'll probably be happy to help you out.

Good point, but we could go even better: It is a bit like a flat fish, and furthermore its older brother is called the Spirit. Therefore the obvious choice of name would be Sole.

It would be better to put the target off your wing and break towards it instead of using a standard split-S. That way you can see the target for the entire attack rather than losing sight of it beneath your nose prior to starting your dive.

Or Wraith.

ARU is the device that automatically adjusts the amount of stabilator deflection based on speed and altitude. A longer arm would imply reduced deflection, I guess?

Smoke rockets are very effective for marking targets during the daytime. The A-10 can even launch them in CCRP mode if you need to mark something a long distance away. The black shark is a little more limited in that regard (CCIP only) but with skillful employment you can lob them 5km or more, which is far enough to be safe from most common threats so long as you are careful.

That's not to say the MiG would be helpless though. I've had plenty of success spoofing the AIM-9Ms that AI F-5s carry by locking the F-5 with the MiG's radar and launching flares as soon as I enter AIM-9 range. The AIM-9L would be less dangerous (reduced counter-CM abilities), and presumably the P4 would be slightly worse than that. With a realistic R-3R, the F-5E should have no trouble spoofing the MiG's missiles with chaff, so most likely both planes will reach the merge... and then anything could happen :joystick: . I'd put my money on the F-5, but the MiG might catch him unawares.

Some throttles have a small extra stick that you move with your thumb. Seems like it would be perfect for this kind of thing.

I'm fairly certain that the issue is a memory/cpu power one. Barrage jamming creates a indefinitely large number of false contacts, and the radar doesn't have enough RAM and CPU power to build a track file on all of them. As a result it drops out of TWS. Presumably the F-15 radar is smart enough to know its being jammed and reject the false contacts along with the real one that is making them, so it will contine to track other targets while also displying the jammer without building a track on it. I suspect that not all ecm would cause the flanker to lose tws. Deception jamming making just a few false returns would probably cause the radar to act as if the false returns were real aircraft.

The point I was making was that even if the USAAF had tested the plane on 150 octane there would be no difference in performance unless they also modified the engine to allow higher boost pressures (something nobody in their right mind would ever do to a valuable test plane).

I can't talk to the AWACS in the MiG-21.

The strake should be better on the wave drag front (less drastic changes in cross-sectional area compared to a triangular fin). The main trade-off is higher induced drag at subsonic speeds, but that's sort of irrelevant for an A2A missile anyway.

Did the US increase the boost pressure when they put better fuel in? Higher octane rating offers no benefit unless the boost pressure or compression ratio is increased to take advantage of the enhanced knock resistance. This is why there is little reason to run your car on premium petrol unless the engine is set up to take advantage of it (depending on the composition it may have slightly better energy value per litre, but the difference is marginal at best).

There isn't much point launching an IR missile without lock as it will just fly in a straight line. From what you are saying it sounds like you are fighting an AI plane and getting hit by IR shots from the front. The reason the AI can get a lock while you cannot is the AI cheats. He can get a lock from any angle even with a R-3S, so your only option is to preempt his shot with flares as you approach. Thankfully the AI is also an idiot, so once you get him into a dogfight he should be easy to beat.

Tanks wouldn't have enough contrast to pick out against the earth. In any case, these radars are for navigation or attacking large targets like ships, so they produce a more 'zoomed out' picture. If you go to this youtube link you should see an example (I couldn't get the video to work properly embedded). I should note that AFAIK the viggen doesn't have a terrain following radar like the F-111, so none of that 'E-scope' stuff is relevant.

I don't think the A2G radar produces a height map. My suspicion is that the brightness of a given point on the display instead tells you how strong the radar reflection from that point is. Water for example produces a weaker reflection than land, so it would be darker. This would for example allow you to navigate along a river at night.

Sounds like a mission tweak is needed until the Mirage's missiles improve. Perhaps the MiGs could be restricted to using the R-3S? Its superior range over the Magic II should be compensated by its rear-aspect only seeker and 2g launch limit.