DCS FIGHTER PILOT

Does anyone know if the AMRAAM got updated yesterday (2.5.6)? Whether it did or did not, I still believe it is underperforming. Example, two F-16’s head on, both Mach 1, 30000ft, opponent fires Aim-120c at 11nm, Defender (me) performs split S at 10nm and burns for the deck, AMRAAM looses energy and misses, closest point, a bit under half a mile. Example 2, F-16 and Jf-17, same physical parameters as in example one, opponent fires SD-10 at 11nm, defender performs split s at 10nm and burns for the deck more aggressively than before, SD-10 successfully intercepts. In reality Aim-120c should be equal or better in performance to SD-10, not completely inferior. Will we see more improvements to the Aim-120 that will bring it up to par with the Sd-10 or is this the end of the line? I for one think the SD-10 is a perfect benchmark to shoot for.

That was for the last patch, what about yesterday for 2.5.6?

I was under the impression that early this year, the AMRAAM would continue to get overhauled to perform closer to claimed values. Like the Aim-7 last year, the AMRAAM is the new test bed. It’s hard to tell though if it did get updated in the last patch (2.5.6, February 14, 2020). The change log says nothing about an update to AMRAAM but perhaps did someone forget to mention it? From what I can tell, it performs pretty much the same as it did last patch. With that in mind, I am hoping that we will see more improvements as the year progresses because as of now it still seems to be underperforming. Example, two F-16’s head on, both Mach 1, 30000ft, opponent fires Aim-120c at 11nm, Defender (me) performs split S at 10nm and burns for the deck, AMRAAM looses energy and misses, closest point, a bit under half a mile. Example 2, F-16 and Jf-17, same physical parameters as in example one, opponent fires SD-10 at 11nm, defender performs split s at 10nm and burns for the deck more aggressively than before, SD-10 successfully intercepts. Now according to Deka Ironworks and real life sources, the Sd-10 performs better than the 120b and less than the 120c. As of now in game, the first statement is painfully true but the second is clearly not. Can we expect to see more improvements to the AMRAAM as the year progresses or is this it? Can someone (official) please confirm what will happen next?

I am indeed on the AWACS channel. I have jester set the DL to mode 4a (“tactical data link,”) and then have him tune to the correct address. Some targets will then appear but as I said, many seem to be missing.

Recently I have noticed that the AWACS will call out a target it sees but it will not pop up on the mode 4A data link. Correct code is indeed set. The target could be at 20000ft but it still wont show. This really kills situational awareness.

As it stands right now, the F-14 is the best dog fighter in the simulator. It can just about out turn and out perform anything with wings (with correct flap settings that is). My question is, is this realistic? Was the F-14 really that good in a dogfight or is the flight data a bit skewed on Heatblurs end? I do indeed hope that the Flight model is correct.

Ranking from best to worst, which modules in DCS have the best radar in terms of just pure detection range and power? I would imagine the F-14 is probably first here. Which radars are the best in general?, For instance, what radar can detect and TRACK the most effectively? I would imagine my beloved F-14 is not first here.

Hello, Lately in multiplayer I have been missing a lot of Phoenix shots at relatively close ranges, ie. 20-30nm, while at 30000ft+ as the target stays hot on me. I shoot the missile at the hot target in TWS and typically loose the track either because the radar does not see him anymore or because I go defensive. I usually loose the track when the missile is under 10 away from impact. Shouldn’t the missile be active at this time? Why does it still miss when the target is still flying towards me? Is this a bug? I do realize that the Phoenix is a work in progress so I am aware that this may not be representative of the real missile yet. I have also noticed that if a TWS track is reacquired after the missile has been shot, then the missile violently maneuvers to track the new update, resulting in a severe energy loss. Is this why the missiles are missing so often? This definitely appears to be a bug.

Hello, Whenever I switch the RWR to display different information I.e, friendly, airborne interceptor, ground contacts, etc, it does not seem to change anything. Is this a bug? In a heavy EW environment the RWR can get far too cluttered and it is nearly impossible to tell if an enemy plane has you in his sights until he hard locks. For instance, whenever I switch the RWR to say, airborne interceptor, all the ground contacts are still there blocking critical information on airborne threats. Also, would it be possible to have a Jester option that has him offset the RWR for a given time. This would also really help to declutter the RWR in certain situations.

Glad to see that some, (quite little,) changes were made to the Aim-120’s. Though it is not really significant and probably not up to par with the real AMRAAM, it is a step in the right direction. The SD-10 still is completely superior to all Aim-120 variants in that it still has much less drag and hence, greater range. I’m not sure how accurate this statement is but according to the Chinese, the Sd-10 is superior to the Aim-120 A/B models but slightly inferior to the C model. I would imagine this statement encompasses the drag characteristics, guidance logic, lofting capabilities , etc. Please continue this work ED, not just for the AMRAAM, but for all missiles. You are getting very close to modeling missiles as realistically as possible.

The new AI behavior everyone is talking about (at least when it comes to missile defence,) is that the AI will actively break away from an incoming missile at 30% missile max range or if the missile is 10nm away from impact, (whichever comes first). This new method works great for long range missiles like the Phoenix or Amos (since 30% of their range is on the order of almost two dozen miles,) but unfortunately, not so well for most MRM's. It just so happens that 30% of most MRM ranges falls below the 10nm mark below 40000ft which means that there is no change in behavior for AI defence when it comes to MRM's. As of right now, the breakaway maneuver consists of the aircraft pitching up, (a suicide move most of the time,) puting the missile abeam, and then diving for the deck. This type of move usually ends up as a fireball. Again, this provides little to no challenge for those wanting one in singleplayer (Note that this applies to ALL SKILL LEVELS). Essentially you can just get within 15 miles of the target, shoot, and run away. Frankly, this is exactly what the enemy should be doing as well! (For Fox 3's anyway). To address this, I really think that ED should implement an advanced waypoint action allowing the user to input breakaway distance and the type of defence, i.e split s or notch. This would allow for missions to be far more dynamic than they are now and greatly increase the survivability of all AI aircraft. Please let me know your thoughts

I'm not even talking about chaff here, I am simply talking about just plain kinetically defeating it. When chaff gets involved things go downhill even more rapidly.

Are they planning to address it?

In the tracks below, I attempted, and succeeded, in kinetically defeating both adders and amraams from very close range. In some of the tracks, I was a fully loaded f-18 at high altitude and was able to still outperform the missiles. Clearly something is very wrong here, whether it be the drag coefficients of the missiles or something else. In most, if not in each case, I should have been a fireball. Now I know a lot of you will say something along the lines of, "How do you know something is wrong? Where is the data to prove otherwise?" Unfortunately, along with most of you, I do not have the data to prove otherwise. However, even without concrete data it is clear just from basic common sense that these missiles are underperforming. What is causing this underperformance? Is it that drag coefficients are too high or is it because the missiles perform unnecessary maneuvers that deplete their energy faster than it should? Now I must say, I am fairly impressed with what HB did with the Phoenix. That missile just FEELS right. Perhaps it is because it lofts, something that ED missiles, besides the Aim-7, do not do. In reality, at least the AMRAAM and most certainly other modern air to air missiles, loft to take advantage of the low density air at higher altitudes. Just look at this Perhaps this is the big problem with DCS missiles, but I am sure the drag coefficients are still to high. I think that most of you would agree with me in saying that this "problem," has plagued DCS long enough and that it is time to cure it. In my mind, and please correct me if I am dead wrong, the perfect DCS missile would A) Loft, and B) have about 20-25% less drag than it has now, ESPECIALLY AT LOWER SPEEDS, see the tracks. I encourage everyone who sees this post to comment and support it so that we can put the B back into BVR! DCS FIGHTER PILOT SIDE NOTE These Tracks were all recorded in DCS Open BETA version 2.5.5.39003 The Deadly AMRAAM.trk The Deadly AMRAAM 2.trk The Deadly AMRAAM 3.trk The Deadly AMRAAM 4.trk Behold! The Mighty Adder!.trk Behold! The Mighty Adder! 2.trk

I have been doing some tests with the Aim-54 missiles lately and have noticed that they change their concavity very abruptly and violently during the terminal guidance phase resulting in a major loss of energy. The missile leaves the aircraft fine and climbs up to its max altitude ok but as it approaches the target it quickly changes its flight path, from a concave upwards parabolic motion to a sudden concave downward parabolic motion to intercept the target. This is where the problem is. Ideally, the missile should smoothly transition from this phase to the interception phase. Please see tracks below. Rough Transitions.trk Rough Transitions 2.trk Rough Transitions 3.trk

I know ED has been talking about improving missiles but how exactly? Are they planning to lower the drag coefficients? (which desperately needs to be done. For instance, today an F-18 shot an AIM-120 at me from literally five miles away at 30000ft and I was able to outright kinetically defeat it in my F-14. That was total BS, I should have been nailed.) Are they going to improve missile lofting so that they can take advantage of the low drag environment of higher altitudes? Although as seen today, it is still like pea soup up there! Get with it guys!

Hello, Recently, ED made a change to the AI making them break away from a missile, (If they could detect it.) at 30% of missiles range, (which is appears to be a function of altitude and not some static value,) or if the missile was 10nm away, whichever comes first. This new method works great for long range missiles like the Phoenix or Amos (since 30% of their range is on the order of almost two dozen miles,) but unfortunately, not so well for most MRM's (see tracks below). It just so happens that 30% of most MRM ranges falls below the 10nm mark below 40000ft which means that there is no change in behavior for AI defence when it comes to MRM's. As of right now, the breakaway maneuver consists of the aircraft pitching up, (a suicide move most of the time,) puting the missile abeam, and then diving for the deck. This type of move usually ends up being a fireball. Again, this provides little to no challenge for those wanting one in singleplayer (Note that this applies to ALL SKILL LEVELS). Essentially you can just get within 15 miles of the target, shoot, and run away! Frankly, this is exactly what the enemy should be doing as well! (For Fox 3's anyway). At this point I recommend two solutions that actually can easily be welded together into one. It is as follows. One: Allow for the user to manually input breakaway distance inside an advanced waypoint action, much like for the range in which escort aircraft will attack threats. Two: Create a new advanced waypoint action for "Reaction to Threat," which has the defensive aircraft perform a split s maneuver, also see track below. As you can see, these two solutions can easily be combined. For instance, in advanced waypoint actions you could have, "perform split s at 15nm before impact." With something like this implemented, more and more AI pilots would be going home everyday! Lets face it, at the end of the day, these bots just want to go home to their families. This would also address the concern for the AI being too aggressive as well SHOULD THE USER WANT TO DO SO!. I hope many people see this post and realize what a tremendous breakthrough this would be for the AI. Thanks again.

Just wondering if we will be getting custom RWR sounds for the viper at some point. All of the F-16 cockpit videos that I have seen have much different RWR sounds.

Hello all, What is the deal with ECM Jamming in DCS world? Why is it the FC3 aircraft can have their radars “jammed,” while other planes, like the Hornet and Tomcat, appear to be unaffected by a jammer? Is it that their radars are more powerful/newer or is it because jamming is not modeled yet in these planes?

Hello Fellow Simulator, (and real!) pilots, For as long as I can remember, if you break lock (accidentally or intentionally,) before a fox three goes active, at least for the American Fox threes anyway, the Defending aircraft may or may not drop chaff, and will always fly straight into it like it was not even there. The missile is clearly tracking the target, but the target is unaware of its imminent death. A track is worth a million words so I have provided some below. If tracks are somehow corrupted please let me know. Better yet, experiment with it yourself! You will clearly see this behavior. DCS FIGHTER PILOT No Reaction1.trk No Reaction2.trk

Hello, Recently, ED made a change to the AI making them break away from a missile, (If they could detect it.) at 30% of missiles range, (which is appears to be a function of altitude and not some static value,) or if the missile was 10nm away, whichever comes first. This new method works great for long range missiles like the Phoenix or Amos (since 30% of their range is on the order of almost two dozen miles,) but unfortunately, not so well for most MRM's (see tracks below). It just so happens that 30% of most MRM ranges falls below the 10nm mark below 40000ft which means that there is no change in behavior for AI defence when it comes to MRM's. As of right now, the breakaway maneuver consists of the aircraft pitching up, (a suicide move most of the time,) puting the missile abeam, and then diving for the deck. This type of move usually ends up being a fireball. Again, this provides little to no challenge for those wanting one in singleplayer (Note that this applies to ALL SKILL LEVELS). Essentially you can just get within 15 miles of the target, shoot, and run away! Frankly, this is exactly what the enemy should be doing as well! (For Fox 3's anyway). At this point I recommend two solutions that actually can easily be welded together into one. It is as follows. One: Allow for the user to manually input breakaway distance inside an advanced waypoint action, much like for the range in which escort aircraft will attack threats. Two: Create a new advanced waypoint action for "Reaction to Threat," which has the defensive aircraft perform a split s maneuver, also see track below. As you can see, these two solutions can easily be combined. For instance, in advanced waypoint actions you could have, "perform split s at 15nm before impact." With something like this implemented, more and more AI pilots would be going home everyday! Lets face it, at the end of the day, these bots just want to go home to their families. This would also address the concern for the AI being too aggressive as well SHOULD THE USER WANT TO DO SO!. I hope many people see this post and realize what a tremendous breakthrough this would be for the AI. Thanks again. DCS FIGHTER PILOT Missile Defence TRK 1.trk Missile Defence TRK 2.trk Split S Defence.trk

No, 30% of missile range. This number is unique to each missile and is independent of launch range. This is a very good thing, trust me.

Thank you very much, really appreciated. This will go a long way in making the AI more realistic.

Hello again, No change in behavior I'm afraid, just the same big ol fireball at the end. Ai will always start to go actively defensive at 10nm regardless of any other parameter, i.e altitude, missile speed, airplane speed, weather! ect. For most missiles, this maneuver is a death sentence, see evidence below. abort mission.trk abort mission 2.trk

Thanks for responding. When you say "advanced waypoint actions," you mean the procedure that I used in the two tracks down below right? As you can see, both the "Evasive Vertical Maneuver," and "Evade Fire," actions do nothing to change the AI behavior in this scenario. Evasive Vertical Maneuver.trk Evade Fire.trk