Naquaii

The steering cross doesn't mean that it will loose the tracks if you don't follow it. You have to look at where the targets with launch prios are heading. While one is heading more or less towards the radar the otherone is going to the left. This means that the WCS will suggest that the pilot should steer left as the targets will eventually exit left. Additionally it also means that the optimum launch attitude will also be slightly left as pointing your missiles towards where the targets will be at impact will improve your chances and with the targets going left that point will also be left. As with the launch cues for missiles in all aircraft not following the cues will not mean you'll miss but you'll be less likely to hit.

The second quote is about right. You can think of the steering centroid as a way of helping the pilot maximising his chances of keeping the tracks within the gimbal limits in the future, if the tracks are heading left it will point left as the tracks will eventually move outside of the limits to the left. And thus by telling the pilot to turn left it will mitigate that. It's not really a correlated steering cue for all tracks combined, it really is a steering cue towards helping the pilot keeping the tracks within the gimbal limits.

The visible steering centroid (the X) is as you might have realised the steering command for the pilot. And in this case it is to the left due to the fact that the left target has a greater weight due to it being further from the center than the other DLZ track. This might change soon after the instant in the image if the WCS has to choose between the two which would likely result in it chosing the higher prio track, the number 1. This it will do even if it is likely that one of the tracks will have to be dropped due to being too far apart as it is still possible for them to converge again. In short, the WCS will try to track both until the moment it will have to drop one of them, not before. And in any case, the purpose of the visible X (steering centroid) is to help the pilot point the aircraft in the most optimum heading while the other centrum (controlling scan volume) is only visible in how the scan volume is pointed and it's purpose is to point the radar antenna in the most optimum way possible. Hope that helps, might have went of on a tangent there... :-) MAND ATTK will be added to the CAP when TWS-A is released.

AVIA stands for Angle of attack, Vertical velocity, ILS and ACLS, it's basically a TID display where the RIO can see these readouts to help the pilot during landing. It isn't in the manual yet but there's a function on the CAP matrix drum that lets you select it called TID AVIA. Next to that is another function that allows you to switch between ACLS and ILS for display.

It's not a bug, the position is correct but the art for the F-14 specific racks for the fuselage positions aren't implemented yet.

The AI setting does not disable display of other threats, it just prioritizes AI above others and limit the number shown. If that is still too cluttered the offset function needs to be used.

Adding to that, NATOPS has the RIO do the alignment after both engines are online. This is due to two reasons. 1. The engine startups and electrical generators coming online and getting connected can cause transients that can interrupt or restart the WCS thus trashing the alignment. 2. Doing the correct checklist tests for startup involves testing the emergency generators and this is even more likely to interrupt or void an alignment. Neither of these are currently implemented but they might be. In any case, like Ironmike says, Jester is following procedure.

TADIL-C is Link 4A which is between a controller on a ship or AWACS and is not limited to 4 aircraft. The F-14 can receive up to 8 targets from the controller and return 24 TWS tracks back on the link. What targets are received by the F-14 is entirely up to the operator on the controlling platform. So a maximum of 8 other tracks can be seen but there can be more fighters on the same link. Link 4C which is unique to the F-14 on the other hand is limited to 4 aircraft as it is implemented, both IRL and in DCS. Unlike 4A this is only used between F-14s in the air and the link can only handle 4 aircraft on the same link.

Correct, apart from that IRL it does actually affect radar range as well. A LPRF pulse radar will change the PRF according to set range to maximise target detection probability. Being a LPRF radar mode it has to wait for the radar energy to return to the receiver until it can transmit, this is what limits the PRF. So when you set a shorter range the radar will increase the PRF as the returns will be back quicker, allowing the PRF to go higher. Higher PRF means more energy in target and a higher detection probability. Atm this isn't modelled but is something that might be added eventually.

It's just different attachment methods and gravity IRL. This is purely a technical DCS thing.

It a technical DCS thing, the missile ejects opposite the hardpoint attachment, the ones on the sides of the fuselage of the other aircraft have an attachmentpoint rotated about 45 degrees from straight up and in their case that's fine. If we rotated the hardpoint on the F-14 that would make the missiles eject at a 45 degree offset to one direction. That's why we had to change the attachmentpoint on the missile to be on the same side of the missile as one set of wings instead of between them.

Thanks guys, I'll talk to our radar guy, this might actually explain some behavior we haven't been able to figure out.

Just a quick FYI, normal procedure wouldn't be to do a cross-bleed start on the ground. You should use the external air (huffer) for both engines. The normal procedure is to connect both air and electrical before starting right engine and then remove electrical once the right is online and then start the left from external air as well. Crossbleed starts are really only for air starts.

Correct. You guys are probably correct in that maybe a general description of the ACM mode would be a good addition to the manual. The ACM mode should really be seen as a shortcut to configure the aircraft for a knife fight if not already set up in that way. If you already have the aircraft configured correctly there's no need to use it with one exception; the only thing that's unique to the ACM cover is that within certain parameters the LTE of the AIM-54 is shortened to 1,5 secs. The behavior of the AIM-7 is described under the weapons employment chapter http://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/weapons.html#aim-7-sparrow . As you can see there the AIM-7 uses the normal CW illuminator or PD guidance if a STT track exists otherwise it always defaults to the flood mode.

Hi! The TACAN BCN function was never implemented in the real aircraft and is thus non-functional in the DCS F-14 as well. In regards to TWS the main difference between MAN and AUTO is that the RIO can control search volume in size and direction. The target prioritization is always done by the WCS. It can however by changed by setting tracks as friendly which will drop them as a valid target as well as setting them as next launch which will change hooked track on the TID to the number 1 track. We will likely implement mandatory attack and do not attack as well which will also include or exclude tracks from the prio. No date on that function though. TWS AUTO should also set track prios as in MAN but AUTO is currently not functional as we're busy coding the logic to control the antenna search volume.

As I stated earlier, the only mode in which the seeker does not scan is when set to BRSIT on the ACM panel by the pilot. In all other cases the seekers scans to increase the field of view, regardless if along the ADL or sensor line of sight at a track location. This includes when the AIM-9 is scanning along the ADL (boresight) because of a lack of an active WCS track but that is different from an explicit boresight (BRSIT).

To clarify, the Sidewinders on the Tomcat capable of SEAM uses that to increase the seekerhead field of view by scanning the seekerhead around (not a double-d), not visible on the HUD though. This is done either about the ADL or the tracked target. The only mode that does not do this is if BRSIT is selected on the ACM panel in which case the missile reverts to old Sidewinder behaviour with the seekerhead not scanning and just staring along the ADL. Think of that as a backup mode.

We'll have a look, I'm not as sure as you guys about the connection but I'm not gonna rule it out. It depends on how it's coded so it's not as certain to be correlated as it would've been in a real system.

Confirmed, there seems to be a bug regarding the target range tape in STT, the error increasing with roll angle and azimuth deflection from ADL. Will add a tracker and tell our radar guy.

Ok, I think I might see what you mean, is the highlighted target the supposedely locked target? If so the line should still be pointing at it and that would be a bug. I'll see if we can reproduce.

I might be misunderstanding you but your images shows nothing wrong. Both the VDI and the TID indicate the target to be to the right of your current azimuth. That does not change with bank angle.

As far as we know the Link 4A (at least in the Tomcat) can only receive a maximum of 8 targets from the controller, this is in addition to the up to 18 displayed tracks the WCS can display in TWS or the 48 radar returns shown in RWS.

Yes, the -B Tomcat never really had the chance to meet a JF-17 IRL but as has been stated an advanced RWR like the AN/ALR-67 has a software defined library which is used to identify detected emitters. This library would be updated according to current threats in theatre and as DCS allows for these two to meet it's logical to add symbology for it as that's what would happen very quickly IRL if they had ever been anticipated to meet each other.

It's not Jester that drops it, the WCS itself should remove the track from the queue as soon as it's marked as friendly. That said it's actually not that straightforward even for a human RIO to work the IFF in TWS as you have to correlate the DDD screen between IFF returns displayed in range and normal returns displayed by rate.

Not sure about your question but as soon as a track is marked as friendly it's dropped from the target prios removing it as a target for the AIM-54. If this happens after launch then it's too late.