DLEGION

i would say F18 over F16 ...but... to me the only way to play DCS is flaming cliffs3 , since planes actually works.... while F18c has new game-breaking bugs every patch (good luck with radar, for example). F14 crash DCS at second slot selection even in stable version. totally unplayable.

harm in TOO mode cant see HQ7 SAM. harm-not-see-271.trk

well, it applies to BVR modes too, if i try lock while manouvring (a very common situation while trying to dodge enemy missiles) it locks ghost targets and lose lock immediately.

same problem. decent ACM is impossible now and in bvr you need to stay still and try 3-4 times lock a target (while not manouvring) till you get a decent lock.

since 2.7.1 helicopter lock is often simply impossible. sometimes i can lock it, sometimes there is no way at all, even in ACM modes and at ranges < 1nm. no matter angle, ground clutter or against sky, BVR or acm radar mode. As far as i know helicopters rotors are HUGE radar reflectors, and there is no excuse for a radar to not see them. someone will come up with doppler effect thing, but i rememebr you at that ranges radar should detect and lock anyway, and again rotor is spinning at all sets of speeds. here is track 271-f18-radar-no-helicopters.trk

ok will do, thanks

lol, if shot from near it does NOT hit target because its too busy to loft even if i had target in my velocity vector ! ...and to answer next question: there may be reasons to shoot from near, like for example negate time to a TOR to intercept HARM with its own missiles !

aim120 in DCS (or at least when used by F18, i use only that) are really unrealiable, are waay inferior to aim7 (the missile it should replace, and consider its version c5 we have in DCS) here tacview. they simply get notched when aim7 dont even without chaff use. 270-aim7-reliable-aim120-not.zip.acmi

here is a track of a Su27, coming hot 45 degrees , detected EXACTLY at 44nm. bigger plane different RCS different aspect same result, 44nm is the magic number, 1 foot more than that and radar cannot pick up fighters, no matter the size, aspect, RCS or else. 44nm-magic-range.trk

my procedure its very simple : harm in TOO mode (for everyone not knowing : target of opportunity does NOT know enemy radar range) priority to HARM display (the little diamond in the up-right corner). when a radar source appears (the square box), hands off and shoot let me know if its me doing something wrong. to be noted: shooting from long range usually works, but thats not the point, the missile should just go straight in TOO mode even if shooted from 2 miles it should go straight to the target , not loft then try to come down or do other strange circles!

its already reported as bug or should i report it ?

how to have lightening bolts (illuminating the sky) like before 2.7 ? thanks.

is there a way to make AGM88 harm just go straight to their target , without loft ? i expected that from TOO mode, but it keeps lofting.... thanks for any detailed info on that

lol

after.

happened yesterday exactly the same... in MP 2 aircraft launched harpoons, see them going different direction.... but suddenly a ship got damaged while harpoons were still miles away going another heading...

still i ask: is there any good source for have an idea of that radar range ?

ahh you right... distance was the problem.

i somehow menaged to track with atflir, still have to understand exactly how, in the equivalent of "area track" mode

just made some tests... i have all the tacviews if anyone interested. same exact condistions (distance, altitude ecc...), all hot and using Hi (should be better than hi/med interleaved, right ?) i popped 3 flares as soon as F18 radar detected a contact (many planes almost instantly jammed it, but thats another story) F14b, F15c, F16cm 50, M2000, mig29s, su27, mig31, mig23mld all this were spotted by F18 radar exactly in 45-43 miles range, discrepancy probably due to 6 bars scan and 60° azimuth delay so lets say all in 44nm range , be it a small mig23 or f16, or a larger su27 or f15 (i dont know their RCS) with big cargo planes i had: C17a at 67nm IL72md at 77nm b52h at 74nm someone can confirm if this numbers are correct ? why 44nm for all fighters ? so 160nm declared by apg65 is pure teorical, since even biggest planes are detected at less than half the max range .... and F18c have an apg73, that should be better than apg65, right ?

ah ok, thanks for the explanations ! btw, is there any official document or at least statement from pilots or something else on this numbers ?

ahh ok, tahnks. so if i may ask, where are numbers taken ? because for example i found this: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a142103.pdf that in the middle states that APG-65 has a range from 200 feet to 160nm. now even knowing that maximum is theorical against a huge RCS target, still i fatigue to belive it cant see a huge cargo plane at 55 miles, and that suddenly at 40nm all fighters appear, being them different size and rcs. plus considering this, i always heard F18 radar was very good , even better than F15 of its times, plus small radars like F16, or soviet ones are all far superior in DCS. there are many points i dont understand... i would appreciate if you help me understand, thanks.

is apg-73 inferior to apg-65 ?

thanks

VACQ-bug-2021.trk here is the track. its the same bug i reported an year ago (i provided track also that time). vertical scan when selected works as it should, then when it lose lock, hud still show VACQ but radar screen clearly shows a different pattern, seems wide acquisition (4 lateral scans and no up elevation like vertical, the big circle covering all HUD) i was surprised to see it in the changelog of 2.7, but for me its still bugged as it was.