BOSS330

It's just a suggestion. There are only a handful of targets that you can engage inside 800 meters safely anyway. Personally, I think it should be set to about 300m which is still the maximum range for infantry. On a slightly different note, I was engaging some targets the other day and happen to notice that the gun changes elevation (only slightly) when you switch between HE and AP! Awesome stuff!

Hi mate, I went and got an X-52 the other day from HN for $209. It's worth every cent! The X52 Pro has a few extra features and a dual spring stick for extra tension but I prefer the single-spring X-52.

I believe the game is trying the model the fact that AP rounds rely on their kinetic energy to do maximum damage while the HE will be effective at it's maximum range because of it's warhead. Surprisingly, both types of ammo have a muzzle velocity of 1000m/s. I have tested this out in the game, firing at a Bradley at 3km+ with AP rounds did very little damage (took over 50 rounds to kill it). Tried hitting them at inside 2km and 5-6 direct hits was enough to cause secondaries. Just doing some research on the various 30mm guns, seems the 2A42 fires 30x165mm rounds which are nearly the same length as the A-10's ammo! (30x173mm). The Apache's M230 fire's a much shorter 30x113mm round which is the reason for it's relatively low 808m/s muzzle velocity. As for the 30mm gun's effectiveness on MBT's, it's just not worth the hassle in my opinion.

The 114L's can only be launched using the FCR which provides all the target info required to launch without the need to use the laser designator. I did find this snipet from this website http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-114.html "In the early 1990s, the Hellfire missile was even evaluated for use against low-speed aerial targets (i.e. helicopters) in both surface-to-air and air-to-air applications. However, these studies did not result in operational anti-helicopter Hellfire missiles." Interesting indeed!

Just to clear things up for you, there are 2 types of Hellfires in service. The AH-64A can only carry the AGM-114K (laser guided) ATGM. This missile is NOT fire-and-forget, the gunner must lase the target until impact. The AH-64D is equipped with the FCR (Fire Control Radar), which means it can scan up to 8km for air and around 6km for ground targets in the respective modes. The "D" model Apache can fire both the AGM-114K (laser guided) and AGM-114L (radar guided) ATGM's, the latter of which is in fact "fire-and forget" when launched in LOAL (Lock-On After Launch) mode only. The AGM-114K is limited to 6km when acquiring targets with the TADS (Target Acquisition And Designation Sight) but the effective range can be extended when the the TADS is slaved to the FCR. (for the "D" models) Hope this makes sense. :) The Vikhr is the better ATGM here as it's optimum velocity is nearly twice that of the hellfire. Though the Vikhr has a smaller seeker FOV (field of view).