Comrade Doge

Greetings readers, I am most pleased to see Link 16 being improved constantly on the F-16, most recently by the addition of the Primary Datalink Target / PDLT. In my recent readings over publicly available documentation for the F-16, I have stumbled across a feature that would surely be greatly appreciated by the Viper community, if implemented. I am talking about the Link 16 Expanded Data feature for the HSD and FCR formats. In short, this feature displays informative text about the Link 16 track under the cursors, namely aircraft type, it's airspeed, and in the case of donor members, also ordnance remaining, among many other data. To not be confused with the "Expand Mode", which is just a zoom-in feature on the HSD, as Wags detailed in a video. This information is available for further study in depth from the publicly available MLU M3 Update Manual, starting with page 160 (same document that described the already implemented PDLT functionality). If the development team finds this feasible, and time to implement this feature, it would be most appreciated. All the best and have an easy day!

If the v5 has it, that's great! I hope ED will add it to the roadmap.

Isn't ULS for the APG68v7?

We should probably get LRS + VSR since it's the APG68v5, but so far no word from ED about LRS...

Well, however it works and is modelled right now, goes against how the official documentation details the system should work. Perhaps this discrepancy maybe worth a closer look?

Correct. Once Doppler correlation occurs (it takes just 2 sweeps for TWS over Search contacts), the contacts become radar tracks: Tank target - System target - Bugged target. There is no reason to artificially limit the ability for System radar tracks to be bugged, they can be promoted right away as the manual says on the quoted pages, they are quality radar tracks. I and the community kindly ask ED to investigate this further @BIGNEWY

The reference says the System Target is promotable to a Bugged Target, which doesn't happen in the trackfile. This is not a search target I am talking about, System Targets are established radar tracks, not simple detection targets.

Hello everyone, In this post I'd like to talk about some unusual behavior of the F-16 radar, following the latest 2 patches. At the moment, TWS System Targets (empty squares) cannot be promoted to Bugged Targets until you hit a certain range. From publicly available documentation, this is incorrect, as System Targets are already established as valid, quality, Doopler-correlated radar tracks, that can be promoted to Bugged targets via TMS Up. Currently, there is an artificial delay that prevents this promotion from taking place. The evidence is present in the MLU M1 Update Manual pages 129 and 130. I have attached a trackfile showing this behaviour, repeated promotion attempts via TMS Up on System Targets being ignored for a good while, in a co-altitude, hot aspect scenario at 30k ft, with an Su-27. With that being said, I wish all the readers and the ED team an easy day. TWSbug.trk

Try it with a hot started jet, in a fresh mission. Might be something related to some kind of prior setting of the CDU...

Can you tell me what's your FPS? If it's really high, above 100 or so, it might misbehave, as I've only tested it at about 60...

While it may be apparent as a gamey thing to do, the flap limit for extending the aux flaps (which jam) is detailed in the documentation as well, a 5 degree angle of the lever. I'd imagine in the real jet you could draw a simple marker on the lever, and use the flaps in flight. Still against the NATOPS, but as others before me said, pilots used it despite the rules, a notable example would be Dale.

Allow me to get a bit off topic for a brief moment, what speeds would you be looking for in terms of sustained turn rate on the deck? Do you think that maintaining the exact same speeds but with the flaps down, say at 27%, where they will not jam, will give an increased turn rate? (which, as you said, is not to be completely relied upon, it's just another tool in the toolbox)

I agree it's the pilot's duty to maintain the certain rate speeds to maximize the turn rate. About the wing sweep, the flaps controlled by the lever will not be lifted up automatically when the wings sweep, the wings will stop at a certain point, to not interfere with the flaps.

Well OP is taking about using it for a higher sustained turn rate, and from my limted knowledge flaps indeed boost the degrees per second...

I see the patch notes mentioned this newly added control, Maneuver flaps potentiometer but I am confused since we already have the DLC / Maneuver flaps retract binding which, in my limited testing, seems to do the exact same thing, controlling the "maneuver flaps". I have attached 2 images using both the new bind and the old one, and the result is identical so far (first pic is the new axis, the 2nd one is the old axis we had available)... I'd appreciate details on what is different with this new binding.

What's L/D? I am talking mostly about the effect of such techniques in BFM, most notably boosting the rate speeds.

From my limited experience, the CADC will lift the maneuver flaps up after a certain speed (or probably some other parameters as well). Using the Flap handle partially will not be overidden by the CADC.

You gotta make a route for them to show in the right side.

Well I for one can't figure out a way (no pun intended) to make it work, I have asked around some Hind fliers and we couldn't find a solution... The Hind doesn't really have a coordinate system that we can reliably program. At most, it's navigation system would work like the F10 map with user placed markers...

@BIGNEWYI may be wrong, but this request looks a bit more like a bug report than a wishlist item. To point to what others have said, the ACM ellipse should follow the actual FCR LOS (which in turn tries to follow the HMCS aiming cross), and when the FCR exceeds it's gimbal limits, the ellipse should become display limited and crossed out with an X. All the needed information is detailed in the MLU M3 manual, pages 76 to 78. It would be fantastic if the dev team would find the time to look over these details, if possible.

I am sure the devs are at work figuring the symbology out, it can get confusing. MLU M3 manual page 151 details the symbology for correlated targets between the FCR and Link 16. Currently it seems that the FCR only shows the unknown symbology once the target is bugged, and not the identity correlated from Link 16. It does however show the correlated identity correctly prior to bugging, and on the HSD.

Appreciate the time. In that case, we are looking forward to what the Sniper pod can do in the future.

No, I don't think there is a way to make it work with the Hind.

The supporting evidence for these features is documented in the MLU M2 manual, starting with page 45. If @BIGNEWYfinds the time to forward the information to the dev team, it would be of great service to the Viper enthusiasts. While the manual uses the LANTIRN pod as an example, it also specifies that the features can be used with a different model of a targeting pod, only subtle differences may exist (not the whole removal of 5 major air to air features for sure).

PM me and we'll get it sorted