MBot

It is great that Ugra is adding a lot of heliports on their maps. But when I am flying fixed wing I am not really interested in them and they clutter up the F10/ME map a lot. Would be great to be able to filter them out when not needed. Additional map markers with respective filters for point of interests like prepared SAM sites, army bases, training grounds, ports etc. would also be great. So you find these things quickly when you need to but can filter them away most of the time.

I think it is absolutely fair for people to express their wishes with regards to a potential expansion of the map. So *if* Ugra ever is the position, both from a financial, resources and technical point of view, to expand the map, they can make an informed decision that is based on community feedback. But I think people at this point should not expect any expansions. Frankly, just a couple months ago I didn't think that a Germany map even as extensive as Phase 1 would be technically feasible. Perhaps these discussions about map expansions might be a bit inappropriate at this time, potentially hours from the initial release. Just enjoy that this project even exists

I just happened to practice some manual low level loft attacks against SA-6 and SA-8 and made some interesting observations. I noticed that Mk49 Mod 0 and Mod 1 guide against SA-6 and SA-8 every now and then. Please see the attached track. In the first attack I launch two Mk49 Mod 0 against an SA-6. One of the two missiles guides. In the second attack I launch two Mk-49 Mod 1. Again, one of the two missiles tracks. The seekers were in Loft mode to facilitate a manually executed loft maneuver. Can someone else replicate this? What is interesting is that when setting up a simple test case (spawn aircraft 5NM above a target, launch Direct Shrikes in active pause and observe tone/tracking), I can 100% replicate the table above. Mk49 Mod 0/1 provide tone against SA-6/8 but do not track. Is the seeker being in direct or loft possible making a difference in its tracking abilities (which would seem like a bug because it shouldn't make a difference)? Also another observation about the Mk49 Mod 0/1 against SA-6/8. The tone that is produced seems to be related to the search radar (comes on and off at the same rate as the search radar rotates). Shouldn't these seekers be on the tracking radar's frequency though (which should produce a constant tone)? This whole situation with the Shrikes and the seekers is really unsatisfactory. It is a complex system in the first place, but we can't tell whether something that doesn't work is due to user error or bug. This really needs to be cleaned up and officially documented properly. SA-6_Shrike.trk

As far as I can tell, all air bases in East Germany, both for the Soviet 16th Air Army and the NVA air force, will be completely covered. Very impressive!

Interestingly, the nearby Fliegerhorst Nordholz is on the Phase 2 list. Nordholz has only been a base for maritime patrol aircraft ("only" in the context of DCS). If Ugra can't do any more airbases (which would be totally understandable, they are already doing more then I ever expected), perhaps it could be discussed to switch Nordholz with Jever to give the Marineflieger Tornados a place. Admittedly, Nordholz would probably also have hosted US reinforcements. Edit: I have been mistaken, Jever was a Luftwaffe Tornado base, not Marineflieger.

A shame we don't have a RAF Harrier GR.3. Imagine the nice Harrier field sites that Ugra would have done for this map

With the Cold War Germany map coming up shortly, adding the Strela-2M SA-7 is getting critical.

While all the previews for this map look fantastic, what stands out for me the most are the SAM sites. Never have there been better looking and more accurate SAM sites in DCS. Considering that after the air bases themselves, this will be map objects I will interact the most with in a military flight sim, this is a great step forward. Also these Aist-class hovercrafts are looking fantastic. I am hoping it will be possible to turn them into active units in the future. I know that map objects generally do not have that ultra high level of details that ED now pushes for with ground units. So I am not sure if ED would allow such a transfer (and remodeling by Ugra is probably unfeasible). But frankly the level of details shown here by Ugra as a map object is in my opinion absolutely sufficient for a flight sim. The Aist-class hovercrafts would be very welcome units, also for the Kola map and as targets for the Viggen.

Really cool to have these civilian airstrips as well. Apparently the Pact air forces planned to disperse into various reserve airfields including grass strips. https://16va.be/aerodromes_eng.html https://16va.be/emergency_strips.html

Ok I found the issue, and you will love it It is the DCS Launcher. When I disable the DCS Launcher, Jester can't move the cursor. When I enable the DCS Launcher, Jester can move the cursor again. Wild, isn't it?

I would also be very interested to see the SAM sites. Also very good call about the usability of the EWR sites. Here is an idea. Is it possible in DCS to make the pedestial+radome a scenery object but not include a hitbox for the radome (or perhaps just leaving the hitbox open on top)? Perhaps that way a usable radar unit can be placed in the mission editor atop the scenery pedestal that would then go inside the radome. I am very excited about this map, it seems that Ugra is again doing a first class job here. Comparing the level of detail that Ugra is previewing here, with things like military bases or modeling of coastlines, makes it painfully obvious what a substandard effort the Kola map really is. I was looking forward so much for Kola as my primary, cold war themed map in DCS. But it has been pretty disappointing so far. It seems that Ugra will finally fulfill my need.

There might be a misunderstanding what locking mans in regards to DT. You do not lock a specific point on the ground that is then being tracked. You lock the ground return in the bore-sighted radar beam. If you move the aircraft, the bore-sighted radar beam moves with it and therefore also the distance of the ground return that is being tracked changes. The moment you press pickle, the current slant range to the tracked ground return in the radar beam (which is aligned with the pipper) is transferred to the WRCS and is subsequently used together with the INS to determine a valid release condition. The ability of the radar to reliably track the ground return when the radar beam is moved over the landscape is another question though.

I appreciate your response, but we have gone through it up-thread. I am a fairly experienced manual bomber and I can say with confidence that the Bombing Table values for Direct are still not correct. There is no new information that I can add here. Please just try it out yourself.

Just a little heads-up for HB, the Bombing Table is still way off for Direct. Easily reproducible using the active pause method. At any point hit active pause, drop a bomb, dial the pipper over the impact point to measure the actual mils and then compare it with the value given by the Bombing Table using your current flight parameters.

This is an easy high angle profile for Direct that keeps you above the lethal AAA zone. (a) Level ingress at medium altitude (b) Roll in when target is at outer lower edge of canopy rail (c) Release parameters: -30° dive -530 KTAS / Mach 0.8 (throttle idle) -5'000 ft above target -Piper depression 107 mils for Mk-82

Thanks for checking. It is indeed a weird issue. Jester seems to be working otherwise. He calls out visual, RWR and radar contacts as usual. Jester Wheel is also working. I also I tried to turn Jester off and back on again through the wheel.

It stays the same. A friend also suggested to check whether antivirus has quarantined any HB files, but it is not that either as far as I can tell. Thanks for checking. I had a to do a lot of Direct bombing today

Sure. Due to the nature of the issue there isn't really a whole lot to see. I press Cage and put the nose on the bandit. On my end the cursor stays centered and is not tracking the return. JesterNoTrack.trk

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately this doesn't work. I have removed both the Antenna Control Stick assignment in the WSO pit as well as the WSO hotkey buttons from the front pit (WSO axis' from the front pit I had not assigned), but this doesn't address the issue. It would have surprised me anyhow, considering I have collected hundreds of hours playing with my control assignments.

I wonder if anyone has yet experienced this. Since a couple of days, Jester is no longer moving the radar cursor. He is talking and otherwise seems active as usual. But with the radar in search he no longer moves the cursor onto contacts and tracks them (thus making it impossible to lock them), no longer moves the cursor in cage mode onto returns in the radar beam or moves the cursor in Dive Toss onto the ground return. When in DT and ordering Jester to lock, after a long delay he will eventually just initiate the lock where the radar cursor was by default (thus resulting in a bad lock). He really just seems to no longer move the cursor around. I am a regular Phantom player since its release, flying it two times a week on average. Everything was working normally in a MP session on Sunday 2.3. Then in my next MP session on Thursday 6.3. the problem came up. I retested it yesterday and today in SP, with the same problem. I am not aware of there being a DCS update in between or me making any changes. I run a repair to no avail. Has anyone yet seen anything like that?

Preferences obviously differ, but personally all I ever wanted was the original Cold War-era Tomcat. I never wanted the F-14B, LANTIRN or now the B(U). If Heatblur would have just released the early F-14A 5 years ago and then been done with it, I would have been happy.

Happy new year. I wonder if AI radar performance get finally fixed in 2025.

How to loft GBU-10/12 laser-guided bombs using Pave Spike without a human WSO. I am sure this is not the only way to do it but it works fairly reliably for me. Flying this demanding attack profile solo is actually more practical than it might first appear, considering that the WSO cannot work Pave Spike while the pilot maneuvers and the pilot cannot maneuver while the WSO works Pave Spike. It is therefore possible for a single player to perform both pilot and WSO tasks in sequence. The only real downside is a reduction of situation awareness compared to a two-human crew. Required bindings: Front cockpit: a) [WSO] Antenna Hand Controller Trigger – Half Action (button) b) [WSO] Insert Target Button Rear cockpit: Antenna Hand Controller (for Pave Spike) Attack planning: Find and select a Visual IP (VIP) 10-15 NM from target (use map). Note true bearing and distance from VIP to target. Determine N/S and W/E offset in feet from VIP to target. You can do this by using the "Offset" mode of delivery in the Bombing Table. It doesn't matter that you will not actually perform an Offset attack. All other parameters in the table can be ignored. You only need it to calculate N/S WRCS and W/E WRCS. Determine target elevation in feet. Cockpit setup: Front cockpit: a) Delivery Mode: TGT FIND b) Select weapon: BOMBS c) Stations: as required d) QTY: as required e) Arm Fuze: NOSE & TAIL f) Master Arm: ARM g) Select HUD Mode: A/G h) Toggle Flight Director: vertical i) Select DSCG Screen Mode: TV Rear cockpit: a) WRCS Panel: N/S DISTANCE (distance in feet x 100 from VIP to target) b) WRCS Panel: W/E DISTANCE (distance in feet x 100 from VIP to target) c) WRCS Panel: ALT (target elevation in feet x 100) d) DRAG COEFFICIENT: 1.15 (this is just a rough guess but seems to work fairly well to loft GBU-10/12 from 5 NM) (a-c can also entered by JESTER via the Bombing Table) Execution: Approach the Visual IP. When directly overhead, press "[WSO] Insert Target Button" (WSO hotkey from front cockpit). This will insert a WRCS target at the set offset from your present position (i.e. the target position). You will now have ADI/HSI steering to the target and the Pave Spike will be put into Memory Mode and gets slaved to the WCRS target position. Note that at this stage (Memory Mode) Pave Spike will not yet generate any weapon release calculations. It will still be required to put Pave Spike into Track Mode (see below). Fly directly towards the target using the steering provided by the ADI and HSI. When approximately 6-7 NM from the target start a shallow climb. This will ensure that Pave Spike is "unwinded" correctly. Background info: When flying level, the Pave Spike pod has a nose down attitude. To be aligned with the WRCS target forward, the Pave Spike head will probably be rotated upwards. When you start to pull up, the head needs about 2 seconds to rotate 180° in order to be able to track downwards. It is important to give the pod sufficient time to "unwind" before entering into Track Mode (next step). When about 500 ft above target elevation, press "[WSO] Antenna Hand Controller Trigger – Half Action (button)" (WSO hotkey from front cockpit). This will put Pave Spike into Track Mode (without laser) and it will now generate weapon release calculations. Background info: Entering Track Mode at a too shallow view angle to the target has the potential for considerable error in the tracked position. Tiny variation in pod elevation angle will result in considerable horizontal variation. Entering Track Mode at a steeper angle to the target will increase the likelihood to track the correct position. Press and hold the Bomb Release Button until the bombs are released. Pull up into the loft maneuver following the directions on the gunsight or flight director. You should be around 5 NM from target at this point. When the bombs are released, swiftly but smoothly roll 135° to the right and begin to pull down. Continue to turn for 90°. Then roll back left to a 45° bank into the target while maintaining level flight. You want to end up in a level 45°-bank left turn with the target at your 9 o'clock. At this attitude Pave Spike will have a clear line-of sight to the left towards the target at a mostly constant distance for the full duration of the laser designation phase. If you have too little bank angle, the target will start to wander aft at increasing distance and eventually move out of view before bomb impact. If you descend during the designation phase, the angle to the target will become too shallow to reliably lase the target. When the designation attitude has been achieved, stabilize the aircraft (some trim up might be needed) and enable Attitude Hold Autopilot. It is very important to be stabilized before enabling the autopilot. Otherwise the autopilot might disengage and you nose down unnoticed into the ground while working with Pave Spike from the WSO cockpit (see below). At this point the bomb will probably have reached the apex of its trajectory. Switch to the WSO cockpit to control Pave Spike directly. Move the sight on target with the hand controller, then enable the laser with Trigger Full Action. Continue to track the target by hand until bomb impact. Upon bomb impact, turn off the laser (Trigger Full Action), switch to the front cockpit and turn off the autopilot. Descend and initiate evasive maneuvers/egress.

Excellent questions! As with my own humble attempt with my old DCE, which left out ground warware completely, a dynamic campaign can revolve entierly around a struggle for strategic targets. It basically is the question what role the defending IADS (EWR, SAM, airbases) and target map scenery objects will play. As there are thousands of property-less scenery objects on a given map, I think there will need to be an interface for the human campaign designer to manually designate certain scenery objects as relevant for a campaign. Like this building is a party HQ, presidential palace, power plant, warehouse, factory, fuel storage or command post etc.

While it may be realistic, I can gladly do without getting hearing damage while playing a game Thanks, I will give it a try!