MBot

You are mixing modes. Loft is an ARBCS mode where the pilot designates with the Pickle Button. Offset is a WRCS mode where the WSO designates with the Target Insert button. Two different bombing computers are used by these modes and they are operated differently.

I only tried multiplayer WSO twice so far and on the first time we had that problem as well. The second time when it worked I had "Disable multicrew control input when joining as WSO" enabled in the special options. I don't know if that was coincidence or if there is a causality here, but might be worth to check out further.

First steps into offset bombing with a Radar Identification Point. Biggest challenge seems to be to find a point that is recognizable with the radar with sufficient precision. Please share your tips on how to get most of the radar in ground mapping mode. On this drop I didn't have any wind to make things easier. I guess wind will make this a lot harder.

Also there is zero difference in the audio between a Straight Flush in search mode (allied so it doesn't lock me up) and and track mode (hostile so it locks me up), even though these are two different radar systems. Something seems seriously off here.

I am very sorry but I still do not quite get the audio of the RWR. I set up a single SON-9 Fire Can and made it allied so it doesn't lock me up immediately and it keeps on searching. Visually the radar can be seen rotating at one revolution every 2 seconds. Yet the handoff audio is still just one constant tone. Shouldn't there be some pattern in the audio considering the dish is rotating 360°, or am I completely off here? Its the same with for example the SA-6 Straight Flush STR or the SA-8 in pure search mode.

Perhaps Aspect Switch in the WSO pit not set accordingly? For shots without lock, the Sparrow needs to be told a range of closure rates to look for.

Unless you are doing a high altitude bomber intercept, I think we have to let go of the idea that the Sparrow is a BVR weapon. Especially the AIM-7E. Instead I think we have to look at it as an option for a head-on shot. This might seem redundant considering AIM-9L/M, but we have to remember that F-4E in USAF received all-aspect Sidewinders only just before being decommisioned. For its entire front-line USAF service live it was equipped with rear aspect Sidewinders, so having a head-on capability into the merge with the AIM-7 is significant. I had pretty good success against AI MiG-23 with AIM-7E-2 when getting an early tally. At 5 NM you can initiate a lock with Cage or CAA, then get a shot off at 2-3 NM. These were pretty successful. On the other hand this tactic works very bad against MiG-21 (same scenario just switched plane type). Locks take considerably longer to build up and bad locks are very common (fluctuating closure rate, fluctuating ASE, probably lock on side lobe or something). Is the smaller RCS of the MiG-21 making such a huge difference here? Perhaps in 1 out of 10 cases I had been able to get a Sparrow off prior the merge against the MiG-21, while against the MiG-23 I get a successful AIM-7 shot with a kill in perhaps 90% of the cases.

Sorry my dumb question, but what would the two search radars of the SA-8 be? I am aware of one search radar, one target tracking radar and additionally two separate missile tracking radars (but why would they be on if I am not engaged by missiles yet). Am I missing something or is that a DCS thing that every emitter is on all the time? http://www.flak11.de/9K33-Start.htm

Thank you very much for the feedback JNelson. As mentioned, there are still some aspects of the RWR that are unclear. So why does a single SA-8 show up as 3 seperate emitters instead of 2 (search and tracking radar)?

The manual suggest that in VR, the Jester wheel will now always open at the front in VR: "The dropdown allows selection of the head-tracking behavior: Center - the view-origin is at the aircraft center Dynamic - the view-origin is where the UI was opened Selecting Center requires looking forward when operating the UI, whereas Dynamic allows using head-tracking from any view position. However, Dynamic can lead to having to chase the cursor when closing and re-opening the UI frequently. Also, the Dynamic option is less meaningful in VR, as the UI elements are then all rendered on the front always." For me that is very inconvenient, as I am used from the Tomcat that the UI will open where I am currently looking it. Also both head tracking options are very difficult to use for me. The Center option has cursor origin somewhere between the HUD and the radar display, while the UI is at the HUD level. This means that in order to look at the UI I am already selecting upwards. If I want to make a downwards selection I have to look so far down that it is hard to actually still see the UI. The Dynamic option on the other hand doesn't make any sense when the UI is fixed forward and is nearly unusable in VR (as mentioned in the manual). I am using a Reverb G1. In general I have to say, after a week of use I find that the new Jester UI is a massive step back from the Tomcat in terms of resolution, readability, speed, precision and ease of use. The UI in the Tomcat is crisp, quick and precise.

Thanks for documenting it with screenshots, I have been seeing exactly the same thing.

I am sorry but I do not think this is entierly correct. When I played around with the bombing table tool for a Direct delivery, I changed the speed in small steps but the mils did not adjust until I got the the next 50 kts or so (then the mils changed by a large value of about 20). So something is not working correctly in that case. I will provide some screenshots this evening when I am home. I have been determining a 55 mils value for a 15° dive, 1'500 ft, 540 KTAS with Mk-82 using the active pause methode. In my video posted below I have been hitting these values very precisely and got a direct hit. I can fly this profile repeatetly and get good results. The bombing table tool on the other hand is suggesting 71 mils for these values which is wrong by actual practice.

My initial impression is that the Bombing Table puts out a ballpark figure which probably works good enough if you drop a bomb stick that is 300 ft in length. It seems to have a lookup table or something that isn't very granular. The mils value only seem to change for every 50 knots or so. What I will definitely do is for profiles which I intend to use frequently to confirm mils settings with active pause (put the jet into the desired dive angle, speed altitude, hit active pause, drop a bomb, then dial in the mils to move the pipper on the bomb impact location).

I assume all the ground pounders are knee deep into Dive Toss. And indeed this seems to be the go-to mode most of the time. But I would like to make a case for the Direct delivery when doing a low-level pop-up attack, where everything happens rather quick and you might not have the time to fiddle with Jester doing the ground lock. I just played around with bombing for one Sunday afternoon yet, but coming from my profile for the Mirage F1 I figured out the following parameters which work fairly well: (a) Initiate pop-up maneuver 4.5 NM from target (b) Turn 30° offset left or right (c) Pitch up to 30° climb (d) Climb 3'000 ft over target MSL then initiate pull-down (e) Release parameters: -15° dive -540 KTAS / Mach 0.8 -1'500 ft above target -Piper depression 55 mils for Mk-82 A release interval of 150 ms gives a bomb spacing of about 20 meters. Remember that with this profile, pipper shows the first bomb of the stick. Here is me dropping a single Mk-82 for demonstration purpose. Operationally you want to drop a stick of bombs to increase hit probability. If you are off the release parameters you have to apply error correction. Remember the following shortcuts: -Too Slow -> Short bomb (release late) -Too Fast -> Long bomb (release early) -Too Shallow -> Short bomb (release late) -Too Steep -> Long bomb (release early) (sorry, that starts with s too ) -Too High -> Short bomb (release late) -Too Low -> Long bomb (release early) It's good to know these by heart. I always speak them out loud just before the attack. Now how much should you correct? If you are a quick thinker, there are calculations which you could do on the fly. Most probably will just take a good guess based on experience. With the above rules you will at least correct in the right direction. Also remember that all 3 error corrections sum up. So being a little slow and a little steep might just offset each other etc.

Is settling of the doppler gate of the missile concurent with settling of the launch escape zone and closure velocity on the radar display? I will test this more, but I had the impression that a 2 second delay works consistently with the CAA Lock->Heat->Radar methode.

The manual is in no way addressing a difference with a CAA lock. Since I am in Heat when doing the CAA lock (to have the radar scan centered) and immediately switch to Sparrow to shoot, perhaps that action is perceived the same by the Sparrow as a switch of the Master Arm?

I admit this is a bit difficult to test because I do not know exactly from when a lock "counts". But so far I have the impression that when locking a target in boresight mode, the AIM-7E-2 correctly needs a 4 second delay launch in order to track. But when locking a target with CAA, it seems only a 2 second delay is required to get a tracking shot. Not sure if that is intended.

I have never tested it, but I think it should also work in MP.

Frankly I am not sure. I see plenty of people suggesting to use the vertical. Now I am no expert on this but to me that seems a questionable advice considering the MiG-21bis most likely has a superior T/W ratio (depending on each ones fuel and weapon state).

I have to say I am mildly confused about the supposedly new high-fidelity RWR simulation. So far I haven't noticed anything special about the raw threat audio. When Handoff is selected I can hear a constant buzzing sound, but that doesn't change between search, lock or launch. Is the new RWR even implemented yet or is that still coming later? Also interesting is for example when putting down an SA-8, it will show as an 8 and two U (unknown). Now I understand that the SA-8 has a separate search and track radar. But: (a) Why total 3 emitters for just one SA-8? (b) If the 8 is the track radar and the U is the search radar, why is one recognized by type and the other isn't? (c) If the 8 is the track radar and the U is the search radar, why is 8 showing up when I am not even locked yet?

Exactly, as our 70s Phantom variant and the MiG-21bis are the natural pair, ether in the 70s/early 80s in central Europe or the Iran-Iraq war. So either historical or in DCS, the MiG-21bis is the variant we need to talk about.

The RWR handoff function doesn't work as described in the manual: In the game it currently just seems to toggle raw threat audio for the priority threat, which cannot be changed. Also the manual is unclear whether raw threat audio can only be heard with the handoff function selected (as it functions in the game right now) or whether handoff only serves to change the priority threat (with threat audio being on all the time, as I interpret it).

I think there is an error in the manual regarding this. Under 7.8 it says: If you have the target aligned in boresight and command CAA with Sparrows selected, you will not get a lock because the CAA vertical scan will not pass though the boresight line.

But the MiG-21bis is obviously the only variant relevant for us in DCS.

Here is what I don't get. People always talk about utilizing the Phantom's superior thrust. But the MiG-21bis actually has excellent thrust too. Depending on the specific weights involved, it might even have the T/W advantage.