KA-50 survives a direct hit from Leopard 120mm AP?

Around a week ago I was flying the CAS - medium mission from the SU-25T module converted to support two KA-50s with my friend, and the weirdest thing happened! I got lazy with my dodging and got hit by an AP round from one of the Leopards on the ground, killing my pilot. The funny thing is, my helicopter didn't seem to take any other damage from the hit. From my experience, the chopper should have been turned into a cloud of fine powder and some mangled pieces of steel, but instead it just continued flying. Not even the engines failed. It's a bit weird that a flight simulator would do that when it's clearly capable of modeling damage realistically. I think it's a bug that needs fixing, I didn't find anything related in the new patch notes either.

Is this a known bug or some sort of engine limitation? It seemed extremely silly for the chopper to stay in the air with a 120mm hole right through the center of it, where all the engines and other important electronics are located. If the round wouldn't have hit the pilot right in the face, I would've been perfectly capable of just continuing my flight like nothing happened, and that seems wrong to me.

That's happened to me in a hover above a town. The heli just stayed there, no one able to help, suspended in the air.

The tank probably shot the ATGM which explodes and took out the cockpit only.

Pretty good IMHO.

Well this wasn't an ATGM, it was a 120mm AP round. It shouldn't just kill the pilot and leave all the other systems intact, that's just silly for a game claiming to be a simulator.

the ka-50 has a glitchy part in the nose you can take a 120ap straight to the nose and suffer no damage, maybe its the probe on the front thats the cause of it.

A one-in-a-million sabot shot could definitely go through two sides of the canopy and the pilot's head. A little bit of bulletproof glass isn't enough resistance to make the penetrator consume itself in a toxic fireball, which is the real killer.

I have had this exact same thing happen to me twice after being hit head on by a tank.

A one-in-a-million sabot shot could definitely go through two sides of the canopy and the pilot's head. A little bit of bulletproof glass isn't enough resistance to make the penetrator consume itself in a toxic fireball, which is the real killer.

It was coming from head on though, it should've gone through the whole helicopter. That should be enough to at least stop the engines running.

I got sniped once by a F15 pilot coming right in front of me. Sniped as in "headshot". Pilot was dead, but my KA, on route mode, continued its route as if nothing happened, good as new.

Ap rounds do not explode but if its been a Hit from 12 O´Clock its weird.

Guys ....you are using Autohover and Hover itself to much.

Useing hit and run tactics and trying to stay out of the range would help such things happen much less.

Remember that munitions and damage modelling of ground units isn't modelled to the level as the aircraft themselves. I think its impressive enough that the collision box of the new generation of DCS aircraft are made of "components". A round can pass through a cockpit killing the pilot while leaving the aircraft in full function. Also...isn't the cockpit a titanium bath tub like the Su-25 and A-10? so any blast should be contained in there.

I think modelling an explosion in the cockpit and the dynamics that would damage a "single" console responsible for engine power etc is just overkill.

I think we would rather benefit from ED implementing something like havok to upgrade the damage models of objects...better special fx for the EDGE.

AP rounds DO NOT explode when hitting "soft" targets. A modern APFSDS rounds is essentially a long pointy tungsten or DU rod. The cockpit is indeed armored, but not anywhere near the league of an MBT so it could withstand a 120mm caliber APFSDS round.

Around a week ago I was flying the CAS - medium mission from the SU-25T module converted to support two KA-50s with my friend, and the weirdest thing happened! I got lazy with my dodging and got hit by an AP round from one of the Leopards on the ground, killing my pilot. The funny thing is, my helicopter didn't seem to take any other damage from the hit. From my experience, the chopper should have been turned into a cloud of fine powder and some mangled pieces of steel, but instead it just continued flying. Not even the engines failed. It's a bit weird that a flight simulator would do that when it's clearly capable of modeling damage realistically. I think it's a bug that needs fixing, I didn't find anything related in the new patch notes either.

 

Is this a known bug or some sort of engine limitation? It seemed extremely silly for the chopper to stay in the air with a 120mm hole right through the center of it, where all the engines and other important electronics are located. If the round wouldn't have hit the pilot right in the face, I would've been perfectly capable of just continuing my flight like nothing happened, and that seems wrong to me.

This is game, not real life.

Last night i took full brust from shilka right to front of my huey. Distance was about 200meters , i was in hover.. Lots of holes in my huey but i just keep flying. No single warning lights or anything.

Talk about game balance. :D:joystick:

But it was not first time , looks like our planes have some extra armor.

The helicopter damage models is something I have been annoyed with for some time.

I've posted about this in the bugs section multiple times, but nothing has been done about it.

I've attached a track where I try and shoot down different types of helicopters with Vikhrs.

All but the Mi-8 take need two or more Vikhr hits to take down. Yet a Vikhr can destroy a tank!?

VIKHR vs Helicopters.trk

This is game, not real life.

 

Last night i took full brust from shilka right to front of my huey. Distance was about 200meters , i was in hover.. Lots of holes in my huey but i just keep flying. No single warning lights or anything.

 

Talk about game balance. :D:joystick:

 

But it was not first time , looks like our planes have some extra armor.

looks like the pilots could be terminators.

It seems like there's no actual penetration modeled in the game. Modern APFSDS round would go through several BMPs but in DCS it will be stopped by the first one. It also seems like this holds for aircrafts damage sections. If you happen to hit the nose with an AP round you make only superficial damage as anything behind the nose is saved even though in real life the round would have went through the aircraft and exited through the rear.

The helicopter damage models is something I have been annoyed with for some time.

 

I've posted about this in the bugs section multiple times, but nothing has been done about it.

 

I've attached a track where I try and shoot down different types of helicopters with Vikhrs.

 

All but the Mi-8 take need two or more Vikhr hits to take down. Yet a Vikhr can destroy a tank!?

If you used AA Mode the Vikhr explodes in front of the target via Radio command causing a Shrapnel cloud which is like a Shotgun hit for the target.

Its not made to Detstroy the Target its made to max out the strike probability.... and turn the target unusable.

If you used AA Mode the Vikhr explodes in front of the target via Radio command causing a Shrapnel cloud which is like a Shotgun hit for the target.

 

Its not made to Detstroy the Target its made to max out the strike probability.... and turn the target unusable.

Well it would be nice if the targets actually WERE made unusable. :)

Sometimes the helicopters don't even seem to take any damage at all from a hit.

Yeah Checked it ...thats Strange!!!!! I also fired in AG mode on Airborne Helicopters. Mostly on Direct hits nothing happens to them or the Missile Glitches through ...especialy the OH-58 Kiowa.

I test again at longer Distance.

I tested again.

AA mode does Damage but less Damage as expected depends on where the Missile hits the Target. A/G mode does more or less but nearly no Damage.

This A/G mode glitch on the Kiowa is pretty strange.;)

Here is the track i used Boris mission and tweaked the Distance.

Yeah, the Kiowa is especially ridiculous, as it's the least well armored.

I also just had another go, this time without AA fusing to ensure direct impacts.

Both the Apache and the Hind took three direct hits to the face before taking any meaningful damage. After the third Vikhr hit, the Hind just started burning a bit and went for an emergency landing.

Yeah, the Kiowa is especially ridiculous, as it's the least well armored.

 

I also just had another go, this time without AA fusing to ensure direct impacts.

 

Both the Apache and the Hind took three direct hits to the face before taking any meaningful damage. After the third Vikhr hit, the Hind just started burning a bit and went for an emergency landing.

That sounds pretty disgusting. There's no way a helicopter should survive that. ED needs to get working on the damage model of these things, that's not the sort of thing that should happen in a hardcore flight simulator. I could understand if this was Battlefield 2, but it seems even that game has a better damage model for helicopters, at least they get destroyed from a tank gun hit.

It must be a Russian thing :D

Play World of Tanks enough and you get to experience the magical power of the KV series of tanks, with special AP ammo-eating Stalinium armoured tracks which chomp your rounds so they do no damage ;) Maybe it's the same for some heli's?

the ai helicopters need to be hit in the engines to do anything meaningful to them with a vikhr, so aim there.

I also suffered a direct hit from Abrams with unknown type of ammo. This screen is quite old now, so I don't remember the damage to the systems caused by this, but I made it safely to my home base :D

the ai helicopters need to be hit in the engines to do anything meaningful to them with a vikhr, so aim there.

Discover and hit the weak spot... This sounds like something out of a boss fight on a PS3 game. :P

I'm pretty sure a Vikhr hit to anywhere on a helicopter would take it out of the fight 99% of the time.

As it is now, a Vikhr to the canopy won't kill the pilot and a Vikhr to the tail won't blow it off. Hitting the rotor on some choppers also doesn't damage it. Surely a high explosive warhead to a highly sensitive part of an aircraft would cripple it... at the moment nope.

Two or three Vikhrs will eventually do the job, but I think this is more a case of the damage models hit points being exhausted.