[SU-27] AWACS Hunt (Instant Action)

Hi

I'm trying to add several Instant Action missions for the Su-27 used as quick training opportunities.

As I'm way less experienced than most of you, I'd gladly read some feedback on that first Intercept mission.

The reference post and download are here.

DESCRIPTION:

Basically, I used the default Su-27 Intercept mission and modified it.

Your Su-27 and your wingman are still near Beslan and the "threat" is located above the mountains. The wingman skill is set to "excellent". Loadout: gun, R-27R, R-73.

I was experimenting with some degree of randomization:

You will encounter a first third generation fighter group (F-4E or F-5E) with random AI skills.

The main target is an E-3 AWACS escorted by two F-15C (high + random AI skill) almost armed to the teeth (AIM-7 instead of AIM-120C).

If the first group is destroyed or at least one of the Eagles is down, the E-3 is tasked to RTB (Tbilisi).

Most of the time, that will happen as soon as you get rid of the first two fighters.

Another trigger will spawn a reinforcement group (F-16A (70% chance) or F/A-18C (30% chance)).

That's it. 3 groups and probably too many deadly missiles to kill you.

I couldn't beat the mission yet. Either I get shot by a missile, or I run out of fuel or ammo etc. If the wingman is killed early, it becomes very challenging (for me at least).

In my opinion, it's fun (and challenging) due to different factors:

- it's hard to use the missiles efficiently and have a chance to kill all the bandits

- you can end up dogfighting over the mountains against the F/A-18 or the F-16A

- probably: gun training

- great situation awareness development even with the help of the russian AWACS

- fuel management (and you may be tempted to go full AB WVR)

- defensive maneuvers training

- crosswind landing at Beslan if you make it

- fighting in the sunset with the AB is a delight for the eyes

My main concerns are the difficulty settings:

- would it be better to have the Sorbitsiya ECM pods?

- that may be too much to handle for two Flankers

- is the distance of engagement set correctly for the different fighter groups?

- would it be interesting to set a random spawn chance for the friendly AWACS

Please, feel free to suggest any modification or addition. :thumbup:

I'd really need some feedback to tweak the mission.

When it will seem balanced I'll generate a JSGME compatible file to insert the mission in the DCS FC3 Instant Action menu.

A very simple mission, and I hope you'll like it!

This sounds like a challenge I would like to try. Although initially it sounds like HELL, if your fighters are all 2 ships, then in theory we have enough missiles for them all... provided we use them well. If it were my call, I would sacrifice two missiles for those ECM pods. There's a good chance we'd be going against AMRAAMs or Sparrows in that bunch of bandits.

Gonna clicky the link and download this. I'll let you know how I like it.

Sounds like fun, and a nice thing to turn into a quick co-op mission for a challenge with a friend. I'll check it out next time I'm flying Russian.

Great. Let us know what you think and how you engaged the bandits. Best of luck!

I tried to beat it yesterday but I still got spanked pretty hard (about ten times) before the following (still spanked/no victory).

I encountered the F-4 and the F/A-18 with their load of Sparrows and Amraams…

The first fighter group could (should?) be engaged without alerting the Eagles (they're tasked to protect the E-3 and will only engage if you cross a 60km limit). The E-3 will RTB if the first group is destroyed.

As the AWACS was on its way back to Tbilisi, I tried to approach the group with the EOS (IRST) only (radar-OFF order to the wingman). Of course the F-15 are still triggered within the 60km limit (could be increased in the mission editor), but it may be better to get as close as possible to get the E-3. I don't think we can avoid detection in the mountain with that AWACS up there (I'll try).

Somehow I managed to survive but I missed a F-15 which fled while I was struggling in the mountain with the F/A-18. My wingman got killed by one of them and I had to engage them with the gun. Very difficult.

During the dogfight over the Great Caucasus, one F/A-18 crashed into the mountain. I was out of CMs, out of missiles, and almost out of fuel.

I finally gunned down the remaining F/A-18 with the bingo fuel already yelling at me, and forced to use the AB to survive. Nasty.

I burnt the last sip of fuel to reach about 4500m (still near the mountains) where I slowly dived to Beslan, maintaining a speed around 450 kmh. My very first fuel-less approach and landing (with crosswind!). It kept the adrenaline pumping until the end! (I had no idea how far I could go)

I even considered landing on a road and I kept searching for a good spot while my altitude was slowly droping.

Fortunately, as I was out of anything, the Flanker was light enough and flew surprisingly well on its way back to base. I ended up in the grass but without ruining the landing gear (thanks to the crosswind). I struggled to manage my landing speed, pitch and alignment with that crosswind. (I need rudder pedals…)

What's horrible for me is trying to dodge all those missiles. It's really hard to be efficient when you can't maintain a lock to shoot a precious R-27R. The F/A-18 were literally spamming their missiles during their approach. I think I only survived because my wingman was higher and I dived to the mountains.

Keeping track of the last fighter group in the dogfight is also really hard above the mountain. It's mostly grey color over grey color and if they don't use their AB it's just hell.

Also, I fell in love with the HMS and EOS. It helped me track and lock the Hornets in the mountain.

Among the many things I have to improve: I miss way too much with the R-73 at close range. I try to avoid the high angles and preserve the energy (get higher than the target, not in high-G turn) but the three Archers I shot all missed the Hornets :/ Any advice is very welcome.

I will also try to change the loadout in favor of the Sorbitsiya and get rid of those R-27ET (I can't get any hit with them :( ) - but I know I'll miss those two precious R-73…

Using the Tacview ACMI should help improving and understanding the events.

The mission could be fun in MP. Indeed.

I'll try to record a video if I manage to beat the mission, but I doubt it will happen soon ;)

(long post with no pictures, sorry for that)

Rough mission, but doable. What I did was send my wingman out to tangle with the F-4s that spawned in first. I had the trailer targeted but the missile I shot was wasted, because my wingman had him tagged by the time I got my shot in his neighborhood.

When the F-15s came to investigate I took them out one by one and zeroed in on the AWACS. They had their jammers on (mistake number 1), and they did not cover each other well, but I set MY wingman to "cover me". The first Eagle decided to head into the mountains for some ungodly reason. I took him out with a radar guided missile. While that was going on, Eagle two shot a couple AMRAAMs at us, which I avoided. We merged, he flew past, I banked into him, and tagged him with a heatseeker (R-27ET actually). Once he was down, it did not take long to find that AWACS at all and make a beeline for him.

I sent my wingman after the Falcons that then spawned and I just went full burners till I caught up with AWACS. There was NO WAY IN HELL I was gonna get distracted from the AWACS by those two Vipers. A minute later, and two missiles made sure AWACS was never landing again. By the time I finished with the AWACS, wingman had already popped a Falcon. I tagged the last one as he was egressing from us. He just kinda flew right into it. It was brilliant.

Of course the downside?

Since I am SO USED to the Su-33, and totally forgot this is a different flight model, after my victory I managed to crash the jet just short of Beslan's runway. HAHAHAHAHA! Pilot error!!

Sadly, no video, but I can try it again later and see if I do as well. It took me like 5 tries to get this win, and that first time was HORRIBLE. I was totally NOT prepared to take on any enemies at all.

If I run this later I might make some mods to the miz. I really wanna try it as my fictional "Dyavoly Squadron" Su-33 that I fly for my youtube vids. If I end up doing that, I WILL record this.

Great mission sir. I played the original version, as well as did my own take on it months ago with the Su-33, but I really liked the way you did this one. Made it feel really satisfying when that AWACS goes ka-boom, after all the hell it took to get to it.

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback Belgeode. Now I know it's doable and I'll have to train, train, train.

I should try to order some basic maneuvers to my wingman (bracket right and such) and see how it goes. It could be more efficient to quickly get rid of that first group.

And it's a good thing the landing was not a generic and boring task ;)

Yes, please, do upload and share a video if you fly the Dyavoly Squadron!

I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge.