tactic question; drag the fight to contrails level?

[WildBillKelsoe]

I noticed that contrails can actually help locating bandits (small ones).... is this a sound tactic?

[pr1malr8ge]

I would say No.. if you climb and he knows it you're just giving a HOT target against a Cold ass Sky. Not to mention much easier for radar to see you. Then you have the fact that when you enter he will see you first and may never even go up there.. you also have to consider the amount of smash you will loose trying to get to the cons if you're at a lower altitude. If you're being persued your increase in altitude will result in him closing the gap should he choose not to gain altitude either and may get him into a prime missile launch distance.

 

On the flip side. if you're both above cons diving down through the cons will give a way your position but it also give you ground clutter help with radar and when he goes down to persuit you will pick him up once he starts conning..

 

As far as it being a tactic. Personally no.

Edited September 10, 2015 by pr1malr8ge

[DarkFire]

That's not a tactic I'd choose to use. Assuming an air-to-air engagement against a relatively equal enemy aircraft it's not a good idea, for all the reasons pr1malr8ge mentioned. Ultimately contrails are like tracer rounds - they work in both directions.

 

Even if we assume we're flying an F-15 or Su-27, the aircraft best equipped in terms of engine performance to get up there, and secondly that we're going A-2-A against a significantly inferior enemy such as an A-10 or Su-25, your radar performance will be degraded and contrailing will give the enemy pilot a huge SA advantage as they will instantly know where you are.

 

The one and only time I'd ever go up that far would be if I knew, absolutely knew stone cold, that the only thing facing me was a very distant target that couldn't really fight back, e.g. a long-range intercept against an un-escorted transport, AWACS or similar. Otherwise, I suppose the altitude is nice for long distance transits but not for combat.

[Sanguchito]

No, you might caught atention of nearby enemies, the best you can do if you have high energy is to stick lower than the bandit and use the sky contrast to spot him.

[Stuge]

The only time I use contrails in this manner is in a flanker vs flanker guns only dogfight: if the enemy uses energy tactics, goes up, and I realize I cannot catch him in a vertical climb, I keep following him until he hits contrails (push him into the contrails) and only then disengage for a dive. This way I can easily see where the bad guy is just with a glance back, while focusing on making a good dive and not crashing.

[winchesterdelta1]

What i do is not dragging the fight into contrails. But i do use the contrails to give the enemy a false sense of security. So they get careless and are fixated on the contrail. This works especially good when you work with a wingman. But don't be fooled. Some people don't fall for this trick. It can be a highly dangerous tactic because others you don't see do see you.

[ironroad]

Online: Depends

If you have good mutual support, good coms between players, and/or AWACs, I say go for it. in the F-15 Flying high can work in your favor if you fighting with good wingmen. It takes good communication and coordination, but can be effective. One section up high with radar on amd one section medium to low to bounce anyone that slips through the net or tries to pop-up or zoom climb (preferably radar off and eyes glued to the terrain and TEWs). Yes it gives the opposing force (especially if they are Russian) a better radar picture of you, but you also have the APG63 (although the 70s-80s vintage version). Also gives your AMRAAMs and SPARROWs a bit more range because they go into "loft mode".

Downsides are, you can't maneuver and escape as easy. You will bleed a lot of speed trying to maneuver. IRST can still get you. A lot of fights turn into pure missile slinging duels (everyone cuts loose with their active radar missiles seeing who will blink first). If you are on an mixed A/A and A/G server, the AI will have an easier time firing SAMs at you.

 

Offline: Doesn't matter much, the AI already knows where you are in relation to everything else. Although flying high makes it easier for MIG-31s, SA-10/20s, PAC, or ships (usually AEGIS-guided SM missiles) to bite you as you set up the perfect intercept parameters which the AI can then act on.

[WildBillKelsoe]

No, you might caught atention of nearby enemies, the best you can do if you have high energy is to stick lower than the bandit and use the sky contrast to spot him.

 

 

 

trust me with the blue sky and dark bandits its eye hurting as it is.. still better than ground contrasting bandits in a predominantly vegan map..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk