Crunchy Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 Why do I get so many missile warnings in the A10C, even when they are not headed my way? When the red warming light keeps flashing and beeping, I keep thinking a missile is locked onto me when it isn't. How can I determine if the missile has my name written all over it and is meant for me? :thumbup:
Mike Busutil Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 The Missile Warning System (MWS) cannot distinguish between enemy and friendly missiles or air launched missiles from ground launched missiles. As such, you may receive launch indications from both friendly and ground units. When a laser illumination on the aircraft is detected, an “L” is displayed along the azimuth the laser was detected. The symbol will continue to appear as long as the laser illumination is detected. Read page 410 of the A-10C Warthog flight manual :thumbup: 1 [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Checkout my user files here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/filter/user-is-Mike Busutil/apply/
Yurgon Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 To put it another way: Would you rather only be warned about those missiles that are definitely 100% coming for you, or about all that might be aimed at you? Now if I was flying those things for real, I know what my answer would be. ;)
dotChuckles Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 A lot of this can be helped with good communication if you happen to be playing online. It's why FOX and RIFLE calls are so important. If you're buddy calls out one of those you know the the MWS is probably a friendly. If you haven't, break hard, chaff chaff flare flare and start notching. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Crunchy Posted December 18, 2015 Author Posted December 18, 2015 When a laser illumination on the aircraft is detected, an “L” is displayed along the azimuth the laser was detected. The symbol will continue to appear as long as the laser illumination is detected. Read page 410 of the A-10C Warthog flight manual :thumbup: I've never noticed an "L" pop up when a radar is tracking me. I'll have to look out for that and read page 410 of the manual. I've read the manual like 3 times now and with so much to remember it's like I've never read it sometimes. I'll ask another question though that might help me out a little bit. When a missile is launched at what range from your aircraft does the red missile warning light start to flash?
Retu81 Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 Always fun to get a missile launch warning when flying with other players. After everyone has stopped the wild gyrations in the sky, someone will say in the TS: "Oh, yeah. Rifle. Sorry." :D 2
Steggles Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 I've never noticed an "L" pop up when a radar is tracking me. I'll have to look out for that and read page 410 of the manual. I've read the manual like 3 times now and with so much to remember it's like I've never read it sometimes. I'll ask another question though that might help me out a little bit. When a missile is launched at what range from your aircraft does the red missile warning light start to flash? The 'L' is not radar, it is laser illumination. Meaning a laser is painting your aircraft, very different from a radar threat. Also, I think the red missile launch light turns off 10 seconds after the detected missile's rocket motor stops burning. Don't have the manual in front of me so can't check the exact timeframe. The A10's MWS is different system to the f15 etc. All it detects is the infra-red of a missiles rocket motor, and when this is detected, it sounds the warning. This is why you get warnings regardless if the missile was launched at you or not. It has no way of distinguishing. Edit: I believe the red light starts flashing as soon as a launch is detected. -16AGR- 16th Air Guards Regiment is always looking for pilots - http://www.16agr.com EWRS - Early Warning Radar Script Specs: Gigabyte Sniper Z5-S Intel i5-4670k 3.4GHz OC'd 3.9GHz w/ Thermaltake 120mm Water 3.0 Pro Liquid CPU Cooler 16GB RAM Gigabyte GTX 1080 TM Hotas Warthog: SN: 06976 Saitek Pro Flight Combat Rudder Pedals TrackIR5 with TrackClipPro & Oculus Rift 2x 28" 4k UHD Monitors (3840x2160 each) + 1280x1024
QuiGon Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) Just to make this clear: MWS and RWR are different things, they just use the same display.. While the A-10C has both, the F-15 (in DCS) only has a RWR. The RWR detects foreign radar signals painting your aircraft and can distinguish between different radar types and modes (search, lock). It gives Missile Warnings, when a radar guided missile has been fired at you. The MWS on the other hand detects missile launches by their heat signature. So it can be about anything: - ground launched SAM - ground launched ATGM - air launched air-to-air missile - air launched air-to-ground missile - it could even be reflections of the sun on the water or windows (at least IRL) It does not distinguish between radar or infrared missiles and it also can't tell if it's a friendly missile or a hostile missile and if it's launched at you or someone else. Edited December 18, 2015 by QuiGon Intel i7-12700K @ 8x5GHz+4x3.8GHz + 32 GB DDR5 RAM + Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 (8 GB VRAM) + M.2 SSD + Windows 10 64Bit DCS Panavia Tornado (IDS) really needs to be a thing!
Yurgon Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) The MWS on the other hand detects missile launches by their heat signature. So it can be about anything: [...] IIRC Ed Macy wrote in "Apache" (or maybe in "Hellfire") that his MWS went off as a B-1 flew by with full burners. Needless to say those were a few very intense seconds, until they realized that the missile launch indication was apparently a false alarm. ;) Edit: I realized that not everyone will have read the books yet (but you should! :thumbup:). This happened to the crew of a British AH Mk1 Apache, which is basically an AH-64D with better engines. I assume the Apache's MWS works the same way as the A-10C's. Edited December 18, 2015 by Yurgon Clarification
Croaker47 Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 The 'L' is not radar, it is laser illumination. Meaning a laser is painting your aircraft, very different from a radar threat. Also, I think the red missile launch light turns off 10 seconds after the detected missile's rocket motor stops burning. Don't have the manual in front of me so can't check the exact timeframe. The A10's MWS is different system to the f15 etc. All it detects is the infra-red of a missiles rocket motor, and when this is detected, it sounds the warning. This is why you get warnings regardless if the missile was launched at you or not. It has no way of distinguishing. Edit: I believe the red light starts flashing as soon as a launch is detected. Some IR missiles have laser fusing for detonation, correct?
Yurgon Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 Some IR missiles have laser fusing for detonation, correct? I guess if a missile's proximity detectors cause your RWR/MWS to show the laser warning indication, you'll have a few fractions of a second to wonder what that might mean. :music_whistling: But TBH, I have no clue whether these would show on a laser warning receiver, and over what range.
Croaker47 Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 I guess if a missile's proximity detectors cause your RWR/MWS to show the laser warning indication, you'll have a few fractions of a second to wonder what that might mean. :music_whistling: But TBH, I have no clue whether these would show on a laser warning receiver, and over what range. The question was fairly academic, yeah, :smartass:. Would be cool if the sim had it modelled though. Just in case someone wants to get lucky with a Vikhr or something, ;). On the actual topic, best way to know if something is friendly is to listen to brevity calls, and make sure you make them; running with a continuous program while in the battlespace is another option if you don't mind countermeasures giving you away. Quigon seems to explain what it does best. For my own question., the MWS is mainly for defending non-radar missiles, correct? Does the F-16 have one, or is it a role-specific system for CAS? Sounds like a good system for timing flare launches.
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