Missile ranges...

[Ironhand]

There has been a lot of discussion lately about DCS missiles. My concern here is only missile ranges and I'd like to take a few minutes to make a few general observations for the new guys to keep in mind. The veterans (I'm sure) know all of this already.

 

I spent a few quality minutes in the Flanker's pit this morning lobbing R-27ERs into the air. The numbers that follow are based on that missile but the two points I want to make for the new folks applies to all missiles.

 

• Altitude matters: Your missile travels farther in the rarefied upper atmosphere than it ever will if you are flying closer to sea level. For example, you might have a maximum launch capability of 60 km against a co-altitude target at 12,000 meters but that will shrink to a mere 28 km if you are both flying at 2000 meters because of the increased air density at the lower altitude.

 

• Speed matters: It's the closure rate, dummy. :) If you and your target are flying at 12,000 meters and your closure rate is 680 kmh TAS, you will get launch authorization against a fighter sized target at a range of 81 km. But, if you increase that closure rate to 2240 kmh, the range increases to just under 100 km. In fact, the range increase is likely to exceed your ability to get a strong enough return to lock the target. When I was playing around this morning, I had to wait until the range closed to 96 km to get a lock.
  

 

To be sure, there are other variables but these two probably account for the greater range variability. Anyway, just wanted to toss this out for consideration.