Question about SAM systems

[Sierra99]

This might sound like a silly question however...

 

When placing SAM systems, Do all of the elements of a particular system have to be present for the system to operate? I.E. When Setting up an SA-11 Site If I place a 9A310M1 LN without a 9S18M1 Kupol-M1 or 9S470M1, Will the system operate?

 

Sierra

[Backy 51]

This might sound like a silly question however...

 

When placing SAM systems, Do all of the elements of a particular system have to be present for the system to operate? I.E. When Setting up an SA-11 Site If I place a 9A310M1 LN without a 9S18M1 Kupol-M1 or 9S470M1, Will the system operate?

 

Sierra

 

 

That's your best practice. They are after all "IAD", Integrated Air Defense". They work as a team to make your life miserable. ;)

 

Make yourself some SAM templates and it will make your mission editor life easier.

[Wrecking Crew]

When Setting up an SA-11 Site If I place a 9A310M1 LN without a 9S18M1 Kupol-M1 or 9S470M1, Will the system operate?

 

Sierra

 

In the case of the BUK launcher, Yes, it will operate on its own as the launcher has a radar in the nose. It has to be pointing in the direction of the aircraft to engage. I use one of these in the 'Back Of The Hand' mission.

 

The HAWK and Patriot systems do not have launcher mounted radars and should not launch without the radars in their group.

 

WC

[Sierra99]

In the case of the BUK launcher, Yes, it will operate on its own as the launcher has a radar in the nose. It has to be pointing in the direction of the aircraft to engage. I use one of these in the 'Back Of The Hand' mission.

 

The HAWK and Patriot systems do not have launcher mounted radars and should not launch without the radars in their group.

 

WC

 

I think the question I should have asked is "WILL they fire" without a full system deployed? I.E. If a system is missing a key component or a key component is destroyed, does the system still operate or is it incapacitated as it would be in real life?

[Wrecking Crew]

I was a HAWK radar technician and that missile had to have the tracking radar working to follow the reflected radar energy to the target. In DCS the BUK launcher will fire on its own, using its own radar - the group I have it in has only two other trucks in it. The BUK launcher will also shoot if its radars in the same group are destroyed. Hope that helps.

 

WC

[Grimes]

I think the question I should have asked is "WILL they fire" without a full system deployed? I.E. If a system is missing a key component or a key component is destroyed, does the system still operate or is it incapacitated as it would be in real life?

 

Yes*

 

It depends on the capabilities of each individual sam site. The Buk is rather unique in that the launcher has a tracking radar built in along with an optical tracking system. As a generalization complex sams require a search radar (SR), tracking radar(TR), launcher (LN) and if available command centers(CC) to fully function. Not all complex sams have a CC object, so the requirement is down to whether that object exists for that type of sam site. At somepoint with 1.5 the HAWK received new 3d models and 2 new objects, one of which was a CC and as a side effect it broke old missions because the HAWK now required a CC to fire. The workflow is basically SR>CC>TR>LN. Which brings us back to the Buk. Because the launcher has a tracking radar built in and an optical sight it can independently acquire targets without the aide of the search radar and the CC to communicate said targets to the launcher. Keep in mind it has to visually acquire the target to engage it, which will typically be closer than its minimum firing range.

 

It is also worth noting that if a tracking radar is tracking a target when the search radar gets destroyed, it will likely keep tracking the target and it is possible that it will engage.