Airborne targets...

[m1tp2king]

hi. playing the Deployment campaign, (BS 1) mission 'on the other side'.

during the mission an enemy helicopter shoots me out of the sky.

how should I destroy this helicopter ?

I see 2 options, (1) I ask my wingmen to 'engage bandits'

or (2) I try to kill the enemy helicopter myself.

how should I kill the enemy myself? use the Shkval and lock on to the target ( which I think will take too long a time because it moves slowly)

or use the HMS to lock on to the enemy ?

should I attack with cannon or Vikhr missiles ?

step-by-step advice appreciated.

thanks.

Edited May 11, 2016 by m1tp2king

[Zabuzard]

Use the HMS and then small adjustments. Of course use A/A Target Mode, not A/G. With a little practice (place some units in the editor) you should be able to lock him pretty quick.

 

Weapon of choice depends on several factors. You cannon is much limited in distance (3km iirc) but does pretty good damage if you hit. The Vikhr has more range (7km iirc) but has a high chance of not hitting the target if its moving.

 

For best results, attack the target when its directly moving towards or away from you, the delta movement then is zero and your weapons will have a high chance of hitting.

[Yurgon]

Like Zabuza said, it's a good idea to set up a training mission.

 

I remember I had to fly this particular mission so often, I finally edited it so that my flight started right in front of the ridgeline so that I didn't have to suffer through the long ingress each time I failed.

 

Sometimes the Hinds wiped out all might flight members within a minute, sometimes one of the Hinds just barely survived, but they always got me, or I wasn't able to finish the objectives all on my own.

 

While, in truth, I totally suck a air-to-air engagements with the Shark, in theory your chances are pretty good. Your Vikhrs outrange the Hind's Spiral missiles and they're very fast. If you both fire at the same time, the Hind should be down before his missiles can hit you, and without guidance they should then miss. To be on the safe side, feel free to launch two missiles at once or in quick succession (manual firing mode helps).

 

The 2A42 cannon is also mighty powerful. It's got great range and pretty good accuracy up to 3 km.

 

The two things I always struggle with:

1) Finding/detecting the enemy choppers

2) Locking them up in the Shkval

 

I think finding enemies should be a little simpler today because of the awesome "Model enlargement" option that was introduced a while ago. It's not perfectly realistic, but it addresses some of the limitations of our 2D environment, pixel size etc.

 

Locking them up - I still suck at that, even when I've got a giant target like an Mi-26 in front of me. Using the HMS to get close is great, but actually locking the target is really challenging for me. Then again, it's a skill I never particularly trained, but it does come in useful. That's why you should create a training scenario that covers this topic - it's a good skill to have in the Black Shark. :thumbup:

 

If all else fails, you could still go into a gun fight - WWII style, forward firing, making use of the Black Shark's excellent maneuverability and its strong engines. It may not be elegant, but it's a lot of fun, especially if you emerge victorious. :D

[m1tp2king]

hi Zabuza.

thanks for your response.

you said to use A/A Target mode not A/G. how do I do that.

what button do I press ?

thanks.

[Looney]

Look at the K-041 panel below the engine start panel. It has the A/A button and H/O button.

 

The A/A button is just that, switch the Vihkrs to Air to air and the H/O button is the Head-on button which selects the proximity fuse on the vihkr when engaging targets that fly directly to or away from you.

 

Regardless, for engaging air targets, I usually switch on both buttons. Use the HMS to scan the area quickly and lock them. Make sure to use your superior yaw characteristics to get on their six and out of the engagement arc. (mi-24 usually direct front).

[Zabuzard]

As Looney said, the 4 green buttons in the middle:

 

 

Also, if you use an A/A mode, the skhval will search for "fast" moving targets. It's hard to lock an air target in ground mode as the skhval looks for, well... ground targets^^

[kilix]

My advice - use the wingmen to deal with Hinds and hide till the encounter is over.

I struggled with this mission too, one time the situation was in my favour (or so I thought), but after my last winman shot down one hind and I had the other one locked, I thought that I won finally. NOPE. The Hind survived 3 direct hits with Vikhr missiles - A/A H/O mode ON ofc - and shot me down.

 

So next time I focused on luring the hinds out of enemy SAMs and AAAs engagement range and ordered all wingmen to attack them, while I hid behind some ground cover. This finally worked. That was about 10th try on that mission.

 

Another example was during the Medvedev campaign, where I destroyed enemy AAA threats. I don't remember which mission was that, it was beggining of the campaign, 3rd or 4th mission. There were 2x enemy Mi-8 patrolling the area. I engaged one of them, he tried running away. I used Ka-50 superior speed to catch him, so I was flying directly behind him, there was no sideslip. A/A mode on, I fired 11 Vikhrs out of which 7 hit him till he went down. The damage model on enemy air targets is ridiculous. One Vikhr to take down one T-72, but 7 Vikhrs to take down one Mi-8.

[Toast]

I remember this mission. i had the same issue with those Hinds.

 

One thing that really helped me is to get lower than the hinds, they will be much easier to pick out if they have sky behind them as opposed to ground.

 

Get ready

 

HMS on Shkval to manual, switch to long so it fires 2 vikhrs on one press, A/A and A/A ho on,

 

get low and stay out of range start at about 10 km.

 

 

Send in your wingmen,

 

inch forward until you can get a lock

 

you want them to get head on to have the best chance to hit.

 

 

If someone could host I would love to do this mission as a co-op

[m1tp2king]

hi.

can someone please tell me how to use the HMS to lock enemies and kill them.

at the moment I put the HMS over a target. then I press the 'uncage Shkval'.

this this does not get a lock. it moves the shkval to where I pressed the 'uncage Shkval'.

then I look at the Shkval, move the picture until the enemy is in the middle of the screen.

then I press the 'lock button' and the 'TA' appears telling me I have a lock and can fire.

Is that correct ?

[Yurgon]

Yes

[Nerd1000]

My advice - use the wingmen to deal with Hinds and hide till the encounter is over.

I struggled with this mission too, one time the situation was in my favour (or so I thought), but after my last winman shot down one hind and I had the other one locked, I thought that I won finally. NOPE. The Hind survived 3 direct hits with Vikhr missiles - A/A H/O mode ON ofc - and shot me down.

 

So next time I focused on luring the hinds out of enemy SAMs and AAAs engagement range and ordered all wingmen to attack them, while I hid behind some ground cover. This finally worked. That was about 10th try on that mission.

 

Another example was during the Medvedev campaign, where I destroyed enemy AAA threats. I don't remember which mission was that, it was beggining of the campaign, 3rd or 4th mission. There were 2x enemy Mi-8 patrolling the area. I engaged one of them, he tried running away. I used Ka-50 superior speed to catch him, so I was flying directly behind him, there was no sideslip. A/A mode on, I fired 11 Vikhrs out of which 7 hit him till he went down. The damage model on enemy air targets is ridiculous. One Vikhr to take down one T-72, but 7 Vikhrs to take down one Mi-8.

 

The 30mm cannon generally works pretty well. Use high fire rate, HE rounds and A-A mode, making sure to lase the target just before you fire each burst. At point blank range you can instead aim manually with the boresight pipper.

 

Unfortunately attacking a Mi-24 with the cannon requires you to get past his ATGMs, which the AI can lock and fire instantly when you get into range. They can be dodged, but it is tricky, and once you get in close the Mi-24 gunner will fire his nose mounted gatling gun at you with uncanny accuracy.

[BitMaster]

When aiming at a sitting duck the beamrider Vikhr might do the trick but vs a moving target with an angle towards you the Vikhrs is likely to fall short.

 

I switch guns to FIXED, hover, and wait for that other guy to circle around me while he thinks he flies an airplane...aileron and elevator based moves.

 

I hover and use rudders to just point mz nose at him, use HIGH firing rate

and get them down.

 

When that doesnt work, having a fixed gun and using the heli like an airplane I found more rewarding in a dogfight than doing the same PLUS trying to lock Shkval, which is almost impossible in a heli vs heli fight.

[BitMaster]

and yeah, always be HIGHER, the one who is higher is likely to win the fight imho