Using the Sidewinder?

[p_o_d_2_2]

what is the best place to shoot an AIM-9 from? i have tried head on, from the side, from above, from below, from behind.... and i cannot hit anything. is there like a sweet spot or something for this missile? or maybe i am doing something wrong. when the AIM-9 sound changes that means its locked on right? any help would be appreciated:)

[GGTharos]

Tail on, about 0.4-0.5nm.

 

The trick is to a) minimize angular movement (ie. the target should not be drifting in your sight, and especially not in the missile's sight - and the two are -very- different) ... lastly you use the missile director to luanch your 9, it often helps.

 

And you are correct, the AIM-9's growl changes to indicate the strength of the signal is is receiving :D

[Guest IguanaKing]

The best position, no matter what type of AIM-9 you are using, is going to be from the target's 6 o'clock. This gives your missile the best possible heat signature, and it won't have to cope with the physics of a high-aspect shot. The growl in the audio goes from low to high to indicate range, but your missile isn't locked until that growl goes away and you get a solid tone. You have to keep within the gimbal limits of your sidewinder, and get as close as possible before firing. Your target won't have enough time to deploy countermeasures if you get in nice and close. :D

 

Edit: DOH!!! GG is a faster typist than I am. :D

[Hellcat61]

Strange. My sidewinders seem to hit their targets from almost all angles. I fired on a Su-22 last night that was diving in front of me about a quarter mile out. The missile smashed into the jet's upper fuselage. Is that realistic? Does my effectiveness slider need to be toned down?

[Guest IguanaKing]

Nope. .25nm is a damn good range to fire from. But, you were in his rear quadrant when you fired, right? If not, with the 9P, you still had a great chance of killing him from that range. Not sure if its totally realistic, but it seems to be realistic based on the public domain capabilities of the missile.

[jurinko]

AIM-9 is the best option for short range and especially to fire at enemy against ground. Radar guided missiles get easily spoofed by the ground reflections and enemy F-poling the missile trajectory.

 

Somewhere I read the real Sidewinder got 97% hit rate at Falkland war :thumbup:

[504MrWolf]

Thats because it was the only A2A missile employed in that conflict ;) (i might be wrong) but i cant think of another that was used. Maybe the mirage's had french missile?

[GGTharos]

The Shafrir was alsoused (by Argentine) and fared poorly.

 

In any case, sidewinder employment in LO depends on a few factors.

 

First and foremost, the jet you'd shooting at: A fast fighter will cause troubles for the missile, so you need to get close and reduce AOT (or shoot it in the face)

 

A Su-25T you can shoot from farther out (when the wings fill the seeker circle for example) and any aspect but tail-on (because of that infernal jammer!) but again, the closer the better, ESPECIALLY if he saw you - you want to reduce the amount of time he has to deploy counter-measures.

[Guest IguanaKing]

Heh...and if you are off-line, playing against AI, he will ALWAYS see you. AI is omniscient. Getting as close as possible is a good habit to get into though, except against a bomber. But, none of the bombers in LOMAC seem to have tail guns anyway, so I guess that's a moot point. :D

[GGTharos]

Ahh I forgot about that ... I usually fly online, and probably one of the easiest things to do is pounce 25's on an attack run :D

[Guest IguanaKing]

Heh...I tried using AIM-9s on Colonel Whatshisnuts of the VVS in his Frog in one of the A-10 campaign missions, but he knew I was there the whole time. Every time I fired, he'd immediately pop flares. I had to go to the Avenger on him. He wasn't able to escape that. :gun_sniper:

[GGTharos]

Just wait and see what the GAU-8 will do to things in BS ... :P

[Guest IguanaKing]

[Evil cackling] I can't wait, because, frankly the GAU-8 is a little weak at the moment. It'll be nice to see some improvements to that. :D

[GGTharos]

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzt *Tankzap*

[Guest IguanaKing]

Mr. Burns: "Yes...more powerful PGUs...excellent!" :D As unrealistic as it is, I have actually gotten used to not being able to bust a T-80 with a good, single burst. Even the lightly armored ZSU-23-4 takes WAY more attention than it should. Speaking of AAA, are we going to see anything heavier like ZSU-57-2s or S-60s?

[GGTharos]

I don't think so ... but then again I don't know. I've been asking for flak guns for a while :D

[Guest IguanaKing]

Those would make things even more interesting for the guys who think "nap of the earth" is the way to go. I guess Russia doesn't use the 57-2 much anymore, but maybe one of the other countries in the game could have it.

[MBot]

The S-60 would be such a good addition to the game. I would build it myselfe if I had blueprints.

 

About the strenght of the Avenger. I read somewhere that you had to aim for the rear or top of a T-64 if you had hope to kill it.

[GGTharos]

I think they decided to stick to Iglas - I mean think about it...much more accuracy, reasonable range, fewer rounds wasted, much more easily transportable ... it's just that people do NOT employ AA correctly in their missions to achieve an effect is all.

[GGTharos]

The S-60 would be such a good addition to the game. I would build it myselfe if I had blueprints.

 

About the strenght of the Avenger. I read somewhere that you had to aim for the rear or top of a T-64 if you had hope to kill it.

 

Correct. A frontal attack will only attack the heaviest armor, but you have a chance of destroying the gun barrel or piercing someone's vision blocks, possibly destroying the tracks. You might also pierce the hatches. IN any case it isn't a hard kill in most cases.

 

On the rear, for ANY rank, you light the engine on fire or destroy tracks, and even penetrate the turred. Good chance of hard kill.

[Guest IguanaKing]

The S-60 would be such a good addition to the game. I would build it myselfe if I had blueprints.

 

About the strenght of the Avenger. I read somewhere that you had to aim for the rear or top of a T-64 if you had hope to kill it.

 

Yup, top armor and rear are the best places to attack from. I always do this anyway since I'm less likely to get nailed by the tank's smaller guns, which will do plenty of damage to my hog if they land in the right places. :D

[Guest IguanaKing]

Correct. A frontal attack will only attack the heaviest armor, but you have a chance of destroying the gun barrel or piercing someone's vision blocks, possibly destroying the tracks. You might also pierce the hatches. IN any case it isn't a hard kill in most cases.

 

On the rear, for ANY rank, you light the engine on fire or destroy tracks, and even penetrate the turred. Good chance of hard kill.

 

Yup. If it can't move, its pretty much dead. This has been the source of so many misconceptions about real-world A-10 attacks. People say "If he already hit it, why did that [expletive] cowboy come around and hit it again?" Answer: Because it was still moving. If something is still mobile, you hit it again and again until it stops moving.

[S77th-konkussion]

But, none of the bombers in LOMAC seem to have tail guns anyway, so I guess that's a moot point. :D

 

I think the Bear does- I seem to remember getting chop-sueyed by one quite some time ago.

[Fudd]

Tu-22, IL-76 and both Bear variants have rear cannons.

 

It takes some practice going gunzo on them!

[Guest IguanaKing]

I'll have to try that again then. Last time I tried when I was making my ELINT chart, the Tu-95 couldn't do squat to me. I was looking for the RHAW symbology for tail gun radars, but didn't find any.