SEAD: Sidearm is weak, no kill?

[SharkBaztard]

I placed some AA that show up as (8) on rwr. I get tone, lock, fire and watch my sidearms make contact (from a distance)

 

Then check my map and the sams remain at 100% or barely reduced overall health? no kills

 

 

how many sidearms avg per AA vehicle for kill?

 

Any ideas

[Emmy]

I seem to recall a different discussion that the Sidearm has enough power to wreck a radar dish but often not enough to actually destroy the entire vehicle like a Maverick.

 

After your attack, were you still being painted or did the radar signal stop?

[SUBS17]

I used 2 vs a Shilka and managed to damage it enough to be able to finish it off by straffing it with the gun. Side arm is small compared to a HARM so it would most likely just take out a radar dish anyway.

Sidearm 25lb warhead Blast fragmentation

HARM 146lb warhead Blast fragmentation

[Dugong]

It's probably down to the limitations of DCS's hitpoints based damage modelling and the fact that ground units are either fully alive or fully dead with no inbetween.

 

In reality the sidearm has a small warhead and would rely on shrapnel passing through computers/wiring/generators etc to render the radar inoperative. It isn't going to be 'blowing' it up.

[dogrokket]

I’ve had mixed luck with a SA 8 OSA that I set up for practice. 50% of the time it misses by several yards, or hits directly and nothing much happens, except for the driver spilling his vodka. The sidearms do seem kinda lame.

[Tread_Head57]

The sidearms do seem kinda lame.

 

Again, this is due to limitations within DCS. Sidearm is only powerful enough to destroy radar dishes. DCS doesn't simulate vehicle damage well. SAM objects are either 100% active or destroyed. The "health bar" may lower, but there is no corresponding decrease in unit effectiveness. ED would have to re-do vehicle damage model to include partial damage for sidearm to be truly effective in DCS.

[Robin_Hood]

Again, this is due to limitations within DCS. Sidearm is only powerful enough to destroy radar dishes. DCS doesn't simulate vehicle damage well. SAM objects are either 100% active or destroyed. The "health bar" may lower, but there is no corresponding decrease in unit effectiveness. ED would have to re-do vehicle damage model to include partial damage for sidearm to be truly effective in DCS.

 

Therefore, pending an improvement of damage modeling, the Sidearm should be made powerful enough to destroy the vehicles. An other way would be to use a script, were the radar goes off if it is damaged even a little bit, but ideally it should not be up to mission editors to compensate for the simulations limitations.

[SUBS17]

Again, this is due to limitations within DCS. Sidearm is only powerful enough to destroy radar dishes. DCS doesn't simulate vehicle damage well. SAM objects are either 100% active or destroyed. The "health bar" may lower, but there is no corresponding decrease in unit effectiveness. ED would have to re-do vehicle damage model to include partial damage for sidearm to be truly effective in DCS.

 

I think I took out the radar on the Shilka so that might be modelled.

[javelina1]

Again, this is due to limitations within DCS. Sidearm is only powerful enough to destroy radar dishes. DCS doesn't simulate vehicle damage well. SAM objects are either 100% active or destroyed. The "health bar" may lower, but there is no corresponding decrease in unit effectiveness. ED would have to re-do vehicle damage model to include partial damage for sidearm to be truly effective in DCS.

 

Kinda my experience too, but I still carry a couple. It's fun to play cat & mouse with the SA-8's. After a lock, I fire, break, and then watch for the smoke. Then I come in real low with a gun run and really smoke it... I save the (2) Mav's for tanks... ;)

[Emmy]

I think I took out the radar on the Shilka so that might be modelled.

 

I know I've seen AA vehicles that are no longer actively engaging despite being structurally intact.

 

I think the damage model for mobile SAMs and guns is possibly a little more flexible than just 1 or 0.

[dogrokket]

Kinda my experience too, but I still carry a couple. It's fun to play cat & mouse with the SA-8's. After a lock, I fire, break, and then watch for the smoke. Then I come in real low with a gun run and really smoke it... I save the (2) Mav's for tanks... ;)

 

I know, right? I did the same mission today, and the SA hit the dish and blew the thing to bits... it was awesome! My issue is with the homing capability, I guess. Have you found a good formula for homing- like launch aspect or distance?

[MustanGrande]

I've gotten a lot of "mission kills," in which the Sidearm seems to knock out the radar