New to F18 - HARM Help please

[Phantom_Mark]

F18

 

Just starting my voyage into RWR and Harm......working on the Harm at the moment, watched Waggs vid on Harm and TOO........followed his vid as closely as I can, setup a mission with an SA6 and SA15 as per his vid.

 

I get the SA6 first up, and stay just outside the threat circle on my SA on the DDI.......handoff the target to the harm and all looks good.....magnum, and turn away from the threat circle before entering it. The 88 streaks towards the SA6 no issue.....missed.....so I watch the missile with F6 next time, missile fires its motor towards the SA6 shoots up to around 1500 knots, then after a short while motor turns off and it glides, speed starts to drop like a stone as you would expect, the missle makes a ground impact a mile or so before the target I would guess, having checked the range of the 88 on the encyclopedia I should have plenty of range, launching from angels 15 and around 20 miles out I would guess, on the edge of the SA6 threat circle ?

 

Any ideas what I am doing wrong here ?

 

Update:

 

Ran the same mission but increased my speed and altitude, now Angels 30 and around 450 knots, the first missile was shot in SPM mode and launched around 25 miles and fell short again......second launched in SPM as well, this missile I took into the edge of threat circle and around 20 miles and got a hit on the SR of the SA6, damaged it but never killed it ?

[WOPR]

Falling short just means you launched too far away. You are correct to launch high and fast. Personally, I get within about 20 nmi if I can before launching.

 

For the hit no kill, just disabling is sufficient if you can go in and clean up. ED appears stop be experimenting with war head effects on the HARM and it changes a bit patch to patch. Also, DCS doesn't seem to care that an intact antenna is required for proper radar operation so it's all or nothing. When in doubt magnumx2.

 

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[Phantom_Mark]

Ok thanks, experimenting a little more with height and launch speed and having some success now, guess I just need to carry on experimenting to learn the envelope of the weapon, the encyclopedia is misleading tho ?? Says 120km iirc ??

[Harlikwin]

Max ranges for any of the weapons are just that. The max range you could possibly have with that missile if you shoot it from the edge of space at mach2. Its a totally meaningless number from a realistic kinematic standpoint. Personally I try to be within 10-15nm of a SAM radar before lighting a HARM off from mid altitudes/speeds. And If I'm going low/level and using terrain masking its more like 5/10... On the plus side with the more advanced double digit sams that can shoot down your harm its good if you deplete their launchers a bit by having them launch on you before sending the HARMS.

[Phantom_Mark]

Yes for sure, I will have to employ some of my A10 learnt techniques it seems :D

 

Thx again :)

[WOPR]

Max range is probably only achievable in pre-planned mode (just guessing).

 

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[emibat]

On F/A18 Chuck tutorial pag. 190 there is a useful HARM Range Table.

[Preendog]

 

on the edge of the SA6 threat circle ?

 

Any ideas what I am doing wrong here ?

 

Not wrong, but I've had more success shooting from well inside the threat circle, while being locked or fired at, because:

 

-You know absolutely that you are in range and that you are targeting the correct emitter (it's blinking).

 

-You are sure to select a SAM that is actually functioning (sometimes SAMs radars will still emit even if they have no way of shooting/no missiles/no CP, etc).

 

-You are sure to select the longest range emitter if there are multiple SAMs near each other.

 

-The emitter cannot turn off their radar without breaking their missile track on you.

 

-While the SAM is attacking you, they will not attempt to shoot down your HARMs. Some of the newer SAMs will target missiles, but will not if they can shoot at you instead.

 

You can beam or do orbits in the outer 1/3rd of a threat circle while waiting for the HARM to hit. If it misses, you are in the perfect position to shoot another one.

[Phantom_Mark]

Good info and tips thanks very much :)

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

You don't always need to stay out of the threat circle. Go in (not too close), shoot and defend against any SAM fired at you. Look out for the smoke trail, beam and chaff. Since you aren't too close, you should be able to defeat it while your HARM would be close enough to kill it.

[schurem]

Weasel dance is almost as fun as BFM tango. For an easy beginner's exercise try running an SA-2 site dry. Its quite doable, but it will make you go splat if and when you make grave mistakes.

[Phantom_Mark]

I have had a ton of SAM practice with the A10C for years now, still love it, never gets boring, just things have the potential to happen much faster now :D

 

Thanks again for all the info

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

Yeah, for more wild weasel action and entertainment, check out the book called Viper Pilot. The audiobook version puts you in the cockpit.