Which AG weapon to use for cloudy sorties?

[pimp]

Hi All,

 

I learned the hard way that the tgp can't see through clouds so when I was lasing ALL my GBUs missed because the tgp could not see, or the laser could not lase through clouds. So which weapon would be best for cloudy ground strikes?

 

Thanks!

[Harker]

JDAM, once we get them

[Harlikwin]

You just discovered one of the reasons for jdam development.

[razo+r]

These 6 guys here:

 

CBU-103 CEM and CBU-105 SFW Inertially Aided Munitions (IAM)

GBU-31/A and GBU-38/B JDAM

AGM-154A and AGM-154B JSOW

[Speedywrx]

LGBs work fine.. just need a ground based laser :) Or a buddy below the clouds.

[Buschwick]

Guns or retarded bombs.

[Harker]

LGBs work fine.. just need a ground based laser :) Or a buddy below the clouds.

In DCS, maybe (haven't tested). IRL, I doubt the seeker will be able to spot the laser until the bomb is below the cloud deck, by which time it'll be too late to adjust its course enough to hit.

[Speedywrx]

In DCS, maybe (haven't tested). IRL, I doubt the seeker will be able to spot the laser until the bomb is below the cloud deck, by which time it'll be too late to adjust its course enough to hit.

 

IRL, I personally know it works. That's why a JTAC will drop a BOC 9-line to the shooter and the buddy is tally below the cloud deck. There is a minimum altitude the cloud cover must be above the ground for it to work, but we shall not talk about that here.

 

The seeker acquires the laser after it emerges from the clouds when dropped correctly within parameters.

[Harker]

Fair enough, if the cloud deck is high enough for the bomb to correct, I see no reason for it not to work. My point is that the seeker can't spot the laser through the cloud cover, unless I'm mistaken (which I could be, this is my understanding).

[pimp]

Thank you all for the feedback. When I think of IR, I assume that can see through smoke or clouds, but that's not always the case. So is it safe to say that currently DCS does not have any camera system, Mav or T-Pod, that can see through clouds?

[Fri13]

Thank you all for the feedback. When I think of IR, I assume that can see through smoke or clouds, but that's not always the case. So is it safe to say that currently DCS does not have any camera system, Mav or T-Pod, that can see through clouds?

 

Only system that can see through clouds is the radar. But radar ain't accurate enough in many cases to do targeting unless very new ones. In theory radar can be used, but in practice it is not so reliable and accurate.

[Cupra]

You can use Mk82 or Mk84 in CCRP... or you decide that you have the wrong loadout for your mission / weather and go back home to try it again later or send an other unit to do the job.

[Speedywrx]

Like Fri13 said, a synthetic aperture radar will "see" through the clouds. Depending on the system, you may be able to pull Cat-1 grids and target off that - but you still need the terminal guidance bit for LGBs. A laser won't work through clouds.

 

As someone else mentioned, JDAMs work best and even if you can't pull your own target grids due to cloud cover and no radar, there are other cross-cue capes from other weapon systems (hook a J3.5 via LINK-16), but that's far beyond our scope here.

[Kazansky222]

CBU-97 or CBU-105 once we get CBU-105.

[yngvef]

Radar bombing used to be a huge thing back in Vietnam and such. And that works in any weather (with possible extreme exceptions) and light conditions. Not sure if it's still a thing though, as JDAMS are so much easier to deal with against known stationary targets.

 

But currently, I would just say: get below the clouds. Clouds at 1000 feet? stay at 900. Clouds at 100 feet... stay at 90. And use retarded bombs, lest you frag yourself.

[Harlikwin]

Thank you all for the feedback. When I think of IR, I assume that can see through smoke or clouds, but that's not always the case. So is it safe to say that currently DCS does not have any camera system, Mav or T-Pod, that can see through clouds?

 

Just to pick a nit. FLIR sees through smoke just fine in most cases (unless its engineered multi-spectral smoke). Clouds are not smoke, they are water vapor, FLIR doesn't see through water very well.

 

And the answer to your question is radar which we don't have and doesn't really work that well.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Harlikwin

[Speedywrx]

Just to pick a nit. FLIR sees through smike just fine un most cases. Clouds are not smoke, they are water vapor, FLIR doesnt see through water very well.

 

And the answer to your question is radar which we dont have and doesnt really work that well.

 

A SAR-equipped aircraft can work very well and it’s another sensor to use. Sensor deconfliction can also have huge gains (TGP search one area while you SAR another). Just ask any mudhen Pilot/WSO.

[Harlikwin]

A SAR-equipped aircraft can work very well and it’s another sensor to use. Sensor deconfliction can also have huge gains (TGP search one area while you SAR another). Just ask any mudhen Pilot/WSO.

 

I agree that SAR can be quite useful, especially through clouds, but does our F16 actually have SAR?

[EvanWeeks]

I agree that SAR can be quite useful, especially through clouds, but does our F16 actually have SAR?

 

According to the Planned Systems post, this version of the Viper will model the AN/APG-68(V)5. That version of the radar did not have SAR, according to my brief google searching. The first model that did come with SAR capability is the AN/APG-68(V)9.

[LastRifleRound]

Radar can be pretty accurate in DBS2 if you have a prominent enough known offset to the target. Rarely are you lucky enough for your target to present well on non-SA radars, but DBS does make prominent features easy to target such as bridges, large structures, prominent geographical features, etc. much easier to spot and precisely designate. Not as good as SAR but it should work in a pinch.