Current State of Hornet Countermeasures

[dores893]

1. Has the ASPG Jammer been implemented yet?

 

2. Is the ALE-47 still limited to MAN mode?

 

3. What is the correct sequence to initiate a manual mode program on the ALE-47 after one has been selected? Pressing the dispense button seems to jettison all of the countermeasures.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[QuiGon]

1) Nope, not implemented yet.

 

2) Yes, SEMI and AUTO are not yet available AFAIK.

 

3) You have a countermeassure dispense switch on your HOTAS, which can start the selected program if pressed in one direction and can start program 5 if pressed in the other direction. Unfortunately I can't tell you out of my head which direction was which. Personally I usually use program 1 as a chaff programm and program 5 as a flare program (sometimes mixed with a little chaff as well depending on the situation), so I have chaff and flare programs at a ready if needed.

Edited January 9, 2020 by QuiGon

[Swift.]

I can answer no.3

 

There are 3 countermeasure binds in hornet; Dispense Button, Dispense Switch - Aft, Dispense Switch - Forward.

Dispense Button is the panic switch that will run the panic program and dispense some 20 odd flares and chaff.

Aft will run the selected program in normal operation

Forward will run program 5 in normal operation

 

Ensure that you have the correct switch bound and that the programs are set up correctly

[oldpop]

Correct me if I am wrong. with MAN mode selected,my understanding is with the dispenser switch in the "on" position, forward dispenser will fire the selected program, aft will fire program #5. with the switch in "bypass" fwd will fire chaff and aft will fire flares.

[Swift.]

I think its the other way around, forward being prog5.

[Eldur]

I'd be happy already if we wouldn't have to wait to be able to configure the CMS programs on the ground and have 60 instead of just 30 flares...

[dores893]

The Dispense Switch goes UP or DOWN as opposed to forward or aft, but I don't know which one runs program 5 (or even what program 5 does). I usually run program 3. I have bound the UP button and if that doesn't work, I'll bind the DOWN button.

 

And I agree that we should be able to set it up on the ground (I'm pretty sure you can in the real hornet). I hate setting it up in the air, because sometimes I forget to do it. There is no worse feeling that being fired at and, as you go defensive, you look down and see standby on your countermeasures. :)

[Tusker]

RedKite has a YT video entitled, "DCS Custom Countermeasure Profile Presets Tutorial" that walks you through editing the .lua file so that every time you get in the jet you custom profile is already loaded. This is super easy to do, and I've found that it works great.

[isotaan]

The Dispense Switch goes UP or DOWN as opposed to forward or aft, but I don't know which one runs program 5 (or even what program 5 does). I usually run program 3. I have bound the UP button and if that doesn't work, I'll bind the DOWN button.

 

And I agree that we should be able to set it up on the ground (I'm pretty sure you can in the real hornet). I hate setting it up in the air, because sometimes I forget to do it. There is no worse feeling that being fired at and, as you go defensive, you look down and see standby on your countermeasures. :)

 

 

Wags teased this as a possible upcoming feature last year. No updates since then.

 

 

Link here

[Bunny Clark]

The Dispense Switch goes UP or DOWN as opposed to forward or aft, but I don't know which one runs program 5 (or even what program 5 does).

Negative. The dispense switch on the Hornet throttle moves forward and aft, and it's labeled as such in the control bindings.

 

With the dispenser switch set to "ON" aft fires the currently selected manual program, forward fires program #5. Programs 1 - 5 can be changed from the EW page, and for some reason you can also manually select program #5 which would make both fore and aft do the same thing.

 

You can also semi-permanently edit all 6 manual programs (1 - 5 and the panic DISP wall button) by changing the values in the CMDS_ALE47.lua file located at Mods\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\TEWS\Device. This file will be overwritten every time DCS World updates.

[dores893]

I'm wrong. Bunny is correct. The dispense swich goes forward and aft. The dispenser switch goes up and down. I wonder what's so special about program 5?

[Bunny Clark]

I wonder what's so special about program 5?

I think it's so you have a program you can change and a program that's constant. Interestingly, in the ALE47.lua program 5 is commented as "chaff single" while none of the others have comments (other than 6).

[Andrei]

I'm wrong. Bunny is correct. The dispense swich goes forward and aft. The dispenser switch goes up and down. I wonder what's so special about program 5?

 

The program 5 will dispense from the CMS Up, while selected program (1, 2, 3 or 4) will dispense from CMS Down. So, effectively you can have two programs at your disposal at the same time. Additionally there is the "DISP" button on the side for really nasty situations.

 

It's pretty handy actually. PGM 1 in general for chaff, PGM 5 for flares, and DISP for when you don't know what's coming.

[Al-Azraq]

1) Nope, not implemented yet.

 

2) Yes, SEMI and AUTO are not yet available AFAIK.

 

3) You have a countermeassure dispense switch on your HOTAS, which can start the selected program if pressed in one direction and can start program 5 if pressed in the other direction. Unfortunately I can't tell you out of my head which direction was which. Personally I usually use program 1 as a chaff programm and program 5 as a flare program (sometimes mixed with a little chaff as well depending on the situation), so I have chaff and flare programs at a ready if needed.

 

I thought that S/A was already implemented, that explains some things haha

 

Regarding your doubt, AFT activates selected program, FWD activates program 5 which are 2 flare + 2 chaff if I recall correctly.

[Swift.]

The program 5 will dispense from the CMS Up, while selected program (1, 2, 3 or 4) will dispense from CMS Down. So, effectively you can have two programs at your disposal at the same time. Additionally there is the "DISP" button on the side for really nasty situations.

 

It's pretty handy actually. PGM 1 in general for chaff, PGM 5 for flares, and DISP for when you don't know what's coming.

 

Sounds like you might be confusing it for the viper. Hornet doesn't have a CMS up or down

[Andrei]

Sounds like you might be confusing it for the viper. Hornet doesn't have a CMS up or down

 

True. Well, FWD / AFT then, the essence is the same.

[QuiGon]

Regarding your doubt, AFT activates selected program, FWD activates program 5 which are 2 flare + 2 chaff if I recall correctly.

I always edit program 1 and program 5 after takeoff to make program 1 a chaff only program and program 5 a pure flare program or a flare + chaff program, depending on the situation.

[Gruman]

And let's not forget the announced amount of flares. Let's hope this gets included rather sooner than later.

[oldpop]

I believe a lot of misunderstanding stems from in the “controls” settings there are 2 switches named “dispenser” switch. One moves fwd and aft as discussed on page 61(see below).

The other “dispenser” switch on page 173 (see below) is also a 3 position switch, up and down. It should IMHO be called the “dispenser mode switch). Positions are off, on and bypass.

Functions as noted below.

 

Fig 24 pg 61

Dispense Switch, AFT – OFF – FWD. This three-way switch allows manual and semi-automatic use of the ALE-47 countermeasure system. • Forward [E]. Start EW countermeasure program. Each press of the switch will initiate the program set on the EW page. • Center. No function. • Aft [D]. Dispense single chaff / flare in manual mode.

 

Fig 173 Pg295

 

Dispenser Mode Select Switch. This switch has three positions: •

OFF: Turns the CMDS power off and ALE-47 legend on the EW page has an X through it. However, the ECM JETT button will still function. • BYPASS. This selection bypasses the countermeasure programmer and will release a single chaff or single flare based on the HOTAS countermeasure release command. When set to bypass, the ALE-47 indication on the DDI EW page will have a dash through it and the EW page BIT element will indicate NOT RDY

ON: When set to on, there is a five second warm up period and a BIT is conducted. After five seconds, it is ready for operation. When in ON mode, the release modes of STBY, MAN, SEMI, and AUTO can be selected. o When first set to ON, SF TEST will appear for five seconds below the EW legends on the DDI EW page. After which, PBIT GO will be displayed for ten seconds. Once that is complete, OFF or the selected mode will be displayed.