TAC 20 - IR Pointer Question

[sgilewicz]

I posted this over at the A-10C forum and Puma was kind enough to point me here. Here is my dilemma:

 

"

I'm getting toward the last missions in Maple Flag's Tactical Training Qualification and can't say enough good things about these qualification campaigns. However, I have run into a bit of a roadblock in the latest mission which is titled "CAS Mission Management - Night". The situation is this:

 

Airborne JTAC calls for immediate support, issues a 9 line and requests gunship support with IR pointer. I enter the coordinate data into the CDU and slave the TGP to the new steerpoint followed by selecting a target and making it SPI. This is where things start to go south.

 

Using the F10 options, I call "Fire mission". The gunship responds affirmatively.

 

I then begin painting the target with the IR pointer and get a flashing P in my TGP.

 

Next, I call "Transferring target coordinates" and the gunship responds "Received". I begin a slow orbit over the target trying to keep it painted as much as possible.

 

The Problem: The gunship never leaves its orbit to make an attack run and there are no other commands available for gunship comms.

 

I'm sure it's something I'm missing but I've spent a week going back to TFM and dozens of YouTube videos on lasing targets but no joy. Oh, and many thanks!"

[Sabre-TLA]

When you are lasing with the IR Pointer you should hear your pilot say

"1, Ray Target".

 

You can check by using your NVGs and you should see the green line extending from the TGP to the target area.

 

If the AC-130 can see the IR pointer then he should respond with:

"COLT 1-1, ENFIELD 2-1, TALLY TARGETS!"

 

and then a short time later:

"ENFIELD 2-1, ENGAGING GROUND TARGETS!"

 

Once the targets are destroyed you should hear:

"COLT 1-1, ENFIELD 2-1.

TARGET DESTROYED!"

 

Try holding the laser pointer button for a few seconds more until you hear the "1, Ray Target" message. That should get the rest of it going as expected.

[sgilewicz]

Okay, I got through it but a bit shaky. Two adjustments made:

 

1. Was not getting a Ray Target call when latch set to on so I set to off and held the nose wheel button for the duration.

 

2. Instead of orbiting, I made a straight and slow run directly towards the target while waiting for the gunship to prosecute.

 

I've done this twice so it works but I'm not sure why latching is cranky and a direct run in is needed. Thanks so much for your help and if you have any thoughts on what I have seen here please share them!

[Delta Kilo]

Hi,

I know it is quite a long time agao since the last post, but I want to share my experience for anyone who faces the same issue as I do.

Don´t be the lazzy guy and leave your pointer on!

Turn it off after each completed attack run.

Turn on your pointer after the conversation on coms, that means when you get the "copy" from the gunship!

Then you get the message "I, Ray Target", and Enfield replys "COLT 1-1, ENFIELD 2-1, TALLY TARGETS!".

And then it works while orbiting.

The only thing what I have to say is, that I pushed the NSW button, I got my call out, but I could not see the IR beam (yes, I had IR pointer set on the MFD and it was also not masked).

Since I knew the trigger was working and I didn't want to repeat the mission again, I kept it as it is.

Maybe, if someone wants, he / she can try to push the NSW button until the beam is visible.

Cheers!

Edited December 26, 2023 by Delta Kilo