No RWR sound with incoming Sparrow?

[Nobody Special]

I just played mission 4 of the (very fun) Earnest Will campaign. The F-4 hit me with a Sparrow according to the log. The hit occurred after I had re-committed, because the RWR "warbling" noise stopped around the time I started going defensive. The RWR made no noise from then until the time I was hit.

 

Since AIM-7s require constant illumination from the launching aircraft, should the RWR make noise the entire time? Does it have blind spots?

[DoorMouse]

You will not get a missile launch, only an aircraft lock warning. Fox 1's emit no radiation only seek

 

Oh- I misunderstood.

 

Yes. your RWR cannot see above/below you only to the sides. AND- If you bank, it confuses the RWR, or completely obscures the antenna

Edited August 16, 2020 by DoorMouse

[near_blind]

I have definitely had situations where an enemy has shot at me, the RWR will stop indicating the shot due to the emitting enemy leaving the coverage zone of the RWR due to my maneuvering. When the enemy emitter re-enters the scan coverage, the RWR does not categorize it as a launch threat or guiding a missile. It's especially annoying as Jester will recognize the missile in the air, but won't categorize it as radar guided and switches to frantically dropping flares instead of chaff.

[Nobody Special]

Ok, makes sense. I pulled into a very nearly vertical dive, so the RWR must have been obscured.

[AH_Solid_Snake]

Although there are definitely blind spots and patchy mapping of a signal to a displayed clock position (especially if you are manuvering) I’m not sure how much the straight up and straight down blind spot we’ve seen referred to for the F16/18 implementations apply to the F14. I seem to recall a developer diary from a couple of years ago going into how the F14 would model RWR and it’s blind spots somewhat better than the average DCS implementation?

[draconus]

No blind spots if close enough.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=4266306&postcount=17

[Csgo GE oh yeah]

I always just roll 90 degrees, or nose up/down to defeat all incoming missiles . :thumbup:

 

/s

[QuiGon]

You will not get a missile launch, only an aircraft lock warning. Fox 1's emit no radiation only seek

But doesn't the radar of the aircraft switch to a different emitting mode to guide the missile, which can then be picked up by a RWR?

[draconus]

But doesn't the radar of the aircraft switch to a different emitting mode to guide the missile, which can then be picked up by a RWR?

 

Correct.

[DoorMouse]

Correct.

 

(Correction) That is not 'always' the case.

 

The Sparrow was designed to use the same signal the radar put out to establish a lock. This signal does not change when the sparrow is launched, and it only seeks the reflection of that target. The Sparrow can launch in two modes, PD (pulse doppler), or CW (continuous wave). CW can be Flood or STT, PD can be STT only. Neither of these change the outgoing radiation from the radar of the aircraft and in all cases, to be clear, the sparrow emits no signals. Only some of the sparrows are capable of getting a mid course correction from the rear antenna of the missile which MIGHT trigger an RWR warning as the signal changes to send data. Otherwise it just seeks out the pulse of the locked aircraft, and (i believe) confirms that PD signal with its rear antenna to make sure its on the right target.

 

 

The Sparrow does not even turn on its radar Detector until its already well in flight and has completed it 'english bias' maneuver. Essentially the firing aircraft gives the missile a signal and tells it to "turn approximately this much and this far" before turning on its seeker. This is done for a variety of reasons but it seems the biggest one is to get it clear of radar interference from the launching aircraft.

 

For sparrows that provide a mid course correction or are using PD, depending on how modern the RWR is it may be able to pick that up. For CW illumination, you basically have a flashlight on- the radar is blasting you and the missile is just looking for the brightest reflection, you would not get a launch warning.

Edited August 19, 2020 by DoorMouse