F14B RIO TWS Help

[CBenson89]

Hey guys and gals,

 

Could some more experienced RIOs give me some pointers for how to get the most success out of TWS? What do I need to do for it to work and how do I get launch parameters so I can shoot multiple missiles at once? Thanks for your help?!

 

 

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[Tyrant07]

Manual TWS is all about managing radar elevation, narrowing the beam when needed and BAR selection. However just be aware that as soon as you or the pilot launch a phoenix the AWG-9 will go into TWS auto and that will automatically set all those parameters to try and maintain hostile and neutral tracks that are currently in the radar cone.

 

For managing TWS auto I have found it best to label tracks I dont want the computer to track as either friendly or marking them as "Do not Attack" in the CAP panel. Limiting the amount of tracks to just the ones I am currently engaging helps the computer focus on those tracks instead of constantly widening the beam to maintain all tracks.

Edited August 26, 2020 by Tyrant07

[Home Fries]

There really isn't that much to TWS as far as being able to shoot multiple missiles. The AWG-9 does most of the work, and once you launch a Phoenix it goes into TWS Auto even if you were in manual before.

 

That said, here are some techniques I like to use:

1. You have two scan patterns: 40x2bar and 20x4bar. All things being equal I prefer 20x4bar because it is harder (more abstract) to visualize the scan elevation of the target versus azimuth. If you see the datalink contact and don't have a corresponding radar contact, odds are it's not in your vertical scan range.
   
2. Along with #1, once you have SA zoom your TID to the tactical situation, which is to say as much as you can while keeping your contacts on the TID. Those numbers on the left of the scope (above and below the antenna elevation) are the min/max altitudes for the radar scan at the top of the screen. You want to make sure your contacts are centered in this range. Zooming out too far gives you an unrealistic vertical scan volume as it pertains to your targets.
   
3. Match your IFF distance on your DDD to match your TID distance. Then when you press IFF without having a target bugged you can get an IFF view on the DDD that should closely match what you see on the TID.
   

 

If there is a mix of friendly and bogie/bandit aircraft on the TID, I like to use TWS manual so I can slew the radar where I want. TWS Auto tries to get as many targets in its cone as possible, which includes friendlies. If all that's out in front of you is a gorilla, then TWS Auto is fine. The AWG-9 does the work of prioritizing and tracking post-launch. Just make sure you designate friendly contacts as friendlies using the CAP so they're taken off the target list (i.e. you don't shoot one accidentally).

 

EDIT: Sniped by Tyrant. Great minds think alike!

[QuiGon]

TWS Auto tries to get as many targets in its cone as possible, which includes friendlies.

I'm pretty sure TWS Auto ignores friendlies and just tracks hostiles and neutrals.

[Karon]

I'm pretty sure TWS Auto ignores friendlies and just tracks hostiles and neutrals.

I think you both mean something similar: it depends if they are actually marked as friendlies on the AWG-9. The WCS does not correlate DL and radar tracks (and it won't be able to do that I guess, due to the intrinsic INS imprecision) so the WCS tries to include every radar contact it finds, unless contacts are manually declared or priorities are set via CAP.

[Home Fries]

I think you both mean something similar: it depends if they are actually marked as friendlies on the AWG-9. The WCS does not correlate DL and radar tracks (and it won't be able to do that I guess, due to the intrinsic INS imprecision) so the WCS tries to include every radar contact it finds, unless contacts are manually declared or priorities are set via CAP.

 

True statement. To boot, once you designate a contact as friendly TWS Auto may not care, but at that point the AWG-9 is already looking at that wedge of sky instead of the wedge of sky you designated (in TWS Man). It's why I prefer to start in TWS Man and then sort the picture before going to TWS Auto.

[CBenson89]

Will TWS automatically designate tracks and assign targets a launch priority? I felt like yesterday I would have the bandits in the TID and it would take a while for tracks to be established.

 

 

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[Home Fries]

Will TWS automatically designate tracks and assign targets a launch priority? I felt like yesterday I would have the bandits in the TID and it would take a while for tracks to be established.

 

One common mistake at first is believing that the datalink track is a contact. What you may think is a contact is in fact a datalink track.

 

If the HAFU symbology was the underside of a shape (e.g. a V or bottom half of a diamond instead of a ^), then this was a datalink track and not a radar contact. Datalink tracks are great because they show you where to point the radar (and you can hook them to get a more precise altitude), but they are not actionable. Any radar contact will show the shape on the top half instead of the bottom half. If you don't designate friendly or hostile, the shape will be the top half of a square, and designating friendly or hostile will make the shape the top half of a circle or a ^ respectively. Ideally, the radar contact corresponds with your datalink track, so when you designate it hostile you see a full diamond (i.e. the radar half and the datalink half making one shape).

 

Bottom line: see the datalink tracks, slew your radar until you can see radar contacts correlating with the tracks, then let the AWG-9 sort targets for you. Again, if you have a mix of friendly and hostile tracks, you will want to hook each radar contact (not datalink track) and designate them friendly/hostile to manage your target list.

Edited August 26, 2020 by Home Fries

[CBenson89]

One thing I seem to run into is I’ll designate a target hostile or friendly and it will disappear for a second and reappear and I am constantly having to redesignate targets.

 

 

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[Home Fries]

One thing I seem to run into is I’ll designate a target hostile or friendly and it will disappear for a second and reappear and I am constantly having to redesignate targets.

 

Yeah, that sucks, and it happens when a target either notches or is on the edge of the scan zone. That's where TWS Auto helps to automatically adjust the radar to keep as many targets in the cone as possible.

 

Personally, I'm more inclined to mark targets as friendly to take them off the shoot list than I am to mark targets as bandit. A quick IFF to make sure datalink isn't lying, then send out the foxes. I'll designate at first if I have time (or if the target isn't datalinked as well), but as long as the data is out there and I know what I'm shooting it's all good. Of course, this also assumes that the targets are coming from a hostile threat axis (i.e. "Outlaw"); any friendlies in the scan area and to paraphrase the carpenter's mantra I interrogate twice, shoot once.

Edited August 26, 2020 by Home Fries