Chaff and Flares

[ruddy122]

I may be stupid but how do you put in the air chaff and flares

 

 

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[Joni]

You're not stupid. Chaff and flares are put by default but if you happen to make a custom mission then you might want to check the armament tab, there you will see things like fuel and chaff/flares count.

 

 

Regards.

[Tholozor]

Ensure the Dispenser switch is set to ON (if you want to use programs) or BYPASS (countermeasure switch aft will release 2 flares, forward will release 2 chaff).

[Svend_Dellepude]

Master ARM has to be ON as well.

[CBStu]

Also, at least in the supplied missions where you take off from the carrier, you have to right click the dispenser switch and then wait a bit while it goes through it's self test.  So I often do that while waiting to be rearmed. Once in the air, you can then go to the EW page. At the top of the screen, once the self test is done it will say 'stby'. At that point I usually hit the mode button a couple times to put it into 'SA' or semi automatic mode.

[imacken]

Is SA mode working correctly?

[CBStu]

On 12/24/2020 at 10:33 AM, imacken said:

Is SA mode working correctly?

As best as I can tell it is. I can barely hear the slight thumbs for each launch at least.

[rob10]

1 hour ago, CBStu said:

As best as I can tell it is. I can barely hear the slight thumbs for each launch at least.

I think it will fire them off when activated in SA mode, but I don't think it changes program in response to threat yet (i.e. it fires the same program no matter what you're defending against, not changing to respond to detected threat).  Pretty sure it's still WIP/no real functionality still.

[imacken]

Yep, pretty sure it is as well. Just fires off the same (wasteful) program. 

[CBStu]

Well that would suck because the AI in SP sure have flares that work real well against my AIM9s.

[rob10]

The countermeasures themselves should work (lots of arguments if they do too much or not enough), but when SA is finished it should choose the "ideal" program for the SAM you're trying to counter (at least for radar guided ones).  Old system vs system SAM might get a different total #, different timing between salvo's etc.  Currently the SA just fires off one generic program, rather than a specific one.  In some ways you're maybe better off in bypass mode where you can specifically fire flares or chaff in a more controlled manner.  What I do is edit program 1 and 5 (one for chaff, one for flares) with program 1 on the run button and program 5 on the other 1/2, because I'm not good enough to play with changing which manual program I want on the fly.

[Brass2-1]

I’m also in the bypass camp for now. How many of each expendable I want to use is balanced against the planned length of mission, threats apparent, etc.