Laser Range clarification

[PSYKOnz]

Hi guys, looking for some clarification and a bit of more up to date knowledge.

 

what is the range of any given laser designator? 
 

and

 

how do we use this range correctly? (altitude, angle, distance etc)

 

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/184824-max-range-on-tpod-for-buddy-lase/?do=findComment&comment=3688018

 

this forum post was from 2018 and states that it’s an 8nm stick of light and anywhere in that beam Is fine, is this still the case? Or have things changed?

 

in our tests we have found that buddy lase or self designate anything over 5nm distance to target (not altitude or lateral distance but actual direct line distance) and the bomb goes stupid 

 

Anybody have any deeper idea or understanding of the current state of laser range and designation?

 

cheers guys

[NeMoGas]

When I tested it last the maximum range of both the rangefinder and designator was about 8.5nm

[NeMoGas]

So I just went and tested it again in the F16 and it appears to be around 8.2nm slant range according to the TGP range reading.

 

Here is a video of a GBU12 being dropped from about 45k feet. The bomb goes dumb right before impact with a slant range of about 8.2nm.

 

Here is a second attempt from about 40k feet and the bomb tracks all the way down to the target. The laser was reading right at 7nm at impact.

 

 

Unfortunately I have not been able to test buddy lasing in a while so those results might vary depending on other factors. Also the bombs and other laser guided weapons don't actually look for a reflection of the laser in DCS per se. They seem to be able to track the end of the laser beam if the target is beyond that 8ish nautical mile limit, but once they pass it they go dumb.

 

Hope this helps a little.

Edited January 4, 2021 by NeMoGas

[silverdevil]

at 45k feet you are at best 8.52 miles and that is straight above the target. at 40k you are at best 7.57 miles. laser range has different characteristics / capabilities than laser designation. i often will laser range to targets at more than 15 miles out so i know how far target is away. sorry if you already new this.

[NeMoGas]

Yes I know that altitude was about 7-8nm which is why I did it that high. I was trying to demonstrate how far the actual laser designator extends from the TGP.

 

The laser rangefinder has the same range limit in DCS as well. The easy way to see this is to point the TGP at that tall building on PG. Then observe the distance displayed in the TGP. If beyond 8.2nm it will give you the distance of where the TGP reticle intersects the ground beyond the building. However once you enter that 8.2nm threshold you will see the range reading snap from where the INS thinks the TGP is pointing, to where it is actually pointing (the building).

 

Now in the F16 it may be a bug, I'm not sure but when you laser range beyond 8nm it will give you an accurate measurement to where the reticle meets the ground. However it will still have an L next to that number indicating the data is from the laser when it is actually from the INS. Perhaps that is true to life I don't know, but the laser rangefinder can only see objects out to around 8nm in every mod I have tested in DCS.

 

 

I realized it could be difficult to understand what I mean so I made a video demonstrating it. You can watch the lower left corner of the TGP and see the range change from 29nm to 8.1nm once I'm within the range limits of the rangefinder.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by NeMoGas

[PSYKOnz]

Awesome! Thank you so much for all your tests and work on this, proves it is still 8nm as it was before, I wonder what we were doing wrong to only get a 5nm range, could be a buddy’s lase thing 

[Ramsay]

@PSYKOnz To explain why the laser range is 8.1 nm and not 8.0 nm --->    The designator's range is defined (in the .lua) as 15 km = 8.099 nm = ~8.1 nm

[PSYKOnz]

Dude that’s perfect! Good to have a concrete number literally from the thing that makes it work! Thank you so much for sending that through.

 

Pretty conclusive information through this thread.

 

So we must have been doing something wrong during our buddy lase tests for sure then to get such a vastly wrong distance