Gameplan for the first 4 v UNK

[Matthew Flies]

Can anybody share his gameplan for this mission?

 

*Spoileralert*
Me and Sniper 4 get called to the north group - 2 F-5 angles 15 - We are angles 23.
I shot a Sparrow at around 15nm an the first target and make slight move to the right / norht. Most times the missiles misses. But when I merge with the F-5 I got "silence" kill from the second F-5. I dont get any radar warning, just a missile call out from Jester in the last second.

I tried a few things, fly higher, fly more to the north. But everytime I got killed without a warning out of the blue.

I am now wondering how you approached this fight and what you did different to me.

 

As mentioned elsewhere: It would help a lot if the other planes would not be that fast. I have to use a lot of AB and fuel to catch them on WP1. Furthermore the planes seems to glitch. They suddenly fall 300feet just to be climb 300feet a second later.

I flew this mission now several times. Any tips and hints are highly appreciated.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Matthew Flies

[Reflected]

Hi Matthew

 

That's a great question, because it's not an easy hop at all. What I'd suggest is when you get committed to the North group, turn slightly to the North of them in order to separate them further from the first group and not to get caught between the two. By default you should be in loose formation on Sniper 4's right side at about 1.5 miles. Launch your Sparrows at 10 miles. Those are F-5s, and only have Atolls. Sometimes the F-16s from the first group will try to interfere and make you or Sniper 4 defend against their AIM-7 shots.

 

If you kill at least 1 before the merge, the other one shouldn't be too hard to handle. Then you just join the melee to the south and pick off any bandits that are too busy with sniper 1 and 2.

 

The AI will 'commute' at 350 KIAS, that's normal cruising speed. The F-14A accelerates like a train at mil power. Use the burner to get enough speed, then you can maintain that 350 KIAS at 80% RPM or even less. You should arrive at the gate with 11-12k lbs of fuel, which should be more than enough for any of the events.

 

I've also experienced AI F-14s jumping up and down in formation, but that's a core DCS bug, nothing I can do about it in the mission editor. Just don't be too close...

Edited February 8, 2021 by Reflected

[Matthew Flies]

Tried it, but the missile mostly didnt hit and I am a sitting duck for the Sparrows of the F-16 which both fire only at me or I get killed by a sidewinder from the F-5. Its like the wingmens arent there. They dont "help" and it seems like that they didnt get attacked.

 

I am hardly arriving with 9-10k lbs of fuel at gate 4. Isnt it possible to let them fly just 180 or 200 knots until  JUNNO or RAMM?

[Reflected]

Until Junno they only fly at 300 KIAS. After takeoff keep the burners plugged until you hit 300 KIAS, then back to mil power. You should be fine.

 

For the engagement, try to fire the Sparrow from co-alt or below the F-5, it also helps. From 10-12 miles, not more. The F-16s don't only fire at you, don't let the RWR fool you with all those beeps. If needed, pause the game and have a look at the F10 map to assess the situation. Good luck!

[Jayhawk1971]

Pincer right, drag the north group towards you or at least towards your flight lead (Hammer).

 

IIRC, I drifted away from Hammer by sheer accident, head on a swivel looking for the potential wild card....which brought me into a good position on the far left flank of both enemy groups. Killed one of the F-5's with a Sparrow, the other F-5 shot Hammer, both F-16 turned towards me (after one of them previously shot one from my other element) just as I was turning into them, got one F-16 with a Sidewinder head-on, blew right through the remaining bandits which gave my remaining wingman the opportunity to shoot the last F-5 whereas after turning back again I got the last F-16 that tried to take it into the vertical (not a bright idea when the good guys still have heaters). The whole engagement didn't last for more than 2 minutes or so.

 

It helps if you are co-altitude or slightly below the bandit when engaging with Sparrows. If all else fails, try switching to AIM-7MH (which seem to have a higher PK than the M at the moment).

 

Also make sure that Jester is managing your countermeasures. I always let Jester manage chaff whereas I release flares. Defeating AI Sparrows is not that hard if you keep maneuvering.

 

Are you using Tacview to analyze your engagements? 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Jayhawk1971

[Matthew Flies]

I was able to win this mission. I seperated way to far to the north. This time I was near to Hammer and slightly behind him. Managed a sparrow and a sidewinder kill on the F-5.

 

I guess my mistake in my attempts before was that I was kind of "alone" for the northern pair due I was far ahead / away from hammer. So everything focused of me for some reason.