RedPanda Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 PL-5 seems hard to track targets. I am wondering if it is broken or that is what it is. Me (JF-17) were fighting AI F-4 and F-5 in server yesterday: The first case is I fought the AI F-5. The initial altitude was around 15,000 ft. I got a tone at 8 nm but that's too far so I held it. Then the tone was gone and didn't came back until it was 0.4nm between us. I fired the missile but it was too late. His shells hit me first. The second case was I managed to sneak behind a F-4, at around 25,000 ft. I was on his tail and cannot get a tone till I get close to 0.8nm. Many times the missile drops the lock just before I pull the trigger, and it goes stupid. I don't think a modern Fox-2 should act like this. It is so frustrating that it cannot lock on targets under my eyebrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_Romeo Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Have you uncage the missile seeker ? My skins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 5 hours ago, Mike_Romeo said: Have you uncage the missile seeker ? Yes, and it was slaved to the target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foogle Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 1 hour ago, RedPanda said: Yes, and it was slaved to the target. Were you head on? Or rear aspect? The PL-5 has limited front aspect performance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) 37 minutes ago, Foogle said: Were you head on? Or rear aspect? The PL-5 has limited front aspect performance. Head on in first case, rear aspect in the second. I understand that the target gives a smaller infrared signiture from the front but why would I get a tone at 8nm and then lost it? Shouldn't it be a constant tone once locked on? In the second case, the F-4 was flying rather high and not aware of my approach so I popped up and on his tail. I cannot get a tone till almost at gun range. I suspect there is something off with the code. Edited June 16, 2021 by RedPanda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foogle Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 1 hour ago, RedPanda said: Head on in first case, rear aspect in the second. I understand that the target gives a smaller infrared signiture from the front but why would I get a tone at 8nm and then lost it? Shouldn't it be a constant tone once locked on? In the second case, the F-4 was flying rather high and not aware of my approach so I popped up and on his tail. I cannot get a tone till almost at gun range. I suspect there is something off with the code. You'd get a tone at long range that disappears if the target was first in AB then went Mil power or lower, the second one would need a track/amci file to diagnose. I honestly haven't seen anything odd with them, and we've been flying 80s missions with the Thunder as a stand in for the F-20, so I've shot my fair share of PL-5s in the past month. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 28 minutes ago, Foogle said: You'd get a tone at long range that disappears if the target was first in AB then went Mil power or lower, the second one would need a track/amci file to diagnose. I honestly haven't seen anything odd with them, and we've been flying 80s missions with the Thunder as a stand in for the F-20, so I've shot my fair share of PL-5s in the past month. I lost the server track file. But I managed to recreate the problem. At first I could get a lock for more than 10nm. And as you said, he might reduce the engine output so I lost the lock. That make sense. But after the merge, I was on his tail, he was full afterburner, and PL-5 could not get a lock at such close range. I knew some early missiles have launch G limits. PL-5 may have it too? Here's the video: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodo Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I haven't had many issues with locking on MiG-21s with my PL-5s. It takes a bit of work but I have even forgot to uncage the seeker and still managed to lock. It is like using a AIM-9M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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