(HUD) feedback for buddy-lased targets for APKWS?

[cfrag]

Sorry for the noobish question - the last time I flew the C was when it wasn't called 'Tank Killer' yet, and didn't have this somewhat über APKWS stuff (cue "back in the day we went bare feet through the snow, uphill both ways, and we liked it!"). Which I'm now learning to use with buddy-lazed - or JTAC-illuminated - targets. Now, when I use a Lima Mav, I can see in the MFD's seeker head display that it found and locked a target (with the white square that the seeker "x" turns into when it locks up). 

 

Is there any similar visual cue when I use the APKWS Hydras with outside lasing? I know I can simply change to the 282 (or 151), and fire when in range; the missile will usually find its target. But is there any way that I can verify that I'm in range and that the correct target is illuminated? Is there any reflection inside the HUD, or an MFD that shows me the laser pointer superimposed over the battlefield?

 

Thanks for any pointers,

 

-ch

 

[Foka]

No. Only way to find laser is thru TGP LSS. APKWS is just an addon to standard Hydra rockets in Hydra pods and it does not have communication with plane's avionics.

[cfrag]

Thanks @Foka! I've found a work-around to allay my initial nervousness by bringing up a Lima Mav's seeker head in the left MFD, just to tide me over until I can get used to blind-firing Hydras

 

 

[Yurgon]

To elaborate a little more, the APKWS itself is a LOAL weapon: Lock-On After Launch. So the missile (errr... guided rocket... aka missile) couldn't provide any before-launch feedback to the launch platform even if it could communicate with it. Which it can't, anyway.

 

Your workaround is pretty cool, and there's another one (Edit: D'oh, Foka already mentioned this one  /Edit) : If you carry a TGP of your own, you can use the Laser Spot Search (LSS) to get the TGP looking exactly at the illuminated target. Unlike the Mav-L, this will show you the target itself and not just a white dot in the proper quadrant. That said, I've had fairly mixed results with LSS where it would sometimes pick up the laser immediately, but other times it could search for 2 minutes and not find anything.

 

However, even IRL where it really counts, pilots don't usually double check the validity of an offboard laser designation. If they have all the time in the world, they might do this as a triple confidence check, but normally they don't. It's all about the procedures. The pilot on the launch platform gives a "10 seconds" call, meaning "10 seconds from now, I want you to start illuminating the target", and then when lasing is required, the call is "laser on". Of course this can't come out of the blue, so all participants have to be in the proper position to provide lasing for the entire time the weapon needs it. Barring sophisticated procedures, you can just give them a heads up, like "I'll be rifling in 20 seconds, you ready?" or something of that kind.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Yurgon

[silverdevil]

@cfrag to add to what these quite literate panel members stated per the NATO brevity in assumed order of use:

 

Ten seconds
Directive to terminal controller to stand by for laser on call in approximately 10 seconds.

Laser on
Directive to start laser designation.

Spot
Acquisition of laser designation.

Paveway
Release of laser-guided bomb or bombs.

Terminate
Stop laser illumination of a target.