gdotts Posted October 10, 2021 Posted October 10, 2021 Will the AH-64D be able to set up in imperial or metric for distances to objects, waypoints, gas in the cockpit instruments and WAS?
AlphaOneSix Posted October 10, 2021 Posted October 10, 2021 (edited) "WAS" in the AH-64 means "Weapon Action Switch" so I'm not sure what you're referring to there. Units for barometric pressure can be set to inches of mercury or millibars. Units for distance on the TSD as well as for waypoint distances on the FLT page can be set to nautical miles or kilometers. Fuel is in pounds only. EDIT: Target distances are in meters only, I'm pretty sure. Edited October 10, 2021 by AlphaOneSix 1 1
BaD CrC Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 RW works in km only afaik. That's because we are working with the same type of charts that ground forces uses, whereas FW are working on larger scale, NM base charts. https://www.blacksharkden.com http://discord.gg/blacksharkden
kgillers3 Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) 27 minutes ago, BaD CrC said: RW works in km only afaik. That's because we are working with the same type of charts that ground forces uses, whereas FW are working on larger scale, NM base charts. @AlphaOneSix was accurate with his statement with imperial and metric. Edited October 12, 2021 by kgillers3 Trying make it make more sense I guess?
BaD CrC Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) We got a RW CAS Training by an USMC weapon and tactics expert two days ago at BSD and that's what we were told. km only for RW. Now whether you can use Nm and km on the Apache, maybe, but the default conf for our squad will be always km. Edited October 12, 2021 by BaD CrC https://www.blacksharkden.com http://discord.gg/blacksharkden
kgillers3 Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 4 minutes ago, BaD CrC said: We got a RW CAS Training by an USMC weapon and tactics expert two days ago at BSD and that's what we were told. km only for RW. Now whether you can use Nm and km on the Apache, maybe, but the default conf for our squad will be always km. There’s nothing wrong with that, just the question was what the units would be in, and you have the option to use nm and km for distance along routes and etc. how you use that info in the cockpit is situation dependent.
AlphaOneSix Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 I mean, orbits and holds from the JTAC are still given in nautical miles for rotor wing (and fixed wing) in the stack.
ED Team Raptor9 Posted October 12, 2021 ED Team Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) 55 minutes ago, AlphaOneSix said: I mean, orbits and holds from the JTAC are still given in nautical miles for rotor wing (and fixed wing) in the stack. That's not accurate. Every JTAC I've ever worked with, which includes USAF, USMC, and several NATO allies, they've always briefed routing and safety of flight via KM for RW and NM for FW, even in mixed stacks. Granted, this is something that probably should be clarified when the aircrews and JTACs have never worked together before, but the running standard is such. Are there exceptions to the rule? Sure, there always are. Maybe the JTAC had a different preference, or maybe it's because I've never flown a RW in other services and been treated any differently. Also, as a preemptive answer to the next logical question in this thread: the Apache can accept coordinates in either MGRS or Lat/Long via the same input procedure, it recognizes either format as you enter it, no need to switch a setting; and every point in the database is shown with both formats simultaneously, again, without the need to switch. Additionally, when reviewing how far a location is from you on the TSD, it is also displayed in both NM and KM simultaneously. The AH-64 is quite a flexible and user-friendly platform when it comes to working with various military entities and procedures. Edited October 12, 2021 by Raptor9 1 Afterburners are for wussies...hang around the battlefield and dodge tracers like a man. DCS Rotor-Head
AlphaOneSix Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Raptor9 said: That's not accurate. Every JTAC I've ever worked with, which includes USAF, USMC, and several NATO allies, they've always briefed routing and safety of flight via KM for RW and NM for FW, even in mixed stacks. Granted, this is something that probably should be clarified when the aircrews and JTACs have never worked together before, but the running standard is such. I guess what I'm saying is, if the JTAC says tells us to hold "Echo 5" he means 5 nautical miles east of the target area, not kilometers. Or if he puts us at "Alpha 3" he means orbit the target area at a 3 nautical mile radius. And this wasn't an exception or one-off, it was SOP for many years until at least 2020.
ED Team Raptor9 Posted October 12, 2021 ED Team Posted October 12, 2021 I'm well versed in Keyhole lingo, and in over a decade of working with JTACs, every single one has acknowledged that when they say "Echo 5" it means 5 NM for a fixed-wing aircraft and 5 KM for a rotary-winged aircraft. I'm not sure what SOP or documents you are referring to, but using km/metric units for attack helicopters has been in the JP Close Air Support pub since at least 2014, and in the JFIRE since 2007. I don't know what experience you have working with JTACs in an operational environment, but I've said my piece. 1 Afterburners are for wussies...hang around the battlefield and dodge tracers like a man. DCS Rotor-Head
AlphaOneSix Posted October 12, 2021 Posted October 12, 2021 It's all good, I'm not trying to get into a contest of any kind. I'm a crew chief on a utility helicopter and I've done a lot of missions in Afghanistan over the last several years with mixed stacks and all the distances were always given in nautical miles for holds and orbits for both helicopters and fixed wing assets. Sorry I took this off topic. I had a CAS class earlier today with a former CCT/current JTAC so if I see him again I'll see if he has any insight.
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