Mav’s

[Blinky.ben]

I haven’t been in the F-18 for awhile now, I’ve been learning the F-16 however I am trying to get back into the F-18 now

just to confirm we don’t need to align the MAV’s like the F-16? I’m not missing anything?

[Swift.]

Correct, hornet doesnt have any boresight procedures yet

[Steel Jaw]

Boresighting mavericks ... what a PITA...but so long as it's realistic, bring it on.

[Blinky.ben]

15 hours ago, Swiftwin9s said:

Correct, hornet doesnt have any boresight procedures yet

Yet…… so I can expect it to come. Thanks for the heads up

[Shimmergloom667]

2 hours ago, Blinky.ben said:

Yet…… so I can expect it to come. Thanks for the heads up

Mind you: there has been no official confirmation about the implementation of boresighting Mavs in the Hornet so far.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Shimmergloom667

[Crptalk]

Probably the main reason boresighting is implemented for the f16 and not the f18 or a10 yet is the procedure is more documented in the f16.

[Bunny Clark]

On 10/15/2021 at 11:51 PM, Blinky.ben said:

Yet…… so I can expect it to come. Thanks for the heads up

In theory boresighting the Maverick should be a thing that every aircraft that wants to correlate the Maverick seeker to another sensor needs to do. So, maybe we'll see it in the Hog, Hornet, and Harrier as well. The process for the Viper is described in detail in an unclassified document, which is probably why we got it in DCS only in the Viper right now. 

[Hammer1-1]

I recall this being a thing in the -16 with the Litening pod, but is it something we also do in the Hornet? And if so, with both pods or just one or the other?

[Bunny Clark]

Boresighting targeting pods is something that is done by ground crews using specialized equipment. 

In the Viper we currently need to boresight Mavericks to other sensors, usually the TGP. As far as I know this is a thing IRL with the Hornet and Hog as well (though the Hornet very rarely uses IR Mavericks IRL), but right now it is only modeled in the Viper. 

[Hammer1-1]

Gotcha, that was what I was referring to, forgot about the -65.

[AngelAtTheTomb]

If RL Mavericks need to be boresighted every time they're used, the omission of this function seems to be pretty glaring (especially if the F-16C has it).

 

ED, are there any plans to bring a boresight process to the F/A-18C?

[Hammer1-1]

Well it might not be; Boeing and Lockheed do different things with their software.

[Dragon1-1]

It's not a software thing, it's a physics thing. Mavericks are placed in a different spot on the airframe than the TGP, and they have no idea about coordinates they're looking at, only the seeker gimbal angle. If you set the seeker gimbal to the same angle as the TGP, it'll be slightly off. On top of that, there are other errors that come from the gimbal itself, and ones that come from being mounted on the jet at a slightly different angle (software can compensate for it to some degree, but it's not perfect). Boresighting corrects this, since you get the Maverick to point exactly where the TGP does, and then tell it that's the offset it should use.

Now, it's slightly less important since the Hornet doesn't support handoff, unlike the Viper. This is a technique that compares images, and a small difference there is enough for the images not to match well enough to acquire a lock. Other aircraft such as Hornet, Harrier and A-10 just use gimbal angles and require you to command the lock yourself, at which time you would do a manual correction. Also, it's currently not simulated in the Viper, either. There's the initial offset, but AFAIK you don't even need to lock the same thing with the Mav and TGP, just press the boresight button with both of them locked.