Help with basic mission

[pdario]

Hello!

I've studied the F/A-18 avionics and system but now I have troubles with my first missions.

Take the Alert 5 mission: I start from the carrier with my wingman and head east to intercept 4 bombers escorted by 2 Mig29. I have AIM7s and AIM9s.

During my heading toward the target, I turn on ECM panel, turn dispende to ON an leave ECM on RCV (not emit, because this blinds my radar).

I set AIM7 to NORM MORE.

At about 40 miles I track the two Mig29 and I fire my first Sparrow as soon as it gets inside the vertical line; the radar goes to STT mode and I keep tracking the target waiting for the missile to hit, but well before I get shot down form an hostile missile (I suppose it is an IR one since I don't here the EW alarm).

Where do I go wrong? What should I tell my wingman to do?

[WarbossPetross]

3 часа назад, pdario сказал:

At about 40 miles I track the two Mig29 and I fire my first Sparrow as soon as it gets inside the vertical line; the radar goes to STT mode and I keep tracking the target waiting for the missile to hit, but well before I get shot down form an hostile missile (I suppose it is an IR one since I don't here the EW alarm).

Where do I go wrong? What should I tell my wingman to do?

I think it's not about the Hornet systems (you might try the Sparrow loft mode though), this has more to do with general tactics. First, in combat there's not much need to fly straight and level, you're not flying a tanker. You may want to gain some speed to throw your missile further and faster, but that's it. Second, there's hardly a case for launching as soon as you reach max range. The target only needs to move its nose a few degrees and it's completely safe. What does that give us? You can try flying at an angle towards the target while gaining speed and/or altitude until the target is at two thirds or even a half of the range between maximum range and no-escape zone. If you have datalink target support you don't even need to lock it until you fire, so just turn 90 degrees away from it and let it chase after you as you gain speed and altitude. When ready to fire turn toward target, tell your wingman to engage air targets (he always starts with the closest one so you should take the other guy), launch and start zig-zagging within radar gimbal limit, just don't pull too hard so as not to lose speed. That should bleed off the kinetic energy of the enemy missile heading your way (as you should assume it is once you reach your own max range, whether you have the RWR indication or not). If you had more speed and altitude than the target at the time of your launch you should have the advantage. And don't sweat, I've tried the Hornet 8v8 Caucasus instant action mission, like, 30 times already and survived only once (I do much better in other planes though). Generally air combat is as complex as it is fascinating, so feel free to take previous recommendations with a grain of salt, watch DCS Youtube channels and read the book called "Fighter Combat-Tactics and Maneuvering", available for download somewhere.

[CBStu]

If you can rearm before takeoff, dump the 7s and replace them w/ 9x.