AG in the dark...

[DTWD]

Hello all,

 

Ok so air to air combat is quite easy at night, you just lock onto the targets and fire away, there is also a lot less clutter up there so it's fairly easy to see the bad guy.

 

Now my problem is I am trying to do Air to Ground in the dark and it's a little trickier for a starter you can't see what your supposed to be shooting.

 

So I was wondering if anyone had any tips? Apart from tagging every target as such in the editor.

 

Also does a stationary vehical give off heat in the sim? I know in reality it depends on the vehical generating heat, but do all vehicals do that in the game no matter if they are moving. I don't think they do, but I was wondering if I was just missing something.

 

Is there anyway to fire off parachute flares or smoke generators? Flares to illuminate the area and smoke generators to pinpoint a column or target, so I can do a recky run tagging everything and then swing round for the attack pass.

[PoleCat]

Yes you can drop illumination flares and use smoke markers as well AFAIK.

 

Out

[Case]

The russian planes can carry SAB-100 illumination bombs. If you drop them from 4km or so, they'll illuminate a couple 100m of the ground below for a minute or two. Besides that, the Su-25T can carry the Mercury low-luminosity TV pod, which allows you to use laserguided missiles and the gunpods on these targets.

 

The A-10 can carry LUU-2 illumination bombs and the D-type Mavericks are IR guided.

 

Play with the editor and try it out... A2G in the dark is a lot of fun, especially against AAA, which are very visible in the dark.

[Brit_Radar_Dude]

Here is some useful SAB-100 illumination time that I found on the Spanish lockon site - AlasRojas.

 

ALTURA TIEMPO

 

1.000 m. 1:10 min.

 

2.000 m. 2:48 min.

 

3.000 m. 4:28 min.

 

 

One thing you can do is have an accompanying AI jet armed only with illumination bombs that is targeted in the Mission Editor against your target. he does the illumination for you, so you can do the actual attack. You may need to experiment a little, I find that the AI don't always get the illumination exactly over the target......

[DTWD]

Cheers chaps.

 

I was in the A10 I have been in Russian birds for ages and it was an unpleasent shock to go back to the A10, it felt so cluttered and over the top. In the russian birds you had the information you needed in a fairly easy to understand layout. The A10 just seems to dump information on your and you feel a bit overwelmed.

 

I had equiped IR Mavericks but couldn't pick up any heat on the ground (I had made the vehicals stationary to make it easier as this was my first go in the A10 actually doing AG) and nothing was showing up.

 

Where are the smoke markers/what are they called? I remember seeing a flare pod, was this it?

 

Actually I have another quick question, in the mission editor I set my attack waypoint over the targets and to help in setting up for the next pass I would set the altitude hold as I swung round for another attack but it it constantly wanted to seem to climb to 5000 metres opposed to holding at the altitude I was at. Any ideas?

[Beaker_VBA]

The only problem with LOFC in the dark is that it's not very... dark! Still, lots of fun.

 

 

IR Mavericks, dude! ;)

[PoleCat]

Cheers chaps.

 

 

 

Where are the smoke markers/what are they called? I remember seeing a flare pod, was this it?

 

 

 

The markers are called WP (Willie Pete) rockets.

 

Out

Edited November 22, 2008 by PoleCat

[DTWD]

Many thanks.

 

Another day of flying today I think.

[golfsierra2]

The only problem with LOFC in the dark is that it's not very... dark! Still, lots of fun.

 

IR Mavericks, dude! ;)

 

You can get more 'darkness' if you tune down the brightness on your screen a bit.

[DTWD]

I decided to switch it to dawn to get used to the weapons, which made it a darn sign easier.

 

Just a few questions, what sort of practical use to do TV missles have? You seem to be right on top of your target before they "lock". And that's another thing, what are they actually "locking" onto? I mean IR you can understand, but what is the TV bit doing?

[GGTharos]

It locks onto a contrast difference. The usefulness of TV missiles is that you can let'em go as soon as they are locked, and you are free to maneuver. No need to align your plane with the target or fly a predictable path longer than necessary. In theory it should also out-range effective unguided rocket fire.

[DTWD]

It locks onto a contrast difference. The usefulness of TV missiles is that you can let'em go as soon as they are locked, and you are free to maneuver. No need to align your plane with the target or fly a predictable path longer than necessary. In theory it should also out-range effective unguided rocket fire.

 

So they aren't as good as the IR varient then? I can understand them being put in the game, I just can't understand why they were developed/still in use (are they?) unless they cost a huge amount less than the IR missles.

[GGTharos]

To use an IR missile you must cool the seeker- this means you need additional hardware and of course, coolant, as well as taking the time to cool the seeker before use.

 

It is not just more expensive, it is more complex - and not terribly useful on daytime attack aircraft, though even in day IR may have advantages over TV under some circumstances.

 

It's not that they aren't as good as the IR variant - they are every bit as good, they just work in a different spectrum and can't be used at night.

[PoleCat]

To use an IR missile you must cool the seeker- this means you need additional hardware and of course, coolant, as well as taking the time to cool the seeker before use.

 

It is not just more expensive, it is more complex - and not terribly useful on daytime attack aircraft, though even in day IR may have advantages over TV under some circumstances.

 

It's not that they aren't as good as the IR variant - they are every bit as good, they just work in a different spectrum and can't be used at night.

 

Hey you...What about; "Not a pound for air to ground"? ;)

 

Out

[GGTharos]

I let others use that stuff ;)

[Boberro]

The only problem with LOFC in the dark is that it's not very... dark! Still, lots of fun.

;)

 

 

Yeah hahah Merkurij pod isn't even neccessary. Even at midnight "daytime" Shkval is good.

Edited November 23, 2008 by Boberro

[AldoUSMC]

Employing SAB 100 Illumination Bombs

 

Hi All,

 

I posted links to two videos I created and posted on YouTube to help flyers understand the SAB 100 illumination bomb employment and effects.

 

You can see the thread and links to the videos on this thread:

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=26072&highlight=SAB+100

 

Hope these help give you some ideas on how to support illuminated night missions with the assets this sim allows you to use.

 

Semper Fidelis

AldoUSMC