Ordnance vs armor

[Auger]

I'm working on my ordnance delivery skills with the Harrier and am a bit confused and frustrated. The last couple days I have spent quite a few hours on MP servers practicing with APKWS and dumb bombs. I'm finding that getting kills is almost impossible on some armored vehicles.

I had made multiple runs at both a T72 and BMP3 using lased APKWS rockets shot in salvos of 4. Neither the T72 or BMP3 sustained any damage with direct hits. On one particular run I did manage to cause 5% damage to the T72 with 4 rocket hits. Maybe it was the angle of attack?

I'm finding MK20's all but useless, but when flying the A10A I would normally clean up with the CBU97.

Practicing with the MK 82's and dropping doubles, again, I couldn't scratch the paint on the T72, despite both bombs hitting about 5' either side of the tank.

What am I missing here? Do the 82's need a direct hit to be effective? Are the APKWS's just to weak, even in salvos of 4? Is the MK20 useless against armored vehicles?

Edited December 7, 2021 by Auger

[razo+r]

Bombs need a rather direct hit on tanks to do damage. The lighter armored a unit is, the more you can "miss" it.

[LooseSeal]

So, APKWS - the MPP variant, despite saying 'penetrator', isn't really designed for MBTs. It's more for IFVs and the softer armoured targets. I mean, you might kill a T-72 if you hit it from the top, or maybe a few hits from the rear. But from the front? You're not getting through there, I'm afraid.

As for Mk-82s... it's just pointless trying to engage a T-72 with them. You will need an absolute direct hit on it. In reality, you'd imagine the concussive blast would do bad things to the crew, but that kind of damage isn't modelled in DCS currently - maybe next year?

So... for MBTs, stick to AGM-65s and GBUs if they're available on your multiplayer. Otherwise, leave them for someone else and go kill some BMPs.

Edit: Oh, and the Mk20s are indeed useless. I can't remember what the reasoning is or if they've just been borked for ages, but I imagine if you do a search on here for 'Rockeye' you'll get a lot of threads complaining about the same thing.

Edited December 7, 2021 by LooseSeal
Mk20s

[Xpendable]

I would not say mk82's are useless against MBT's. I usually have decent success with low level drops using snakeyes and airs, but I will drop 2-4 at at a time with low intervals which gives a higher success rate. Of course it is riskier... their gunners can hit you. The key is to come in fast.

[Preendog]

The APKWS is a surprise, after plinking tanks with the JF-17 guided rockets (did not look up stats, not sure if real).  Hitting Abrams side hull with rocket after rocket, no damage, MPP or HE.  Use the AP gun, dead in a short burst.

The Harrier AP gun is really the star of the module.  Fast, no dispersion.  Tank, flak, dead in a few hits, even way beyond the in-range circle, if you adjust manually by tracers.  GAU-8 eat your heart out.