Laser Burnout Time Limit?

[Istari6]

AV-8B is the first DCS aircraft I've flown with laser-guided weaponry.  I've heard that laser designation beams are very powerful, but can overheat.  That's why tactical pilots only turn on the laser designator after releasing the bomb, to minimize the risk of burning out the laser from sustained use.

Does anyone know what the (rough) time limits are for the LITENING G4 used on the Harrier?  Do I need to be very careful about waiting to designate until after bomb release and before impact, or is it safe to designate while running in, so one less thing to worry about during final bomb drop?

I've done a search and found a thread here that talked about the real-world LANTIRN pod having a 3 min limit, but can't find information on the LITENING G4.  

[Ramsay]

10 hours ago, Istari6 said:

Does anyone know what the (rough) time limits are for the LITENING G4 used on the Harrier?  Do I need to be very careful about waiting to designate until after bomb release and before impact, or is it safe to designate while running in, so one less thing to worry about during final bomb drop?

In DCS the Harrier's G4 TPOD laser will time out after 2 minutes i.e. switches to safe and needs to be re-enable on the MFD.

I'm not sure how well "laser burnout" is working, ED's own modules have typically ~22 minutes of cumulative lase time before they "fail" and require a repair/fresh airframe.

Typically you should be able self-lase for your initial loadout plus 1 rearm before encountering an issue.

In a quick test I did today, I seemed* to burnout the Harrier's laser in under 40 minutes but I was using time acceleration and not allowing any cool down between laser resets, so in normal operation the laser's lifetime might be better. YMMV.

*LMav-E2 didn't detect the laser (flashing L) but may have been scanning too high or too low of the target (or run out of coolant?).

Tested Open Beta 2.7.11.21408

Edited March 18, 2022 by Ramsay

[Kappa]

 

5 minuti fa, Ramsay ha scritto:

ED's own modules have typically ~22 minutes of cumulative lase time before they "fail"

Very interesting!

@Ramsay where did you get this information? Is it documented somewhere?

7 minuti fa, Ramsay ha scritto:

and require a repair/fresh airframe.

Isn't rearming enought?

 

 

[Ramsay]

Just now, Kappa said:

where did you get this information? Is it documented somewhere?

Through empirical tests using
• Ka-50 (number of vikhr fired x average lase time per missile before failure)
• F/A-18C (before it's laser timed out/reset) TPOD lases cross checked using AGM-65E spot detection to see when the laser fails

Various forum bug reports.

37 minutes ago, Kappa said:

Is it documented somewhere?

No, laser failures in DCS are most commonly explained away as "players not being careful enough". The problem was first seen by rearming Ka-50 pilots and MP A-10C FACs staying on station to lase for other players. It seems to have a low priority as it effects a small number of players and is time consuming to test.

 

2 minutes ago, Kappa said:

Isn't rearming enought?

For the Ka-50's laser burnout seems to be a hidden damage state (unaffected by request repair) but there are reports that discharging the fire extinguishers and requesting a repair - also repairs it's burnt out laser.

For the F/A-18C, AV-8B, etc. --> in theory, loading a empty loadout and then reloading the TPOD, etc. back on should be good enough but after say 1hr 20min of gameplay I've usually had enough when the laser fails or I want to play with certainty and select an alterative slot/airframe rather than risk flying back to the AO only to find the laser still not working.

[Kappa]

TY @Ramsay 

 

 

[Istari6]

Yes TY for these replies.  Exactly what I was looking for.  Good to know there's an automatic shutoff if I forget to safe the laser, and that the total cumulative time should be sufficient for all SP campaigns.