need track replay SAMs never cause friendly fire

[moggel]

I'm not sure this forum is the right placer for this one but I couldn't find a more suitable one (mods, please move as appropriate).

Seeing how VKS are very reluctant to fly in Ukraine is reportedly, at least in part, rooted in the the very high risk of being shot down by their own GBADs, and how even sofisticated SAM systems, like Patriot, have indeed caused blue-on-blue (2 allied aircraft was mistakenly shot down in the Iraq war, killing three crew members, and a third narrowly escaped that same fate), I feel the DCS implementation of GBAD systems are far too precise. I have yet to see a SAM system shoot down a friendly.

At the same time, any pilot who locks up a bandit engaged in a scrap with a friendly, and shoots a fox 3 at it, risk causing a BoB, as the AMRAAM might simply switch target during flight. This never seems to happen with SAM missile, not even really unsofisticated ones.

Over all, skilled SAM crews (AI) should simply refrain from shooting at bandits that share a volume of airspace with friendlies, to avoid friendly fire. Less skilled AI might take such a shot but there should be a high risk doing so.

Or am I missing something?

[razo+r]

I've seen a NASAM shoot a friendly in DCS, but only once so far. 

[moggel]

14 minutes ago, razo+r said:

I've seen a NASAM shoot a friendly in DCS, but only once so far. 

As NASAMs are AMRAAMs fired from the ground, that actually makes sense, and tells me the AMRAAM is way better modeled than larger SAM missiles. Unless someone can tell me they have indeed seen RED flights getting shot down by their own SA-X systems. Even older stuff, like an SA-2 or SA-5 seems to be flawless in this respect.

[Lt_Jaeger]

Because older Stuff is Semi Active / Command guidance. To hit another target, there need to be exeptionell circumstances involved. I don't see that moddled in DCS and to insert just a random factor would suck in my opinion. Active Msl are another thing in that regard....

[draconus]

I'd happily put it into wishlist

[moggel]

1 hour ago, Lt_Jaeger said:

Because older Stuff is Semi Active / Command guidance. To hit another target, there need to be exeptionell circumstances involved. I don't see that moddled in DCS and to insert just a random factor would suck in my opinion. Active Msl are another thing in that regard....

So, what you're saying is that older / less sophisticated systems, like SA-2, SA-5, SA-6 etc, that are not active, are actually safer in this regard than more modern ones, like SA-10+, Patriot etc.?

[Dragon1-1]

Yes and no. SA-10 and Patriot are susceptible, if fired at a target close to another aircraft, to possibly locking the wrong thing once the missile goes active. This is rather unlikely, though, and would require both aircraft to be very close (say, going for a heater or guns shot). Older SAMs risk friendly fire for other reasons, most notably unreliable or even totally absent IFF. This means that an inexperienced (or plainly incompetent) SAM crew is likely to engage a friendly target that strays into their WEZ. This is particularly a risk if there is no proper, centralized command keeping track of both fighters and SAMs.

Most friendly fire incidents were of the latter type, an aircraft got engaged that should never have been. More advanced SAMs have IFF and datalink that can help mitigate the risk of such incidents. However, there's no substitute for careful planning and coordination.