AI wont ripple fire HARMs?

[SullyFUBAR]

Setting up an airfield attack/escort mission for the Ka-50 with a TOT HARM attack with F-16s. SA-10 site with supporting SA-15 & 19s will require a saturation attack but I can't seem to be able to get the AI to fire more than one HARM at an emission source before picking and firing on another target. 

AI F-16 with 4 HARMs. So far I have tried Attack Group and set the release quantity to:
ALL - Does not work
4 - Does not work

Split task between two advanced waypoint actions and set release quantity to:
Half & ALL - Does not work
2 & 2 - Does not work

Finally, I made 4 waypoints and set the release quantity to 1 for each and that didn't work. I have repeated all this testing with Attack Unit as well.  Making a Group attack does nothing and the only workaround is to add more flights that are not part of the same group. The only thing I can think of is that the AI will not fire on an emitter that it has already fired a missile at (if that missile is still in that air). Unless I'm missing something?

 

[Grimes]

22 hours ago, SullyFUBAR said:

The only thing I can think of is that the AI will not fire on an emitter that it has already fired a missile at (if that missile is still in that air). Unless I'm missing something?

That is quite astute because that is more or less the default behavior. To get maximum saturation it is best to micromanage the AI. From what you write that appears to be what you are doing with those parameters it should work relatively well. 

I'm gonna guess that the default SEAD task is still assigned. If it is then delete it. If I'm right about that then the problem is that the AI detect a target then leave their route to attack said target. This is a problem because by leaving the route they don't actually pass the waypoint that assigns the attack group tasking. The default behavior for each of the enroute types (CAS, SEAD, Anitship, etc) has an internal calculation for "can this weapon kill the target" to decide how many to shoot at a given target. They don't account for the weapon failing due to be shot down. Thus for SEAD it results in firing 1 missile at 1 radar at a time, hence the need to micromanage. More groups is one solution to it because this rule only applies within a given group.

Assuming you use attack group, attack quantity = 1, group attack = true, and define a weapon release quantity then you should get them all to engage with what you tell them to. I will add that the attack group/unit tasks have a, lets call it a vulnerability, for SEAD tasking where the AI CANNOT engage a sam in a pre-brief type mode. In order to use an anti radiation missile on a target the AI must be actively detecting it. If the radar is off or obscured by terrain then the AI cannot engage with ARMs. This doesn't apply if you tell it to shoot a JSOW or really any non ARM at it. This is one of the bigger advantages of "search then engage" tasks because it allows the AI to attack that target when they detect it. 

Additionally assigning a attack/engage unit task is beneficial compared to the "group" counterparts because that allows you to prioritize the target unit. In a quick and dumb test with the SA-10 missile intercept disabled of 16 HARMs shot by a flight, 12 went to one search radar and 4 to the other. Specifying a unit allows you to equalize the odds of both getting hit. 

 

If removing the default SEAD task doesn't help then post the mission file and I'm sure the problem can be solved. 

 

 

 

[SullyFUBAR]

This worked in all respects. Thank you very much for the detailed answer, this will help me when running into issues in the future.