Suggestions on CAS with imprecise loadout (MK82 and gunpod)

[Sylosis]

Hi all, was just hoping to get some suggestions and/or advice from more experience pilots here about missions and objectives that make me struggle. I'm talking about having to quickly kill some ground target using a loadout that, in my mind, is not the greatest loadout for what I'm trying to achieve (would have been a lot better with MAVs or guide rockets or guided bombs).

For example, mission 4 of the Kerman campaign, my ground troops ask that I kill ONE tank and I have MK82, gunpod and MK20 Cluster bombs. The tank and my troops are close from one another, as such I felt MK20 was the worst choice (but maybe I am wrong on this one). Therefore, I have to rely on MK82 and the gunpod. I have no TPOD, the town I'm flying over is like at 6000ft ASL and the clouds at 12000ft, which makes a steep dive almost impossible. The tank is very difficult to stop from your cockpit and the 6x zoom on the DMT makes it super difficult also to find it.

You have like 3 or 5 minutes to kill the tank, else your troop dies. 

I keep failing this part of the mission (or any mission with similar loadout and objective) and I'm wondering what I strategy I should employ. I did manage to drop one MK82 very close to the tank (a few feet from it), but the summary screen after the mission indicated that it didn't even touch the tank, surprisingly. I shot a few rounds that I thought touched it, but again, summary screen showed I missed all my shots. 

How do you go about such a mission? Should I have used the cluster bombs?

[jacobs]

I would use DMT TV mode to find the target, and drop a pair of mk-82 in auto mode (CCRP) while on a shallow dive (10~15 degrees). This is pretty precise bombing mode, and it was used in real life, since dive attacks while on CCRP was a popular tactic on the gulf war.

 

[Ich Dien]

Hi, Got round to this mission now after losing the first attempt when I had a audio/script issue and stopped receiving any FAC audio or subtitles... that was frustrating to say the least.

 

Spoiler

The answer is Mk82 CCIP in a high speed shallow dive. AUTO would also be an option but there are reasons not to trust it at the minute. The AUTO pull-through method would also work, but I had a solid cross in the bottom of the HUD, so nothing required except to fly the line through the target (made very easy once smoke is popped on it) and wait for the moment. 

the DMT is definitely precise enough for the job.... at point blank range. 

 

 

 

Tacview-20230501-100410-DCS-Kerman Mission 4 FINAL.zip.acmi

Spoiler

Edited May 1, 2023 by Ich Dien

[JackHammer89]

I struggled with this mission also, and have yet to complete it (may have rage quit and still be sulking)

Things to think about when using freefall or "dumb" munitions:

Dive profile - As it's an urban environment, from your description, I think I'd prefer a steeper dive of 30-45 degrees. This should stop the target from being obscured by a building during the beginning of the dive when you're lining yourself up. Although I remember the cloud cover making this difficult and I think I had to fudge the 30 degree dive numbers to make it work as "official" entry height is 8200ft AGL which has you in/above the cloud deck. 

I also like to fly a 10-30 degree lateral offset to the target so that the target is roughly between the dashboard and the canopy, rather than having it hiding under your nose where you can't see it. This technique needs a bit of geometry to line up the final attack heading at the roll-in, although it might upset the JTAC scripting.

Wind direction and strength - this can cause bombs/rockets to sheer off course but can be overcome by making sure you're as close to 500KTAS when releasing. If you;ve been given an attack heading by a JTAC then you're stuck with it anyway. 

Release type - I'd try and capture the vehicle on dmt on the run-in from the IP and drop with CCRP, failing that I'd designate nearby and switch CCIP using the target diamond as a fixed point from which to find the target and give the mission computer an elevation value. 

Weapons and fuzing - this is a hard one... I've killed tanks up to the "top tier" Red tanks with 30-degree dive, Mk20 - QTY 2, MULT 2, INT 80. This delivery gives quite a tight grouping of the submunitions, although if it's super close (<200ft?) to friendlies that might be a bit risky. Weaponeering charts I've seen recommend 4-6x M82 for "hard" targets, which I assume a tank is? Whereas for Mk20 30 degree dive recommendation is as mentioned above. 

 

So in conclusion you're operating at ~6000ft AGL (danger zone), so should be running about at 450KTAS. I'd opt for Mk20 - QTY 2, MULT 2, INT 80, a truncated 30 degree dive with a roll-in distance of 4nm, 450KTAS entry speed, release altitude of >3500ft agl and minimum alt 1500ft AGL. Plan for CCRP, but be ready to switch CCIP. Probably still really tricky, but that would be my armchair pilot tactical assessment. 

[Ich Dien]

Isnt the target altitude something like ~6700ft? That and with type 2 control and a thick layer, I think the mission was designed to make certain profiles impossible.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Ich Dien