The Homs SA-5 (S-200) Site

[Whiskey11]

Hi Ugra Media, thanks for taking the time to look at this "rivet counting for SAM Sites" Nerd's suggestion for improvements to the Homs SA-5 site.

Here is a satellite image from the real life Homs SA-5 site.

Each SA-5 site has a few distinct features to it:
1.) Barracks/Administration area
2.) Missile Maintenance (Syria open stores their SA-5's in the hot desert sun!)
3.) The Launch Complexes
4.) A P-14 "Tall King" search radar
5.) A PRV-13/PRV-17 Height Finding Radar
6.) A Square Pair Track radar per launch complex

When we look at the real Homs site, there are some distinct differences between the DCS Homs site and the real life one.

Below is a picture of Launch Complex 1

As you can see, there are six launcher positions and a single centrally mounted bunker.  This bunker houses the launch control equipment for the SA-5 and generators.  I've highlighted the entrance to the bunker in red.  I've also highlighted the revetments around each launcher in yellow.  Finally, there are six green lines which are the cable runs to each launcher from the bunker. 

When we look at the radar complex, you can see the three Square Pair radar locations.  These presently are not modeled on our DCS Homs site.  In fact, the height maps for the hills they are on are also missing.  The control equipment for each of these radars is actually parked at the bottom of each elevated position.  The northern most Square Pair is missing from this image because the third launch complex isn't presently complete in the picture. 

The PRV-13/PRV-17 Height Finder position is clearly marked but also missing the radar.  You can clearly see the control and power bunker next to it.

Here we are in DCS:

 

Let's look at where the P-14 is at:

With the P-14 we can clearly see the Tall King is on an elevated point with a power and control bunker next to it similar to how the PRV-13/PRV-17 is situated.

Here it is in DCS:

In Summary:  
To over simplify the heck out of this "problem", our current Homs SA-5 site suffers from a serious case of Bunker-itis!   While having too many bunkers is certainly an issue, the biggest one for me is the radar positions simply don't exist.  These positions would be elevated above the surrounding terrain to give clear pictures to the sky.  Presently those elevated positions and bunkers simply don't exist!  We are also missing all of the revetments around most of the launch complexes.

I fully realize this is rivet counting for SAM sites, but when it impacts the ability of the site to function because the track radar is in a valley compared to the rest of the site, it's a bit hard to maintain my SAM Site rivet counting disability!  In fairness to this site, it is not the ONLY site to suffer from these problems.  There are several SA-2 sites and EWR sites which ALSO have Bunker-itis!  I'll make a separate post about them specifically!

At any rate, THANK YOU for taking the time to read this.

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Whiskey11

[Shrike88]

I appreciate the time spent on the thread ! nice work.  I too "rivet count" the sites opposed with real world data.  Sam sites asset pack might help a little with the elevation issue, but still are left with lots of bunkers.   Wondering if the remove / clear environmental scenery in zone, to help clean up your site. 
 

Regards.

Shrike

[Whiskey11]

On 10/10/2023 at 10:17 AM, Shrike88 said:

I appreciate the time spent on the thread ! nice work.  I too "rivet count" the sites opposed with real world data.  Sam sites asset pack might help a little with the elevation issue, but still are left with lots of bunkers.   Wondering if the remove / clear environmental scenery in zone, to help clean up your site. 
 

Regards.

Shrike

My only complaint with using remove scenery objects is that it doesn't fix the elevation issues with the radars... yes, 2SAP will fix that, but not everyone runs 2SAP... I use it extensively... I also use the 107th Modded version of the SA-5 which has the P-14 Tall King mod as a usable search radar.    Mods, until ED gets us a content management setup on server connection, are a bit difficult to work around if not everyone is up to speed on them.

[Schmidtfire]

The elevation can be solved by placing the radar on top of a static object in the ME. One of my favorites to place in the ME is the "Electrical box". It will give you enough elevation in most cases and since it has a door, gives the impression that it is housing a generator or service equipment. If it's not wide enough for the size of the radar, two can be placed side by side. There are a few others of the other Static Object buildings in the ME that has a flat roof and will allow the radar to be placed on top without any clipping. And if you need any additional protection for the radar, you can also place the newly added barriers/sandbags on top of the roof.