Hornet Radar Range

[Sciacud]

Yesterday in a multiplayer server I noticed that my Hornet radar was capable to get a soft lock in TWS at about 90 nm out.

I'm truly surprised of this behavior compared to the past and I'm wondering if it is realistic or not.

Thank you

[Tholozor]

Probability of detection chance has been added to the Hornet and Viper, so you'll get low Pd at high ranges, but not outside the realm of possibility. More info in this newsletter: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/news/newsletters/33d5516418549aa104164a508500a732/

Edited October 23, 2023 by Tholozor

[Sciacud]

Thank you for the explanation. Do you know what I'm thinking now? Since there was an "old" version of the radar (before DCS 2.9) and  now there is a "new" version of it (after DCS 2.9), which one is the good one? I mean, what is the most realistic version of the radar. I don't know if the Hornet radar specifications are still classified, but if not, the real radar range in real life (the max distance to illuminate a plane and lock it on) should be known.  

[Tholozor]

The new radar is more correct, given the additional parameters. The previous radar calculations had hard-set limits, and there was no degradation of Pd with range and no additional factors were taken into account; contacts were either detected or not, 0% or 100%.

[Sciacud]

That's why the previous radar didn't detect any enemy contacts beyond 20 -30 nm! Interesting!

[rob10]

6 hours ago, Sciacud said:

That's why the previous radar didn't detect any enemy contacts beyond 20 -30 nm! Interesting!

If you weren't getting contacts beyond 20-30 nm previously you were likely doing something wrong (somewhat dependent on target of course).  For larger targets up to 50 nm was no problem, but you could also pretty much exactly predict when you'd get a hit on a D/L target showing on the radar.

[Sciacud]

I have to correct my previous statement. I meant I couldn't LOCK ON enemy contacts beyond 20 -30 nm!. Sorry, my bad.