Unable to avoid enemy AI fighters

[John McClane]

I cant seem to avoid enemy AI fighters when I play multiplayer server. No matter what I do they find me. They can be 50 miles away and turn around and come straight for me, even when Im flying under 50’. I can hide by landing in a city or forest but they still come right for me and shoot me on the ground. I was wondering if this is a problem with AI having an unrealistic situational awareness or is the Apache transmitting something that is easily detectable? Its incredibly frustrating! 

[NeedzWD40]

Just the way the AI works. Depending on the mission, if they have GCI/AWACS, then their awareness is almost infallible, and if anything else sees you (ground, air, or naval), assume that means everything knows about you.

As scenarios can be highly variable, how you deal with this problem can range from operating with friendly helicopters like OH-58D loaded with ATAS, to utilizing your own ordnance in unconventional ways, coordinating with friendly fixed wing assets, and a mix of other solutions. With the ATM available to the FCR now, you at least have a better surveillance capability that, when linked with AGM-114L, can cause a temporary disruption of the AI's OODA loop. But it's not a guarantee and I'd recommend a mix of coordination with friendly assets to knock out the threat.

My preferred way to dealing with this problem is to hide in urban areas where possible. The AI always takes a slow, low altitude approach, which denies them good shot opportunities when you have tall buildings surrounding you. When coupled with AA capable helicopters, this can make for a deadly ambush situation.

[John McClane]

1 hour ago, NeedzWD40 said:

Just the way the AI works. Depending on the mission, if they have GCI/AWACS, then their awareness is almost infallible, and if anything else sees you (ground, air, or naval), assume that means everything knows about you.

As scenarios can be highly variable, how you deal with this problem can range from operating with friendly helicopters like OH-58D loaded with ATAS, to utilizing your own ordnance in unconventional ways, coordinating with friendly fixed wing assets, and a mix of other solutions. With the ATM available to the FCR now, you at least have a better surveillance capability that, when linked with AGM-114L, can cause a temporary disruption of the AI's OODA loop. But it's not a guarantee and I'd recommend a mix of coordination with friendly assets to knock out the threat.

My preferred way to dealing with this problem is to hide in urban areas where possible. The AI always takes a slow, low altitude approach, which denies them good shot opportunities when you have tall buildings surrounding you. When coupled with AA capable helicopters, this can make for a deadly ambush situation.

Yeah if Im by myself the AI just comes in for a shot and if it cant hit me then itll keep trying and making passes. Ill sit there wasting time until eventually it sees someone else and leaves. Just seems extremely unrealistic that if I land in a cluttered spot it can fly in from 50 miles away and know exactly where I am on the first pass. Thats why I wondered if the AH64 is transmitting something that can give my location away. 

[NeedzWD40]

2 hours ago, John McClane said:

Just seems extremely unrealistic that if I land in a cluttered spot it can fly in from 50 miles away and know exactly where I am on the first pass. Thats why I wondered if the AH64 is transmitting something that can give my location away. 

Unfortunately, it's been brought up many times and is a limitation of the current AI. From a mission design perspective, it's also annoying because fighters will prioritize helicopters over more threatening aircraft, but does lead to an advantage for the helicopters in that they can play bait and get those threats low and slow. It'd be a bit easier to deal with if we had access to M255 rockets, but suspect those won't be coming any time soon -- if at all.

[John McClane]

2 hours ago, NeedzWD40 said:

Unfortunately, it's been brought up many times and is a limitation of the current AI. From a mission design perspective, it's also annoying because fighters will prioritize helicopters over more threatening aircraft, but does lead to an advantage for the helicopters in that they can play bait and get those threats low and slow. It'd be a bit easier to deal with if we had access to M255 rockets, but suspect those won't be coming any time soon -- if at all.

Copy. Thanks!

[lee1hy]

Not only fighters, but also AIs like Hind and AH-1W avoid radar missiles. They  also avoid heat-seeking missiles fired from behind.

Edited November 5, 2024 by lee1hy

[FusRoPotato]

The AI doesn't need AWACs or ground radar. They will see a helicopter parked behind a tall building from 50 nm away and fly directly towards it until only a few hundred meters away. Somehow the AI knows it doesn't have a shot, but doesn't know it shouldn't have it's nose pixel perfectly aligned with a helicopter behind a building.

This is an LOS and awareness fidelity issue, but we could also argue a mission editor issue as well. None of the groups who run these big popular servers know, utilize, or stack the enroute tasks properly. I cracked open one of the 4YA tracks to discover they don't even use search and engage at all. Leaving the tasks and ROE empty bypasses a lot of the checks they'd normally go through so their AI just beams for you soon as you enter their god bubble.

Once they started spawning enemy AI directly over top of enemy targets with bad excuses of ED messing up their script, I stopped flying there. Nobody else had problems spawning aircraft at airfields and these guys couldn't even pick a spot somewhere away from the bases, let alone use any kind of script to pick better spots dynamically. ShadowReapers is probably the best I've seen at scripting things based on distances, but they have the enroute tasks and ROE mistakes as well.

[Frost 77]

In this simulator, the AI will always ruin your experience. The AI in this simulator is the curse of the developers and they can't do anything about it. I don't like flying online, so for some time I tried to keep myself busy flying in custom missions and campaigns. The AI cheats all the time. But then I gave up and don’t fly anymore.

[sirrah]

Bit late to the party, but fwiw:

Not sure what server the OP was playing on, but I often play on the 4YA servers, which have CTLD included.

In those missions, with CTLD you can load anti-air infantry. And yes, you can load them in any helo, even the Apache.

When you are targeted by enemy CAP, just land, unload the squad and wait until the enemy CAP is in range and it'll be shot down. Reload your squad and continue.

Not very realistic, but it helps avoid frustration.

 

I agree, some AI detection tweaking would be nice.

[Floyd1212]

Who needs Stingers on the wingtips when you can just carry a whole Stinger squad onboard?

[FusRoPotato]

Flying between mountains helps too. Soon as the AI detects you through the mountain, they often just hit dirt.