SPO15 feedback

[AeriaGloria]

3 hours ago, Dudikoff said:

Or perhaps the digital SPO-15T variant that was in development..

I had heard that yes it was the idea that all MiG-29/Su-27 would get retrofit with L-150/SPO-32, a 4th gen RWR for 4th gen planes. But end of Soviet Union meant that SPO-15 went from “temporary imperfect solution for advanced planes” to “a more permanent solution.” Then of course by the time Pastel was fully available in 2001+, what was the point? 

[Logan54]

"When a blanking pulse is received, the receivers of the front hemisphere signal are locked in the SPO-15LE for the duration of the radar radiation."
Source: "On-board complex for navigation, aiming and weapon control of the MiG-29B aircraft"

[AeriaGloria]

I don’t think many people will find anything useful in the new SPO-15 update, but it is cool to have this launch warning customization., 

It is a pre set, it doesn’t actually know when you are launched, you are just setting to tell you launch when it gets a lock/search signal from a particular category or combo of categories. 
 

If I set it to F category lock, instead of F category lock warnings I will only get launch warnings. Which may be useful to know when I am locked by long range SAM or a 4th gen jet at close range as the launch sound will basically tell me the category through audio without needing to look at the SPO. 
 

The blocking wire removal causes radar to give constant lock warning. So basically useless. I wonder why export manuals say to put the observe switch to lock only when turning on radar, as a pilot once told me this should remove own radar signals and just leave enemy lock signal. 
 

So I will put F lock as launch just so I can tell such a lock by ear. 

[MickV]

On 9/22/2025 at 9:42 PM, CrazyGman said:

I feel you are grossly under estimating the MiG-29s BVR ability in it's current state. Against veteran ai it's been pretty easy for me to win the joust against SARH oppenents even with just the vanilla R27R's. It's ability to get high and fast very quickly, and to even stay perched there for a half decent amount of time is not to be underestimated. 

Yeah if your fighting Fox 3 equipped oppenents your going to struggle, but that's not really the fight this first generation of MiG-29 was ever designed to fight against. Same if your going to try to take on 2-4 other 4rth gen oppenents all by yourself (although I don't see how you could really have a much better time trying to do this any more with any of the teen series fighters either)

You can by the way setup ground search radars and sams and do radio calls for picture to help build your SA, like we used to do on alpenwolfs cold war server back in the day, but this also works for single player missions 

I can think of a lot of interesting missions that you could set up right now in SP. Like scrambling with an AI wingman from a roadside based as a group of 4 Phantoms go to make a ground attack. And you ambush them from below while a ERW radar site gives you vectors from picture calls.

Or patrolling perched high above friendly SAMs protecting an airbase as a group of Hornets with HARM's and Sparrows try to perform SEAD to soften up the air defense and your there to swat them out of the sky from high altitude, while the friendly SAMs keep them at standoff distance

Or some daring nap of the earth ground attack missions using quick pop up rocket or bomb attacks like in the viggen. (Wait till your see the Viggens RWR)

I can think of loads of missions. The Module the MiG-29 mostly resembles for me is the M-2000C. Both have quirky radars you need to learn to get used to, and both are set up to do similar roles.

 

 

 

Apologies for not responding sooner - I'm not on the forums much. But I took a break from the module then came back to it a few weeks ago, and must admit that I was wrong, and you were correct about the MiG-29's BVR capability. Thought I'd update my impression for the benefit of anyone still going through the thread.

Part of the issue I was having is that there appeared to have been a bug where the sensors absolutely WOULD NOT lock if using certain button inputs (namely the ones I had mapped) to switch radar and WCS modes. I'd make it to the merge and be completely unable to lock a maneuvering target with the helmet, OPT, IR CC, etc. Between that and the mixed opinions on the SPO-15 it left me thinking the module had been intentionally modeled as nearly useless from an avionics standpoint.

Obviously that's now been addressed, and locking targets is a piece of cake. Aeria Gloria's tutorials on COOP and radar usage were also enormously helpful in figuring out what I was doing wrong on my end in the BVR phase. With some practice I'm now routinely defeating Ace-level AI equipped with Sparrows in 4th gens, and have even managed a few Hornets & Eagles in MP.

Cheers,

Mick

[AeriaGloria]

Discovered that signal strength is 2 bars stronger in lock then in search. 
 

Which changes many of my assumptions and explains many things.