investigating Radar losing lock way too easy in all modes.

[AeriaGloria]

8 hours ago, LaCiKa said:

1st AUTO mode is like switch every second, from HPRF to MPRF to achive best lock, there is no "random".

2nd Again, again and again im not going to repeat my self that P mode is complete joke, you can't achive lock more than 15-20km, even 20km is HUGE risk of lock breaking it's self, i don't know in what world did you get 35km lock on HOT target. Even in Wags video is mentioned some distance of 8nm.

Simply radar is bugged it needs to be fixed and give it more power, to me it makes no sense to have 120km+ range on HPRF and 15km on MPRF, simple as that.

Were you at low altitude? MPRF suffers below 3k meters 

In addition coop is perfect for MPRF because IRST will likely have lock when it drops. Probably why when fully implemented coop mode will lock radar to MPRF

Edited Sunday at 07:26 PM by AeriaGloria

[CrazyGman]

9 hours ago, LaCiKa said:

1st AUTO mode is like switch every second, from HPRF to MPRF to achive best lock, there is no "random".

2nd Again, again and again im not going to repeat my self that P mode is complete joke, you can't achive lock more than 15-20km, even 20km is HUGE risk of lock breaking it's self, i don't know in what world did you get 35km lock on HOT target. Even in Wags video is mentioned some distance of 8nm.

Simply radar is bugged it needs to be fixed and give it more power, to me it makes no sense to have 120km+ range on HPRF and 15km on MPRF, simple as that.

Pretty much I feel auto mode that gives me the most problems. Usually what I do for success is Head on mode for the bvr engagement...once the target cranks, and we are under 20km, i'll switch to pursuit...that usually maintains lock. 

 

Part of what I had to get used to was the scale change between head on and pursuit, and that I need to make sure my antenna position is properly set. especially with pursuit mode, as you can easily have the dish point way off to the heavens or into the dirt, when you want it just in front of you.

It's helped a bunch right now for me on contention, and I've been getting more R-27R kills

[wcdiver]

From my experience:

Using Head On and Pursuit mode is far superior to using automatic mode.

So for targets that are far away:

Head On mode, then setup the bracket at the relative distance to the target, and then setup antenna elevation to the target relative altitude.  When target is close enough - switch to the Pursuit mode and check the antenna elevation (make sure that is not pointing too high / too low).

Here is an example: lock achieved at 80+ km using Head On mode and correct antenna elevation.

 

 

Edited Monday at 12:47 PM by wcdiver

[CrazyGman]

Practicing against ACE AI and in Mutliplayer the radar does most of the time drop lock if the target beams and drops chaff. Espessially when going cold. Even when using head on and then switching the pursuit, at high altitude.

[Pavlin_33]

On 9/28/2025 at 4:36 PM, PE_Crni said:

Well, some 20 years ago, I used to fly IL-2 with a guy who was Fulcrum pilot in Indian Air Force. I was very enthusiastic about MiG-29 and he just put me down by saying the plane is nowhere near its famed or advertised capabilities. One thing that really stuck in my memory was how he described the radar - "We would often spot other planes in front of us with our eyes before seeing them on the radar."

Yes, MiG-29's radar was pecifically developed for WVR with a max detection range of around few kilometers. The 27Rs were designed to be initially guided using M-link, and then they would home in using pilot's eyballs. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Pavlin_33

[JTFF - Raph]

Hi,

First of all, I want to thank ED team for this clean and well appreciated release. The Fulcrum is awesome.

Now concerning this topic. I also noticed some inconsistency during radar usage but : at this moment we don't really know how ED team plans to design this radar model. So it is hard to say if something is a bug or not. In the first release of the manual there is no sufficient informations to juge wether or not everything is correct or bugged.

Based on what I read in DCS forums or heard from well documented DCS members I made with hexcalidraw a "fulcrum radar workflow". It would be appreciated to have a feedback from ED team and from you guys to have a clear view on :

- What we should expect from the radar (in terms of performance etc)
- What is implemented or not at this moment
- What will be implemented or not in the future
- How to correctly operate this radar (it might change depending on DCS tactics or historical doctrines)
- Correct this diagram and maybe give an accurate one for the future manual versions if it helps community

With that, I think we could have more tools to understand what we are doing, what might be a bug or not and save a lot of time for everyone I guess.

PS : I won't debate on open source data or anything else external from DCS forums since I had problems with moderation in the past, so I will rely only on your advice and hopefully on ED team' feedback.

Have a good day !

 

 

[JTFF - Raph]

@AeriaGloria I will check your video as well, I've just seen it after posting.