Best way to search for ground enemy

[comanche_001]

What is the best way to search for ground enemies?

I tried with Shkval, but I find it very difficult to locate a target on the ground, especially in the dark.

[Total]

Turn on your NV's and adjust your contrast and brightness on the Shkval before you ever take off. You can get it very clear, it just takes finding the sweet spots on the adjustments.

 

To practice, make a simple night mission in the editor with some Urals and such (non shooting targets). To start off with, leave labels on. Learn what to look for when you know where they are at. Now, change the position of the targets, turn labels off, and go hunting.

 

Also, when you are in the threat area, slow down!

[Martillo1]

That is why there is Militar Intelligence. You have to rely on their information, like for example the preset targeting points. It is very difficult, and very risky, to scoop around targets without information. The hunter can become the prey.

[EtherealN]

Also, when you are in the threat area, slow down!

 

That depends entirely on the type of threats. AAA and MANPAD will have a lot easier time nailing you if you fly slow or hover, whereas a target doing 200km/h+ will pose a bigger issue. Don't go slow unless you are quite sure that there's nothing out there that can nail you.

[Total]

My statement was incorrect. I meant to say:

 

As you approach the perimeter of the threat area - slow down!

 

If the briefing says that Wypt three or marked areas are the threat zones, then slow down before you get there. Start scanning before you are in harm's way.

 

Often you can scan the threat area with the range zoomed in from a distance and be out of range of MANPAD's and AAA. If you find them, slowly move forward until you are in range to smack them with a missile.

[EtherealN]

That I do agree with. :)

[comanche_001]

Total,

 

The hint with labels turned on is a nice one. Didn't think of that.

 

Thanks for the replies!

 

Greetz...

[PhoenixBvo]

One more tip: use your wingmen in recon mode. They have a very sophisticated radar which can look though trees and such...:) They find targets which you'll have trouble with due to background clutter, but they generally don't find manpads. Also, they happily fly into the barrel of a shilka or SAM killzone, so only use short recon distances and be sure there is enough distance to the threat area. But knowing the limitations, your wingmen can be a very valuable target detection sensor...

[comanche_001]

PhoenixBvo,

 

When your wingman finds a target, you'll receive it's position through the data link, correct?

Does your wingman only sends target info in recon mode or also when flying in formation?

[Wags]

At least in my missions and campaigns, I generally set Target Points (TP) where enemy and friendly forces are clustered. These are listed in the briefing. You can slew the Shkval to the different TPs to locate targets.

[Vecko]

PhoenixBvo,

 

When your wingman finds a target, you'll receive it's position through the data link, correct?

Does your wingman only sends target info in recon mode or also when flying in formation?

Only in recon mod...

[PhoenixBvo]

Only in recon mod...

 

Yep, but I've noticed that if the recon is aborted (either by you or an evasive maneuver), the wingman (sometimes) keeps sending you target info. Probably it's a minor AI bug.

[comanche_001]

At least in my missions and campaigns, I generally set Target Points (TP) where enemy and friendly forces are clustered. These are listed in the briefing. You can slew the Shkval to the different TPs to locate targets.

 

Probably described in the manual :music_whistling:, but how can I create Target Points and how can I slew to the TPs with the Shkval?

[Speed]

What is the best way to search for ground enemies?

I tried with Shkval, but I find it very difficult to locate a target on the ground, especially in the dark.

 

1) Use your eyes, not the Shkval. Your eyes are your #1 sensor. YOu need to either

a) bind the zoom axis to a joystick slider or rotary

or

b) bind zoom to two axes of a hat switch (the keys for zoom are numpad / and *)

 

I did both of these things, but I find myself using the hat switch the most for some reason.

 

Zoom is realistic for the most part because your eyes in an actual Ka-50 would have a higher resolving power than what DCS:BS is able to represent on a monitor at the normal, unzoomed levels. Secondly, I wouldn't be too surprised if Ka-50 pilots actually brought along binoculars sometimes.

 

Secondly, you SHOULD have trouble finding targets at night, the Ka-50 is not supposed to fight in darkness. Using NVGs to look at the Shvkal screen is very unrealistic- The reason the skvhal goes black at night is because the signal hitting the detectors is lower than the minimum detectable signal for the sensor itself... so, if you were to look at the Skvhal screen IRL with NVGs you'd just see random noise. Now if the Skhval had a LLTV mode, things would be different....

[StrongHarm]

I like to mark possible choke points on the ABRIS before the mission. I also make a red line mark 10k from my target on the ABRIS. This shows me where I want to start searching for targets and begin ingress. I bring my airspeed down to about 20-50kmh and set trim to move in a diagonal toward the target. This gives me time to mark/spot targets without getting nailed easily. Looking at your IT23 display with NV on is effective if you use the contrast and brightness knobs below the display. Also, setting the brightness down on your ABRIS, using only NV dimmed cockpit lights, and turning off your HSI lights are important in my opinion.