How to fly escort missions

[Owl]

Can any tell me how to fly an escort mission right?

 

I mean, do you fly far ahead to clear the area the route go through, or are you flying just in front, or back of the heli/vehicles you have to protects.

 

AND if the heli/vehicles are going to be attacked, how do you use your wingman then. I mean, if the Hells go on, it is difficult for me to both protect the heli/vehicles, and give my wingman commands...

 

regards

 

Henrik

 

sorry for my english...! Hope you understand?

[Sabre-TLA]

According to Robert Shaws book: Fighter Combat tactics and Maneuvering there are 4 different types of escort missions:

Reception Escort

Remote Escort

Detached Escort

Close Escort

 

I think most missions are close escort missions where you typically fly ahead of the strike group like a fighter sweep. You stay within visual range of the strike group and respond to any reported threats.

 

If you want more details I suggest you read the book. He goes into detail with diagrams to describe a typical escort mission.

 

For me personally I usually fly on the left side of the strike package and push my wingman out to the right so we have coverage on both sides.

[EtherealN]

The operative question on how is: are we talking about a Black Shark pilot doing the escorting (vs possible ground threats), or a fighter pilot doing the escorting (vs possible air threats)?

[Frederf]

I believe he's asking about Ka-50 flight escorting something like a Mi-8 flight as seen in Altitude.miz.

 

As for escorting, it's very variable depending on what threats are expected, capability of the escortee, and capability of escorter. Reacting to a threat actively engaging your escortee is usually too little, too late. Be as aggressive as possible to find and engage threats before they have a chance to do any harm. Be as aggressive as possible without allowing them to be more at risk from threats you have missed from the back or sides than the ones you are preventing by being aggressive.

 

AI escortees will not respond to discovered threats and continue to blunder through them unless they are destroyed. Human or very-well-coded AI can be coaxed to cooperate in their survival. An unarmed scout with good sensors and low-detectability can be life or death to an aware main body.

[Owl]

The operative question on how is: are we talking about a Black Shark pilot doing the escorting (vs possible ground threats), or a fighter pilot doing the escorting (vs possible air threats)?

 

Yes I mean in Black Shark...! There are missions, where you have to escort two choppers, and other missions where you should protect a convoy, and it is how the best way is to capture this.

 

And then you're been attacked, how do you use your wingman best? Is it to use "attack ground targets", or?

 

Henrik

[MemphisBelle]

I think there´s no "best solution ever" answer possible to this question, since we´re talking about a game. I suggest just to always keep close to the subject and keep beeing in visual range, reprt the wingman to perform reconnaissance flights around the subject but not too far, just 1 or 3 km max. If youre get threaten from any direction so start attack on known targtes and ask your wingman for further attack on ground targets. Always keep the situation about the subject.

 

Fly low and close to your subject but never keep hovering to avoid recieving a direct shot.

 

Thats my way and works well.

 

A futher suggestion is to center the trim and do not trim while fighting. With enabled Autopilots (only the firts both buttons) trimming it´s more a pain in the but as it is helpful. That needs a little training but it works perfect.