Jtac telling me to attack SAMs with CBUs?

[emtguf]

I am thinking a standoff weapon would work better in this situation no?

 

First campain first mission.

Everytime I attempt to attack the manpads I get shot out of the sky. I evade the first several SAMs that are shot at me, but one always seems to sneak through.

[OutOnTheOP]

The good news is they only REQUEST a weapon. They don't order it. Though there might be mitigating circumstances that calls for it (IE, if there's friendlies close by, they'll tell you it's danger close and might demand gun only or Maverick).

 

In the game, as in real life, they don't dock you points if you choose to employ different ordnance. Though in real life, they'd generally want to be advised of it beforehand.

[nomdeplume]

Are you not able to fly higher? MANPADS are only good up to around 13,000 feet or so (AGL).

[emtguf]

I do fly higher, but there are other sams there as well.

usually I end up being the bait and my wingman takes out the target shortly after my bailout.

[Speed]

Well, get above 22 thousand and usually the only thing that can hit you will be MR and LR SAMs, plus SA-15 and possible SA-8.

[emtguf]

I thought A-10s were primarily a close ground support platform, that didn't hang out in the 20 thousand foot mark?

 

When I think of high alt stand off attacks I think of fighter and bombers.

 

maybe I am wrong in that assumption.

 

I will try a higher alt attack and see.

I guess in that situation you would ccrp the CBUs?

[CAT_101st]

At 26K you are safe from SA-15

[Speed]

At 26K you are safe from SA-15

 

Not that I've seen. Hell, I once got shot down by an SA-8 while flying at angels 31, that was a real shocker. He was on top of some high terrain, but STILL.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Speed

[Speed]

I thought A-10s were primarily a close ground support platform, that didn't hang out in the 20 thousand foot mark?

?

 

Yes, and usually they are attacking Taliban fighters that have AKs, RPGs, an occasional ZU-23, and maybe twice a year get ahold of a MANPAD. Attacking SA-19s and SA-13s and SA-15s is something the A-10 has never had to do. Attacking a lot of IR SAMs is something the A-10A did in fact do though, in ODS, with many losses. See my rants here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1139474#post1139474

 

and here:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1172422&postcount=25

 

about trying to apply real-life tactics to our simulated battlefield. It's just not a good idea. Not to mention even the "average" IR SAM operators in this sim are probably 30 times more profficient than the Iraqi IR SAM operators that managed to down like four to six (can't remember) A-10s with them in 1991. Besides, the second post appears to prove that attack aircraft such as the A-10 have in fact been ordered to stay at high altitudes before due to the threat of SAMs and AAA. And you can bet that the Serbian air defenses that forced the A-10s to stay high in 1999 was NOTHING compared the some of the SAM environments I've seen in some of these missions.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Speed

[emtguf]

So what we really need are some seed packages to soften up the area so we can do close air support.

 

Tried the mission again 3 times. 25k, 28k, and 33k.

all 3 times I was painted by a sa8. jammer seemed to clear the lock. painted again, jammer appeared to clear, painted again jammer seemed to clear.

Line up for my bomb run without ever getting a missile warning, then I see a flash and I am hit.

going back and looking at it I am definitely being hit by sams again even with no missile launch warning, and even at 33k

 

at least I was able to release the last time and hit the target with 2 cbu97s

unfortunatly I had to watch it happen from the confines of my parachute.

[Speed]

So what we really need are some seed packages to soften up the area so we can do close air support.

 

Tried the mission again 3 times. 25k, 28k, and 33k.

all 3 times I was painted by a sa8. jammer seemed to clear the lock. painted again, jammer appeared to clear, painted again jammer seemed to clear.

Line up for my bomb run without ever getting a missile warning, then I see a flash and I am hit.

going back and looking at it I am definitely being hit by sams again even with no missile launch warning, and even at 33k

 

at least I was able to release the last time and hit the target with 2 cbu97s

unfortunatly I had to watch it happen from the confines of my parachute.

 

There are some SAMs you shouldn't try to out-altitude, and SA-8 now appears to be in that catagory. It didn't used to be.

 

For the SAMs that you can't get above, you just have to outrange.

[nomdeplume]

First campaign first mission... I think I've gotten that far... and aren't you tasked with destroying a bridge or something similar? Contacting JTAC should be optional, so if they give you a dud target just tell them you're checking out. :)

 

Pretty sure when I played that they tasked me onto tanks. Though, I think there might be a few variations of the 'first' mission.

[goldfinger35]

So what we really need are some seed packages to soften up the area so we can do close air support.

 

Tried the mission again 3 times. 25k, 28k, and 33k.

all 3 times I was painted by a sa8. jammer seemed to clear the lock. painted again, jammer appeared to clear, painted again jammer seemed to clear.

Line up for my bomb run without ever getting a missile warning, then I see a flash and I am hit.

going back and looking at it I am definitely being hit by sams again even with no missile launch warning, and even at 33k

 

at least I was able to release the last time and hit the target with 2 cbu97s

unfortunatly I had to watch it happen from the confines of my parachute.

 

 

My testing showed that sa-8 can not hit you above 25.000 above ground level. You don't even have to use chaff.

 

Are you sure you were 33.000 above ground level/target and not above sea level?

 

On a side note, I would never attack sa-8 with bombs if I had a maverick.

Edited April 21, 2011 by goldfinger35

[bob_baer]

So guys your suggestion is to enter the theater at high altitudes and hope the albinos are doing their job with migs? It seems that the wingmen make a lot of effort to follow me at high altitude...

[emtguf]

yes I was 33,000 agl.

 

I didn't even get a missile launch warning just painted by the radar a few times, which I broke with the jammer.

 

very possibly a bug

[Speed]

So guys your suggestion is to enter the theater at high altitudes and hope the albinos are doing their job with migs? It seems that the wingmen make a lot of effort to follow me at high altitude...

 

An A-10 is going to be screwed either way if there are MiGs around. You're better off at high altitude, being slightly easier for MiGs to kill, impossible for AAA to kill, and impossible for most SAMs to kill. The SAMs that can kill you at angels 25 can also kill you at angels 5. The only advantage of being down low, in regards to survivability, is terrain masking. This advantage is usually far outweighed by the fact that every weapon system in the game is capable of blowing you out of the sky when flying at angels 5.

 

It's alot smarter to come in at higher altitude, and only come down if you need to and you are sure that it is safe to do so.

[Speed]

yes I was 33,000 agl.

 

I didn't even get a missile launch warning just painted by the radar a few times, which I broke with the jammer.

 

very possibly a bug

 

Was the SA-8 on the top of a mountain or on high terrain? That allows them to shoot much higher than normal.

[RodBorza]

I just want to add: besides flying higher than usual, you can always call SEAD flights on the radio menu F10. Others... Usually, depending on the mission, you'll have to loiter somewhere and wait for them to do the job.

One thing you have to have in mind is that they have limited ordnance also. So, when they come in, they'll soften the area, not destroying all threats. But it will help, Also, if you have to loiter around for a long time, as we usually do, talking to JTAC and all, if you look at the menu, the SEADs and CAPs flights are replenished from time to time. So, if needed, you can always call them again later on the mission.