Activating Laser Designator

[rddaos]

The manual states that in order to fire the laser (for example, to point the laser at a location for designating as a mark point), the laser code must be entered. Forgive my stupidity, but what code must I enter, how do I enter it, and once entered, which control is used to activate the laser (HOTAS pinky?).

 

Thanks!

[Mugenjin]

Where excactly does the manual say that the code must be entered to fire the laser?

 

Nosewheelsteering button is used to fire the laser, no code needs to be entered. Laser code is needed to discern between lasers (of different aircraft, JTAC w/e) to guide LGBs for example.

Edited July 31, 2011 by Mugenjin

[rddaos]

Page 323 at the bottom:

 

To fire the laser only, the following conditions must be met:

 

The TGP switch on the AHCP must be set to ON

 The Laser switch on the AHCP must be set to ARM or TRAIN

 Aircraft must be airborne

 Laser code is entered

 TGP is not masked by own aircraft

 LSR must be selected from OSB 7

[Harzach]

Page 323 at the bottom:

 

To fire the laser only, the following conditions must be met:

 

The TGP switch on the AHCP must be set to ON

 The Laser switch on the AHCP must be set to ARM or TRAIN

 Aircraft must be airborne

 Laser code is entered

 TGP is not masked by own aircraft

 LSR must be selected from OSB 7

 

These are conditions, not actions. These are items that just need to be met with an answer of "TRUE" for you to effectively lase your target. You generally will not be ready to lase a target if at least the first three weren't true already. Note that the previous condition is to be airborne...:pilotfly:

 

Unless the code changes mid-mission or conflicts with another flight, it is usually entered during start-up. In general, it is already entered for you, 1688 being the default as mentioned above.

[nomdeplume]

If you do want to enter it/change it, it's done through the TGP's CTRL page. i.e. set the TGP to A/G mode, then use the CTRL OSB at the top left. On the left side of the screen are two codes, one is for search (LSS) and the other is the code it emits (not sure what that's labeled as, but should be pretty obvious).

 

The search code is used when the TGP is in laser search mode, and needs to correspond to the code being transmitted by whoever it is that's designating the target for you. If it's JTAC, they'll tell you the code they're using, but it's probably always 1688 (the default) so you won't need to change it. In MP flights you can be more creative.

 

If you change the code your own designator emits with, you'll also need to change the code the bombs your guide on. That's done through the DSMS inventory page. In the real world, the code is physically selected on the bomb and can't be changed by the pilot. In the sim the DSMS inventory settings serve that purpose, so if you prefer to play realistically you should restrict yourself from making any changes unless you're on the ground (i.e. pretend the ground crew are doing it).

 

I don't know what real life procedure is, but I guess at a minimum the bombs loaded on each aircraft in a flight would be configured with a different code if there's any chance they'll both want to engage simultaneously.

[Dejjvid]

They probably have 2 different codes. If leader wants to guide the wingmans LGB's. He simply change to his wingmans code in his TGP or vice versa.

 

But if im not wrong, a flight of 2 never attack at the same time. The wingman is always watching over the leader when he's attacking, to make sure there's no threats to the flight. If both were to look down at the MFCD's, they loose awareness.

[dbeaty]

If you were playing with ultimate realism, and if you were being directed by JTAC to a target, they may lase it for you from the ground or from another aircraft and you would use their code? But even then, in this sim, the preset always has worked for me in SP missions.

 

Otherwise, it's the default setting the crew chief programs for you for your aircraft's TGP at mission start, no user input needed.

[nomdeplume]

If you were playing with ultimate realism, and if you were being directed by JTAC to a target, they may lase it for you from the ground or from another aircraft and you would use their code? But even then, in this sim, the preset always has worked for me in SP missions.

The key is that the laser code your bombs guide on is set on the ground and can't be changed in-flight. The designator can have its code changed on-the-fly, so if you want to guide someone else's bombs, you have to set your designator to whatever code their bombs have been set to search for. So if a JTAC wants to guide your weapons onto target, you'd need to give them the correct code to use.

 

Designating for someone else has two purposes though: to help them identify the target, and to actually guide a weapon onto the target. Often the designation will only be for the former, so the pilot will set their targeting system to search for whatever code the JTAC is using to light up the target, and then once they've found it the JTAC can stop lasing it. There'd likely be more back-and-forth on the radio as the pilot confirms that what they're looking at is definitely the correct target. After that, the pilot can engage it on their own, i.e. designate for their own weapon.

 

If the intention is for someone to guide someone else's weapons, then I imagine that'd be sorted out in the mission planning phase, well before the planes took off. While it's always cool, it's really only useful in specific circumstances, so most of the time it happens it's probably part of a pre-planned event.