Notching & BVR Tactics, help for new fighter pilots (FC3)

[Frostie]

 

is wrong because the missile does not anticipate that far ahead , it is not flying a true intercept path. It just follows you around, reacts to your inputs.

It does not think 20 seconds ahead.

Just so you're clear, you do know that the Red and Blue lines are the missiles and the Green line is the target right?

[GGTharos]

A true intercept path would need no corrections along the way.

 

Intercept paths are dictated by algorithms. A 'fly in a straight line' algorithm can give you a collision course, and so does PN. Both are 'true intercept' paths, they're both more efficient than the other in certain cases. This is why modern missiles use both.

 

But both are 'true intercept paths'. What you're looking for is an efficient flight path for a non-maneuvering target. We can add other fun things to it, like lofting etc.

 

It would be the absolute shortest way to it's final destination , so when it actually hits the aircraft.

The missile's path would be absolutely straight.

 

ONLY if the target isn't maneuvering. In this case, PN can be a less efficient.

 

But since it's impossible to predict what the aircraft is going to do, that is impossible.

 

Missiles with PN correct all the time, because that's how PN works. Some augmented PN versions are more efficient in this case, and there are other algorithms still that do better.

 

They all result in a collision flight path, the difference in exact flight path is made up by the target parameters, and the information available to the missile for correcting its flight path. PN only uses the look angle rate, APN can also use closure, and there are some mid-course/inertial algorithms that can solve the flight path by knowing accurate target parameters (distance, vector) and the missile's average flight time for the distance it has to fly, including launch parameters (launch direction, speed).

 

Even if the aircraft would not manouvre at all, but is in an angle with the other aircraft, the missile would still follow a curved path and cover more distance than necessary.