Mavericks won't lock onto target?

[Azref]

Hi Folks

 

I'm currently playing through the A10A campaign but having great difficulty in mission 1. Every time i attempt to lock onto the tanks it slews to a building, when i try to slew it back to the tank it refuses to lock, jumping back to the building it locked originally.

 

I've tried using mavericks in quick missions and can lock onto the target every time. The problem seems to be when they are near buildings.

 

Is there a cycle target key for the maverick?

 

Am i doing something wrong?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

[Crashmo]

Mavericks

 

I was having the same problem. I had no problem locking up a target in the open, just not when they are hiding in town near buildings, bridges and other structures. I could get them to lock inside 1/2 mile, but then you are committed to a suicide run.

 

A thought: maybe it is the type of Mavs. For example, an AGM-65K might be more suited to buildings/bridges--a D or H model might work better in this situation. I have not looked at the model differences yet so I'm just thinking aloud.

 

If I try that idea later I'll report back with results.

[OneFatBird]

Same problem, plus something else, too.

 

I am new to the A-10A, I will add. Here is what was noted. The target acquisition reticule (I move it with the joystick hat) will initially move the wrong way, when in ground stabilization mode. That is, if I move it right, it starts by moving left a bit, then moves right. Same for up and down. Happens on all the types of AGM 65.

 

Now, if this feature has been added to make the usage of the missile more - ahem - "challenging" for the player, then it is a self defeating exercise, really. It had me discarding the AGM-65 in preference for the CBU-97 (where tanks are concerned), and being more methodical about carving a route in to the target with the GAU-8 or CBU-87s on softer targets.

 

On the other hand, if it is "realistic", then it is hard to believe that a premier A-G missile system has been deployed with such a rotten targeting method, and has kept it for so long!

 

Is it a bug? If so, will it be fixed? The A-10A is already challenging enough, what without something like the Shkval, a relatively low zoom for target ID from the Maverick seeker (by comparison), and the absence of Paveway GBUs because there is no third party laser designation implemented.

 

Otherwise, "bloody fine kite". I like it very much, except for this issue (and two other small things I will post separately).

[Crashmo]

More on the Mav

 

So, I have been flying the A-10C for a while and here is what I garner from that experience.

 

In the A-10A I don't yet know if the seeker head makes a difference in this "city and buildings" environment.

 

In the A-10C there are 2 fine ways to get around this problem. One is to target a threat with the TGP and then slave the Maverick to it. The other is called force correlation. Instead of letting the Maverick seek a target through white or black hot, you point the seeker at something and tell it: "Go here." It is a method of selecting something as distinct as a window, instead of the whole building. I cannot remember now if the A-10A has this force correlation available. I don't think you can grab a moving target with force correlate, though. So the tanks in motion have one up on us in the towns of FC3.

 

Either way, my A-10A does NOT slew opposite and then reverse course correctly. So, my friend, you may have a glitch. Time to diagnose. :(

[Hielor]

I also see the "initially slew opposite from commanded direction" with Mavericks in the A-10A. Extremely frustrating.

[Razgriz1]

Just finished that mission, I made it, but it was quite hard to get a lock on the T72s (I ended up destroying a civilian house). What I did was just trying to place the reticle right on top of them before setting the lock. It would sometimes go for the bridge, when that happened I tried to move it away from it and to the target while keeping an eye on the distance.

 

Don't think there's any trick, since unlike the Su25t you can't change the size of the target it will keep locking on random things, just have to struggle.

 

Crashmo, the A-10A doesn't have targeting pod, the systems are simplified so no force correlation mode that I'm aware of.

[Foss]

Very annoying this snap to bridge or civilian house behaviour...

 

i think i edit the mission and place the platoon in the open or give me 100% result at sucessful loading the mission :D

[tdevster]

A10A Maverick always locking static targets instead of tanks ! Infuriating... help

 

Hi all,

 

Just been playing the first Campaign mission for the A10A, and I am finding it extremely difficult to lock up targets with the mavericks.

 

I slew the maverick directly over the tanks, yet most of the time, when I lock - the maverick snaps to a building, bridge or tree, several meters away.

 

Seems glitched and pretty buggy, not much fun, neither very convincing.

 

Is there any better way to approach this?

 

Cheers

[Foss]

Mod merged Topics.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Foss
pointed to this Thread

[HiJack]

Hi all,

 

Just been playing the first Campaign mission for the A10A, and I am finding it extremely difficult to lock up targets with the mavericks.

 

I slew the maverick directly over the tanks, yet most of the time, when I lock - the maverick snaps to a building, bridge or tree, several meters away.

 

Seems glitched and pretty buggy, not much fun, neither very convincing.

 

Is there any better way to approach this?

 

Cheers

Doing the A-10A campaign is not very fun at the moment for sure. Lets hope it get fixed some day.

[Scarecrow]

Lets hope it get fixed some day.

 

 

Amen to that. The Mavs are useless unless the target is sitting in the middle of a field.:doh:

[marker]

I was having the exact same problem with mission one. Seems I was doing it wrong!

 

I would "LOCK" onto a tank and it would lock a building, bridge etc. I then realised I could still slew my target designator after "LOCKING", I would slew it onto a tank and it would lock first time.

 

When you press lock while in AGM mode, it is basically turning on ground stabilising so that the crosshair does not move around in coordination with the A10 movement.

Someone with more knowledge than me can correct that part if it is wrong.

[NineLine]

I'm happy that the A-10A RWR freeze bug has been worked out in ver. 1.2.10, but the Maverick performance in campaign mission 1 is extremely frustrating: when they "snap" to a nearby tree, or building or whatever is under the bridge or the bridge itself. They seem to easily lock onto everything EXCEPT the tanks.:joystick:

 

Which variant of Maverick are we talking here? The H is harder to lock if there is poor contrast where you are aiming.

[HiJack]

Which variant of Maverick are we talking here? The H is harder to lock if there is poor contrast where you are aiming.

Come on Sith, someone at ED's development team should be forced to play all A-10A missions in the simulator and post a sit rep for each mission. Never in a lifetime will I believe pilots of a real A-10 would try to attack anything with a maverick if the targeting operated like that. The target designator moves left if you slew to the right and it moves right if you slew it left. Now would that behavior pass an acceptance test by the US air force? Targeting moving vehicles out in the open terrain and it locks to the bushes on the side of the hot vehicle! Come on Sith you cannot support the current build man, really! :(

[NineLine]

Do you have a track of your Maverick locking a bush instead of a truck? The H has a different tracking system, its based on contrast not heat as far as I understand it.

 

Please start a new bug report about slew if you feel there is an issue.

Edited August 30, 2014 by NineLine

[HiJack]

Flying something completely different for the time beeing but I will return and do the A-10A campaigns again when a new version is out.

[esb77]

WAIT! Hold it one second there.

 

Do you mean to say that, "tactical bushes," are actually modelled in DCS?

 

Somewhere that I forget the URL to there's a very long and detailed guide to attacking ground targets with an attack airplane that was written by a former A-10 pilot. It covers everything from guns and bombs with basic sights to guided munitions.

 

It includes a section on dealing with the Maverick's (or at least early versions) habit of locking onto targets such as bushes, sheds, large rocks, portable toilets, etc. I believe it was caused by the missile guidance preferring the block of highest contrast compared to the background for the optically guided versions of the missile. Not sure if the guidance logic was any different for the IR seeker, but in that case a vehicle with a running engine has a good chance of being the highest contrast area, at least in the early morning, the evening, and at night. So do check the version of the Mavs that you're using, it may make a difference.

 

 

To butcher a quote: "You can't just translate into target designation. You must think in missile guidance system logic." ;)

 

 

I mostly fly helis in DCS these days, but now I have a sudden urge to hop in the A-10C (don't have FC3) and see if it's Mavericks are also attracted to tactical bushes.

Edited September 2, 2014 by esb77

[RedTail11]

This is literally still a problem in 2023 WTF. It's so damn frustrating. My mavericks refuse to lock ANY target and just jump to random places elsewhere. How have they not fixed this in almost 10 years?

Edit: it's also not the version of Maverick. D H and K all do the same thing. D's are also useless in the daytime as the picture is covered by a black "haze" until you are within 5 miles of your target area.

Edited March 23, 2023 by RedTail11

[FusRoPotato]

On 8/30/2014 at 11:37 AM, NineLine said:

Do you have a track of your Maverick locking a bush instead of a truck? The H has a different tracking system, its based on contrast not heat as far as I understand it.

 

Please start a new bug report about slew if you feel there is an issue.

 

IRL it's based on contrasting pixels, but not in DCS. The Mavericks ability to lock in DCS are only based on 3 things: temperature (D), time of day (H), and range. So long as the target falls within the constraints set for each type, they will be allowed to snap to it and lock. If they snap, they snap to a radius on the closest layer. The bug is that the radius for buildings can be many times larger than the building itself, so if the building is closer to the maverick than the target, it can cause the maverick to snap to the building even if said building is not even shown on the MFD. Usually, this is major problem for any buildings that are long and skinny such as those at airfields, but the rules are not consistent. 

To fix this bug, a tech needs to discover what sets the radius and put some constraints on it. This radius is probably calculated by the maverick missile files themselves. This should be fine because nobody has ever needed to lock onto the corner of a building in DCS. Just constrain the radius and it will be fixed well enough.