Dud Sparrows

[Killer B 1]

While playing SFP1 SP, flying an F-4B Phantom, I noticed my AIM4E Sparrows wont track; I have a nice radar lock, and the "in range" button is lit up; I launch and the buggars just go straight. Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with my weps folder? The sidewinders do just fine; haven't tried any later model missiles.

[+Viggen 517]

Do you mean the AIM-7 Sparrow or the AIM-4D Falcon. The Falcon, was designed to kill bombers. NOT fast moving Migs. I can't think of a Sparrow issue. However take heed as most early missiles just suck.

[Syrinx 13]

Viggen is right...the early Sparrow's were pretty poor. Less than a fifty-fifty chance of a kill I believe due to unreliability...though I stand to be corrected.

[+Viggen 517]

One thing you may be having problem with is your guidance. The AIM-7 is a Semi-Active Radar Guided AA missile. That means that you must have the target (or it it the Sparrow?) on your HUD until impact or miss.

[FalconC45 157]

One thing you may be having problem with is your guidance. The AIM-7 is a Semi-Active Radar Guided AA missile. That means that you must have the target (or it it the Sparrow?) on your HUD until impact or miss.

 

Actually you need to have the target painted with your radar when using the AIM7. Try put your gunsite on it, I have sucess in that way.

[Platinum Rogue 48]

You need to keep the target locked and visually track it within the HUD frame while the missile is in flight, as this provides a fairly accurate representation of the size and gimbal limits of the boresight radar cone. It's also a good idea to fire 2 missiles at each target, due to the high failure rate of the '60s missile technology. I've had situations where I had to fire 3 or 4 sparrow at 1 aircraft to get the kill.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Platinum Rogue

[+Dark_au 0]

I don't have sfp1 but in wov/woe there is a target indicator in the radar. Once you have locked onto your target you get the vertical band . You also get a target indicator dot. In the center of the radar display there are 2 rings a larger one which indicates the radar gimbal limits or the radar footprint limits and a much smaller one which indicates the radar center. All you have to do is keep the target dot inside the outer ring and preferably inside or close to the inner ring. Once you do your aircraft is pointed at the target.

[Killer B 1]

Well I tried the late-model Sparrows in my downloaded F-16 and they worked like a champ. I guess I just need more practice with the early model Sparrows and the limited avionics of the F-4B. Thanks for the tips guys (and gal).

[+Viggen 517]

No problem. What you may just want to try is getting within 7 miles behind the target.

[+streakeagle 864]

The target's aspect also affects the reliability of the shot.

In the game, sparrows will frequently fail on either a beam or front quarter shot.

They are most reliable for head-on or rear hemisphere shots.

 

Strangely enough, the otherwise much more capable AIM-7E2 is even more sensitive to the front quarter aspect than the AIM-7E: it will self-destruct halfway to the target almost every time.

The AIM-7E has a higher minimum range, but also has a higher maximum range. I love it when my F-4 is carrying two of each. I use the AIM-7E for long-range/head-on shots and the AIM-7E2 for close-in dogfighting tail-chasing shots. If I was forced to choose between carrying one or the other, I prefer the AIM-7E2 since its envelope is much more friendly after the merge... it is superior to any of the USAF versions of the sidewinder for close-in dogfighting until the AIM-9L.

 

If you are only carrying AIM-7Es, you should really only be firing these under two circumstances:

1. The target is far away and is pointing directly at you with a high closure rate.

2. The target is close (but outside minimum range) and is flying directly away from you.

 

Sparrows seldom hit hard maneuvering targets (i.e. a MiG engaging a target with sporadic high-g maneuvers).

But if you use sparrows a lot, you will find they can be used outside the two cases I listed above with varying degrees of success depending on the circumstances.

 

With patience, you can frequently get 75% to 100% success with the AIM-7E and/or AIM-7E2 when none of your missiles fail their reliability check at launch.

No amount of patience consistently gets me those kind of results with the AIM-9B/E/Js of the USAF.

This is one area where the game follows reality pretty closely: if you analyze the USAF and USN air-to-air kills from Vietnam, you will find the USAF was much more successful with the AIM-7 than the AIM-9. They had technicians from the manufacturers grooming their radars and sparrows to maximize their reliability. USN sparrows didn't fare as well with the hard life of carrier landings and they had much better versions of the AIM-9, so the USN scored far more kills with AIM-9s.

[Nicholas Bell 117]

All this does is to confirm that Mr 20mm is your best friend - if you're lucky enough to have him

[Killer B 1]

I had a go with a later model F-4E and got 100% hits with the Sparrows (I don't remember which model) so it looks like I need more practice with the limited gimbal tracking on the F-B's cruddy radar setup; the tips on keeping the target in the crosshairs really helped too, thanks again