Troops being able to deploy flares?

[WDH]

Since a lot of us is getting more and more involved in including ground wars in our campaign making for more CAS sorties.Would it be feasible to make a one of the troop command to deploy flares?Meaning can we make a unit to deploy flares like making a SAM launcher deploy it's surface to air missile?It helps in locating like when FAC is suppose to mark the target with rockets and doesn't.Just think it would be nice to see in WOV in night missions,lighting up the jungle canopy.Also,thought how it would give the unit's position away but,this is a sim,right?

 

Brady

Edited December 22, 2008 by WDH

[EricJ]

Yeah but flares aren't really used to mark friendly locations. That's more of "talking on" the FAC or pilot to your location. Here it's just too easy if you know how to do it. Also, typically smoke is used, rather than something like that. CAS at night is different nowadays, and really required alot of coordination, and I may be wrong, but CAS really wasn't used at night, due to the fact that NVGs during that period were never around.

[Icarus999]

Since a lot of us is getting more and more involved in including ground wars in our campaign making for more CAS sorties.Would it be feasible to make a one of the troop command to deploy flares?Meaning can we make a unit to deploy flares like making a SAM launcher deploy it's surface to air missile?It helps in locating like when FAC is suppose to mark the target with rockets and doesn't.Just think it would be nice to see in WOV in night missions,lighting up the jungle canopy.Also,thought how it would give the unit's position away but,this is a sim,right?

 

Brady

 

 

 

They use IR strobe lights rather than flares, I would think that would not be to hard to model as an effect. Nice idea though you always need to know where the good guys are.

[WDH]

IR strobe lights,cool!I was racking up internet sites trying to find what exactly was used.Not to mention the idea add more eye candy.

 

Thanks,

Brady

[Icarus999]

Oh sorry on closer read of your post I see you were talking about the Vietnam era.

[WDH]

Oh sorry on closer read of your post I see you were talking about the Vietnam era.

 

It's ok,i mean to incorporate it into all out night CAS campaigns.AC-130 aircraft is used for this purpose and I think they used night vision.So,your idea was on track because the "right" soldiers would need IR strobes to keep from being hit by friendly fire.Gonna try to implement flares because at night,it would give a source of direction of fire from gunships that wasn't equipped with night vision.

 

Brady

[Icarus999]

It's ok,i mean to incorporate it into all out night CAS campaigns.AC-130 aircraft is used for this purpose and I think they used night vision.So,your idea was on track because the "right" soldiers would need IR strobes to keep from being hit by friendly fire.Gonna try to implement flares because at night,it would give a source of direction of fire from gunships that wasn't equipped with night vision.

 

Brady

 

 

Nice I'll be looking forward to this .

[WDH]

Ok,not to sound like i'm beating a dead horse,getting close though.Besides AV-8'S,F-15E,F-16,AC-130 and N/AW-10's...what aircraft from era 1962-present are used for night/all weather CAS missions?What are Warsaw Pact counterparts?

 

Brady

[EricJ]

F-15Es, A-10s (N/AW was a demonstrator only), F-16s, AV-8s, B-1Bs, F/A-18A/B/C/D/E/F, M2000D, Rafale, Super Entard.

 

WP Su-25 seems to be the only dedicated CAS platform for the Warsaw Pact. I'm sure the rest with secondary ground attack capability has been trained, but overall the Su-25 is the only one that immediately pops in the head.

[WDH]

F-15Es, A-10s (N/AW was a demonstrator only), F-16s, AV-8s, B-1Bs, F/A-18A/B/C/D/E/F, M2000D, Rafale, Super Entard.

 

WP Su-25 seems to be the only dedicated CAS platform for the Warsaw Pact. I'm sure the rest with secondary ground attack capability has been trained, but overall the Su-25 is the only one that immediately pops in the head.

 

Thanks Eric for your help.

 

Brady

[EricJ]

[+ST0RM]

How about the MiG-27 and MiG-23BN for a Soviet CAS platform?

 

-S

[WDH]

How about the MiG-27 and MiG-23BN for a Soviet CAS platform?

 

-S

 

STORM,

Yep,got those MiG-27 and MiG-23 but,looking into the 'BN' version.Sounds like a certain Boomer is trying to tell me something.Thanks for the 'general' direction!

In order for to have strobe lights on soldiers,it's gonna have to be modeled onto the soldier model itself.Sorry folks,I don't 3DS Max program.If I did,would add this idea along with slit lights on ZIL Family for headlights,same for certain models that have headlights like Duece and a halves or APC/Tanks.Would think that if someone could position the Strobe Light on right breast pocket are of BDU and set it for a steady flash like on a/c's .ini except naming it a specific model like NCASSquad.Or something similar to that.Let me know if it isn't possible,ok?This is an idea talked about 2 yrs ago when it came too adding lights to city buildings.Just took it a step further.

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,to ALL!

Brady and Family

[Jeremiah Weed]

So are you going to be modeling NVGs to look through for the pilot, because that is the only way IR is visible, not by the naked eye. It wouldn't be very tactically sound for a Joe to have a flashing light marking his position that was visible to the naked eye. Pretty much a dead give away for the guys shooting at them to know their location.

 

A flashing IR strobe light on the breast pocket of a soldier is not a very good idea either. Not only would it be difficult to see from the air, every time it flashed the soldier's PVS-7/PVS-14s would wash out and he would be in effect blind and combat ineffective.

 

You mentioned gunships, they normally use beacons to track the location of friendly troops, they are tracked by the radar.

 

When stobe lights are used, they are not attached to the troop, but in the general area. This was my experience anyways, all units have different SOPs but like I said it isn't a tacticly sound battle plan.

 

Maybe you could model VS-17 Panels for tanks?

[Mike463]

During the Vietnam era AC-119 and AC-47's would drop parachute flares at night. Some aircraft were equipped with spotlights. AC-130's certainly had thermal imaging equipment (sensor operators). There should be some stock footage on YouTube (I can ask some of the old timers since I live near Hurlburt).

 

As for ground troops, one practice was to place a strobe light inside the muzzle of an unloaded M-79 grenade launcher and point it straight up; an overhead FAC could make it out against jungle canopy or at night. I remember reading a MACV-SOG "tips of the trade" booklet on not using penflares to signal a position to a FAC, since it looked like a tracer round.

 

Yours, Mike

[+ST0RM]

Sounds like a certain Boomer is trying to tell me something.

 

Nah, just trying to help you fill in some empty spots. Good luck!

 

-Jeff