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Greetings everyone, I have been long curious and been anxious about knowing just how much ammo is remaining after firing the cannons in Strike Fighters 2. If anyone found a way to toggle it or bring it up somehow, thank you. :)

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It depends on the aircraft.  Some have counters in the pit, some on the HUD.  What aircraft are you trying to see this on?

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During flight in general. However it seems if the aircraft does not have an ammo counter, it's somewhat of a guessing game.

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Okay, so, again, what aircraft are you talking about?  Let's say you're flying an F-14.  It shows you the remaining ammo times the hundred on the HUD.  So, your HUD shows "6" at the center bottom.  That equals 676-600 rounds of ammunition in the gun.  5 = 599-500, 4 = 499-400, etc.  Other A/C will show exact numbers (e.g., F/A-18 on the HUD, or the F-16 on the left MFD.) So, what aircraft doesn't show the ammo counter you want?

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The A-4C Skyhawk and the F-8E Crusader. However, I am also trying to figure out a way to be able to know the ammo count while in flight in general from all aircraft with or without a physical or HUD counter. Thank you kindly for your insight. :3

Edited by Chakat_Avocado

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Gotcha.  So, you can do a rudimentary HUD with only rounds showing for your purpose.  Problem is it might interfere with your normal gun sight.  This is an example that will at least show you your remaining rounds:

[HUD]
HUDMaterial=HUDMaterial
HUDColor=0.0,1.0,0.3,0.8
BoresightOffset=0.0,0.0
ViewportTopLeft=-0.155,-0.195
ViewportBottomRight=0.155,0.210

[HUDMaterial]
EffectShaderName=fltHUD.fx
DepthBufferCheck=FALSE
DepthBufferWrite=FALSE
RenderedInOrder=FALSE
AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE
CullMode=NO_CULL
LightEnabled=FALSE
UseLightLevel=FALSE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
FogEnabled=FALSE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
ZBufferOffset=0
PriorityLevel=1
BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=
TextureStage[01].MipMap=FALSE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE

[HUDFont]
TextFontName=Arial
TextSize=14
TextBold=TRUE

[HUDModeNav]
Symbol[01]=HUD_WeaponCount

[HUDModeAA]
Symbol[01]=HUD_WeaponCount

[HUDModeAG]
Symbol[01]=HUD_WeaponCount

[HUD_WeaponCount]
SymbolType=WEAPON_COUNT_TEXT
TextPosition=0.0,0.140
HorizontalAlignment=CENTER
TextFormat=%01d

 

You'd add this to the bottom of the aircraft's AVIONICS.ini file.  Others out there might have better solutions.

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      Fighter needs guns or short range missile……………..Turning and acceleration rate of MiG-17 was impressive. The MiG leader was aggressive and a good fighter pilot.
      23 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot
      Improve the performance of the AAM and the gun will not be needed…………Training safety restrictions severely limited air-combat-tactics training prior to deployment to the combat area.
      23 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot
      The need for a F-4 gun is overstated, although it would be of value if it could be obtained without hurting current radar and other system performance. If you are in a position to fire guns, you have made some mistake. Why after a mistake would a gun solve all problems. Also having a gun would require proficiency at firing, extra training etc. Have enough problems staying proficient in current systems. If the F-4 had guns, we would have lost a lot more, since once a gun dual starts the F-4 is at a disadvantage against the MiG.
      23 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot
      Felt that he had very poor air-combat-tactics background. Prior background was bomber and other multi-engine. Transition to F-4 oriented toward upgrading a qualified fighter pilot rather than training a pilot with no fighter background.
      25 April 1966 USAF F-4C back seat pilot
      Gun is not particularly desirable, if the performance of the aircraft is degraded by an external installation. Also, one might make the mistake of getting into a turning battle if a gun was available
      25 April 1966 USAF F-4C back seat pilot
      Capability of the F-4 is being wasted by having a pilot in the back seat. The pilot is not adequately trained as a radar observer. Need a radar expert in the back seat. The pilot back seaters main goal is to be upgraded to the front seat rather than master the radar.
      26 April 1966 USAF F-4C front pilot
      It is a fallacy to say that you can bring the F-4C home and land it solely from the back seat. You’ve got to blow the gear down and then there is no antiskid system; there is no drag chute handle; there is no fuel gauges or switches; you may be limited to using internal fuel; you can’t dump fuel or jettison tanks.
      A gun would be nice in an F-4C as long as it was clearly understood it was only a weapon of last resort. Soviet fighters are more capable than US aircraft inside gun range.
      29 April 1966 USAF F-4C back seat pilot
      It was not necessary to have a pilot in the back seat of the F-4 except during night A-G missions when a pilot may more capably advise the aircraft commander. Actually, a radar officer would be more interested in the back-seat operation than a pilot would be.
      29 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot
      It would be undesirable and possibly fatal for an F-4 to use a gun in fighting with a MiG because the MiG is built to fight with guns and the F-4 is not.
      30 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot
      Training was not really adequate for this engagement, didn’t know what the back should do in a hassle such as this.
      14 June 1966 USN front seat pilot
      Guns would be most useful for the ResCAP role but not particularly valuable in the air to air role.
       

      An F-4B from VF-111 Sundowners giving it some - just because (USN)
       
      The F-4 Phantom II Dogfighter?
      As we know the F-4 was not particularly the most agile fighter in theatre and turning at a slower speed was a bit of a problem. However, US fighters had seldom been the best turners in previous conflicts such as WWII (think F-6F Hellcat V Zero) ……power and speed could make up for it and were often better attributes to have.
      In 1966 the US Navy flew “Project Plan” flying the F-4B against a series of fighters to determine how good it was in an Air Superiority role. It concluded that contrary to what F-4 pilots thought the F-4 was the best air to air fighter in the world (including the F-8), if the F-4 stayed fast.
      To fly the F-4 however in BFM/ACM you needed to have training and a lot of experience (like most jets of this era). One particular characteristic of the hard-winged F-4 was “Adverse Yaw” at slower speeds where the pilot had to make the turn using rudder pedals instead of the stick. If the stick was used the chances of departing were very high – somewhat fatal in combat. Now stick a pilot in the cockpit with little training and you can see that in the heat of battle adverse yaw becomes quite serious (not just A-A but avoiding SAMs etc). Of course, pilots just simply avoided going anywhere near adverse yaw if they could however that meant they could never max perform the jet if they needed to in every situation.
      Adverse Yaw was all but eliminated by adding leading edge slats to the F-4E with the 556 "Rivet Haste" Mod late 1972. Too late to have any real relevance for Vietnam though. 
       
       
      In Part 2 we look at the very different training aspects of the USN/USAF/VPAF, the F-105 / F-8  paradox and the myth / legend of Colonel Tomb.
       
       
       
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