Understanding Anti-Radiation Missiles

[TheStig 39]

I noticed using the AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard series ARMs are a bit of an enigma in SF2.   I remember in SF1, I could pop off a standard without getting spiked, and it would hit any radar in front of it.

I removed the loft on the STARMs because they were going for a moonshot.  Now they only hit radars 10% of the time.  I've adjusted FOVs, Gimble and track rates all to 40.  Seem to have helped a little bit, but not much.

 

What's the deal with the ARMs in SF2?

[+EricJ 4,245]

I'm  not too good on memory on the capabilities of the Standard ARM, but I don't think they were that accurate in the Vietnam War. A lot of this was new tech so they weren't that reliable. The game might also model radar operators shutting off their radars to confuse the ARM, which happened to missiles in the war. As far as the game though look at the reliability of the missile too, as it may be low, and increasing that would increase your ability to hit radars.

[+daddyairplanes 10,244]

Shrike and the A model STARM could be thrown off by shutting off the radar

the B model introduced memory to allow the missile to continue to the last known location

[+yakarov79 11,097]

what is more important at this point...are you using stock objects vs stock objects? or moded vs stock /stock vs moded. Since a lot of guys have been messing around this game for centuries already strange behavior might occur under special circumstances.

for example, tiopilotos pimped some of the red radars/missiles and those are quite a bitch.

 

[rlwicker1967 32]

One time, I hit the wrong button three times and launched three HARMs. I had loaded four so, I figured I could at least get one target. I sat and watched as the three HARMs gained altitude in formation for something like 60 miles. Well, wouldn't you know it, some idiot on the other side decided to turn on the radar just as those three were entering the area? All three slammed into that single site. The funny thing is, I don't think I'd ever killed a radar site before that. So, I guess it might be best to launch the missiles first and then get the site to paint you.  

[bazillius 1,258]

Set

Accuracy=100

LockonChance=100
LaunchReliability=100

CounterCountermeasure=100
NoiseRejection=100

And you will NEVER miss your target

-----------

Set

Accuracy=10

LockonChance=10
LaunchReliability=10

CounterCountermeasure=10
NoiseRejection=10

and you will NEVER hit your target

---------

This game is arcade, okay semi-arkade, don't expect real behavior of anti-radar missiles. A hit is calculated solely by the occurrence of random numbers within a given range.

 

 

[TheStig 39]

Bumping up lock on, accuracy and reliability to 99 looks like it helped for the STARMs.   I left the Shrikes alone since one of them actually hit an SA-3 that fired a salvo at me....

 

...then a MIG-19 stuffed me full of 30mm while I was gazing at my successful launch.

[KiwiBiggles 122]

Stig, (great nickname by the way), this might be some important info for you...

Like most CA members I'm constantly tinkering with my SF2 installs, and I must admit they work beautifully for me, and give me hours of enjoyment.

When I download mods I often like to adjust their parameters similar to the stock game (within reason) to preserve the original game play, which in my opinon is pretty decent and a major strength of the IP. Anti-radiation missiles are a good example. 

I've set all my ARMs close to stock specs (you can extract all the original stock files, including WEAPONDATA.ini from ObjectData001, using the CAT extractor tool, to obtain the original data). An important tip is to match the MinFreq and MaxFreq values to the targets for your ARMs.

I have a specific (modified) version of the AGM-45B for my F-4Gs in-game:

MinFreq=2.000000
MaxFreq=20.000000

The stock settings for comparison are:

MinFreq=2.000000
MaxFreq=6.000000

And here's the Freq range from the (stock) ZSU-23_DATA.ini:

RadarSearchFreq=15.2
RadarTrackFreq=15.2
RadarCW=FALSE

With the modified  Radar Frequency parameters, my F-4Gs can successfully target the ZSU-23 with Shrike (although a hit isn't guaranteed due to some other parameters, like Accuracy, and Launch Reliability, which I've kept stock).

The RadarCW (Continuous Wave) is another parameter you can play around with, for example, with ECM pods and jammers.

The overall result, for me anyway, is a great balance of gameplay and 'realism' within the bounds of the game engine. I get a lot of enjoyment from researching my in-game modding (limited as it is) from online sources and books where I can get them.

Hope the info helps someone!

Kind Regards,

KB
 

 

 

Zapping ZSU-23s in the F-4G--about as much fun as one can have with one's pants on! 

Edited December 28, 2023 by KiwiBiggles

[tiopilotos 2,519]

Stock missiles performance can be predictable when you witness large number of launches... A very common "bug" which I have experienced countless times is that when I launch AGM-45A/B against a fire control radar (Fansong, Low Blow, Straight Flush etc) the missile tends to lock on the EW radar of the site. I say "bug" because for some reason emitted radiation from EW radar attracts ARM more than the emitted radiation of the fire control radar and this is something that may occur during real operations (for oldest ARMs at least). Real radar operators are used to shut down radar emittion when they realize ARM threats. So, in this case our semi-arcade/semi-realistic game has an inherent "bug" which simulates what could have happened in real life.

Most important thing is what Yakarov said... The stock game has been extensively modded throughout the years and when heavily modded mods mix with each other the more likely you will experience performance ranging from harmless to fatal.

Edited December 28, 2023 by tiopilotos