SEAD in Vietnam

[Mr_Tayto 60]

Hey all,

 

I've been practicing in The Range deploying a few different weapons types to try to prepare myself for the inevitable SEAD missions as a 105 driver, but I still have a few questions.

 

- How does one deploy CBU24 without CCIP? Is shallow diving preferred? Given I'm attacking AAA I don't want to get too close to the guns but I have the best results against inert targets in the range in a shallow dive releasing under 3000ft, which is danger close for low calibre weapons.

- Is it better to drop two at once until Winchester, or single bombs per target?

- Finally, I have graduated(!) to flying without the HUD now I'm comfortable with the instruments in all aircraft. However this makes SEAD very difficult in terms of rendering targets. A good example of this is SAM sites; these are not displayed in game as they were in real life, with obvious "star of David" patterned installations. Often, the first time you see one is the launch tail. It's even worse for gun sites, where you can have a momentary flash or a puff of smoke, but you have to be very low to even see the smoke let alone the gun, and I'm trying to operate above 6000ft until making a run.

 

Any Vietnam guys have any ideas on the above. Before it's mentioned I have seen every Devin Horner video and I still need help!

[OlWilly 105]

19 minutes ago, Mr_Tayto said:

- Finally, I have graduated(!) to flying without the HUD now I'm comfortable with the instruments in all aircraft. However this makes SEAD very difficult in terms of rendering targets. A good example of this is SAM sites; these are not displayed in game as they were in real life, with obvious "star of David" patterned installations. Often, the first time you see one is the launch tail. It's even worse for gun sites, where you can have a momentary flash or a puff of smoke, but you have to be very low to even see the smoke let alone the gun, and I'm trying to operate above 6000ft until making a run.

It's simple, you don't. Why do you think US took such heavy casualties from AAA fire?

Things like ZU-23 or ZPU-4 could be camouflaged so well that you wouldn't be able to spot them until they fire. And mind you, in real life Vietnam has lush vegetation, meaning that you are looking for a small AAA in the midst of endless bushes and tall grass. Not on a flat texture like in the game.

The basic idea was that if one pilot sees something that he thinks is the gun flash of NVA AAA and then dumps there a load of munitions, hoping to hit something.

Speaking of SAMs, your best friend here is RWR.

The "star" pattern of S-75 deployment was abandoned fairly quickly in favor of more camouflaged approach.

Just let them track you, RWR will tell you where to go. AI is not taught to switch off the radars so you can get as precise as you want.

 

 

You can take the easy way though, find the mod that removes the HUD but leaves red square in place.

[Mr_Tayto 60]

25 minutes ago, OlWilly said:

It's simple, you don't. Why do you think US took such heavy casualties from AAA fire?

Things like ZU-23 or ZPU-4 could be camouflaged so well that you wouldn't be able to spot them until they fire. And mind you, in real life Vietnam has lush vegetation, meaning that you are looking for a small AAA in the midst of endless bushes and tall grass. Not on a flat texture like in the game.

The basic idea was that if one pilot sees something that he thinks is the gun flash of NVA AAA and then dumps there a load of munitions, hoping to hit something.

Speaking of SAMs, your best friend here is RWR.

The "star" pattern of S-75 deployment was abandoned fairly quickly in favor of more camouflaged approach.

Just let them track you, RWR will tell you where to go. AI is not taught to switch off the radars so you can get as precise as you want.

 

 

You can take the easy way though, find the mod that removes the HUD but leaves red square in place.

All good points, and I do understand that. Unfortunately, being a game, SF2 registers "success" or "failure" on whether or not you destroy arbitrary targets, not on a post strike assessment or by the success of the strike package in attacking its target without incurring too many losses. Suppression, in real life, doesn't necessarily mean destroying the enemies assets, but tying them up while someone else gets in and does their job. In this way, fighter escort missions works correctly in the game, because success is determined by a %age of escorted aircraft hitting waypoints, rather than the escorts shooting down targets. I have passed several escort missions without firing a shot.

 

So I guess I should just do my best and hit what I can. Wingmen are usually a lot more aggressive and precise at hitting SEAD targets than I can ever be, in any case.

 

And as for RWR... I'm still in 1965 anyway 

[OlWilly 105]

5 minutes ago, Mr_Tayto said:

So I guess I should just do my best and hit what I can. Wingmen are usually a lot more aggressive and precise at hitting SEAD targets than I can ever be, in any case.

I play with red target square only - as a compromise.

In real life, your wingmen will help and duly report the targets they spot so other can engage them. No such thing in the game, they just yell about being shot at

Real life terrain also has more details which will helps to communicate where the target is. Default SF terrains are fairly barren so even if you spot something, good luck remembering where it was after maneuvering

The game engine also has some rendering issues, so objects may simply not render if you are not close enough.

 

Even if you don't want red square, the padlocking should still work

[Mr_Tayto 60]

3 minutes ago, OlWilly said:

Even if you don't want red square, the padlocking should still work

I'll have a look for the HUD mod I think.