EricJ

Nope

The whole scenario or?

Paul Doumer Bridge Mission Me: F/A-18F EPE with 2 x AIM-9X, 3 x AIM-120D, 1 x ATFLIR, 2 x AGM-88 HARM, 2 x GBU-24B/U LGBs, tank, gun Decided to mimic aube's mission (in a way) and after a long hiatus, I got selected to strike the Paul Doumer Bridge, right in the smack dab middle of Hanoi. Ingress was at low level, then when I was feet dry I went treetop height, jammer on as well... I don't feel like dealing with SAMs. Just before i hit IP I launched a HARM and I don't think I hit anything, may have killed something.... then I had an IR system shoot a couple missiles at me. Note, when dodging something like this be cognizant of what direction they eject, and with the Super, downwards, so I pitched up and rolled ejecting a salvo... which defeated them and I continued towards the target at treetop height. About a few miles out however I popped up and dropped a GBU-24, which I thought was a bit late but... it struck the target and got a mission complete. After that it becomes a bit tricky as I have some Wild Weasels in the area, whittling down (as much as they can anyway) the multitudes of SAMs and AAA in the area. Since I have the Mission Editor I knew I'd have at least four targets, J-7s to try and intercept me, but they never showed so I bolted towards the deck, fired my remaining HARM at another target, and got a nice three-wire to end it. Takeaways: Yes, there's a big disparity between technology but then again to an IR SAM gunner I was a fat target when I gained altitude to fire off the HARM shot the first time. Note that sometimes when you're even flying treetop height they'll pop you good too. As for radar threats... nil really as I was jamming the whole time and masked most of my approach, with the exception of when I was past my IP and and exfilling out of the area.

Now that I finally watched the video I can see where you messed up. Best thing I've done was head southwestish and let the mountains provide a shield for any SAMs, and any that come my way I can dip down and let terrain mask me. Even on a modern install Hanoi is a well... a deadly place so I tend to not fly with a wingman because I know he'll get caught up in everything and if I drag any fighters again I do it away from the city.... As for SA-2 guidance, even in a Mirage you can pull down quick and hit the treetops and get out of there....

Updated cockpits per the Legacy Hornet topic. Still no dedicated G cockpit... yet.

Took it for a spin and had mainly a graphical issue with the outboard pylons with bombs: I can spend some time on the fix but just wanted to make you aware.

Some range fun..

Yup, I've been using it on Win8 and so far no issues. Sometimes it'll crash and I'll reopen it and it'll work fine.

What was that phrase? "Fighter pilots make movies, bomber pilots make history" But in all seriousness, I've flown so many strike missions and not many people are asking questions on this topic that i leave it here for others to add their two cents in the mix.

Me: F-35A with 6 x AIM-9X, 2 AIM-120, gun Opposition: Mig-29 with 4 x IRM, 2 x SARH Started above him and when he came up decided to play around with him a bit. After he realized that I was there he began to dodge me. Realistically the only reason I fly the F-35A (and derivatives) is that me and MigBuster been PMing info back and forth, and a little help from Fubar512 on AoA settings was the basis for this DACT. So this whole thing will be more of a takeaway rather than a full blown description since the Mig-29 lawndarted into the ground so I didn't get a kill only mission success. Anyway, the more information I get on the LIghtning shows that the airplane is going to be good but as I told MigBuster, it'll never rock my socks so to speak as there are some issues with it. Despite the g limitation i never blocked out and with a max AoA of 50 degrees... had to take it out. But the gist is that it's great to handle and I was able to roll with the Mig until it decided to crash into the ground. Me: F-35A with 8 x AIM-9X, 4 AIM-120, gun Opposition: Mig-29 with 4 x IRM, 2 x SARH This one was more "spirited" than the previous mission but also still with more work on the -35A. After the Mig detected me we went into some rolls and energy circles, and with the adjusted engine and AoA it truly felt like I could roll with the Fulcrum forever. However I get tired of such things and for the few times I had a bead on the Fulcrum, most of my 9Xs missed, either due to countermeasures or stoopidness. However, once the Mig-29 rolled ahead and leveled out, I shot him with a 9X and downed him. Takeaways: Tweaking the F-35 with more published data is giving me an insight into the aircraft but since it's a game, then game-wise its getting there...

Heading out for an engine test.

Its to limit the aircraft on certain maps, so for example: Friendlynation001=USN EnemyNation001=Timbuktu Only aircraft that have Timbuktu listed as a "nation" should appear. If none exist then no airplanes will show up, etc.

Alright alright... yes we know of the decisions made, and from a personal perspective the Strike Eagle and Warthog were worth it. It's beyond us to determine what stays and what goes, hence the title "Game Only" portion of the topic, there's a forum elsewhere on the site to handle matters like this...

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I think we've all done worse (I know I have) so no worries.

Some F-35B fun. I'll admit it's less of a PITA than the Harrier and with some engine tweaks seems to be somewhat stable

The Su-27 isn't a pure mud-mover, and wasn't originally concieved (though I want to say the Su-27S or SM is multi-role) to perform ground attack missions. So those are not specifically needed. However, you can create those kinds of preset loadouts for the Su-27 should you want to convert it to a multi-role platform.

Depending on the role assigned to it, normally AirToAirLongRange is used for Combat Air Patrol, Fighter Sweep, and Escort For Intercept AirToAir is the default loadout. If you have the Mission Editor you can select your preferred load, such as when I do DACT sessions I either make or use a custom loadout, or use something that will be effective but not too heavy.

Good points Caesar, but some tactics are good against specific threats, such as the tactic was useful against the Buk SAM system, and wouldn't work against say.. an S-300PS, which required it's own set of tactics to work out. SO I never said that the tactic is valid (it might, or might not) against my own preferred missile system, and besides a "hit and run" is better for the ego because the point is to stay out of his envelope.

As long as there is an AirToAir loadout, yes.

Me: F/A-18E with 6 x AIM-120D, 4 x AIM-9X, tank, gun. Opposition: F-14D (06) with 2 x AIM-54 ECCM, 3 x Sparrow, 2 x AIM-9, tanks, gun. Started as above and executed the same drill, only this time I was cruising at full burner at Mach 1.16 instead of a 1.70 at nearly the same height. Of particular note is the Fuel display, my center tank is dry and I'm starting to work on my internal fuel. Takeaways: Of note is the position relative to the carrier I took off from. By the time I kill the Tomcat (yes Caesar you'll probably sacrifice a couple Supers... ) but is the ECCM Phoenix defeatable? Yes, as long as you kill the carrying vehicle first. And I would record these but FRAPS and Strike Fighters on Windows 8 is so far a no go, unless I'm missing something....

Me: F/A-18F EPE with 6 x AIM-120D, 4 x AIM-9X, tank, gun. Opposition: F-14D (06) with 2 x AIM-54 ECCM, 3 x Sparrow, 2 x AIM-9, tanks, gun. Started off long range and used a tactic developed during my Flanker 2.5 days (not by me though), called "Bait and Kill." which to me seems the only effective way of defeating the ECCM Sealed Phoenix so far. First off one or two drop tanks will be needed as the whole point is to literally sucker punch the Tomcat. And I did this without my jammer. Starting off I locked up the Tomcat while he was still detecting me and waited until I had locked up the Tom. Once I got the SHOOT cue I fired one AIM-120D and did a half loop and turned around at full burner, for a few minutes (say five or so...) and gently eased off the throttle. All the while the Tomcat was speeding up to get within launch range as he will detect you before you detect it with a range setting of 160nm. And after another few minutes the Tomcat flew into my AMRAAM, all the while without shooting a single missile at me. Takeaways: Fuel is the main concern with this tactic, and I have better engines than a normal Super Hornet so that gets me out of there quicker, but next will be a "Standard" Super Bug to see if I can still win the time game. But other than that the biggest advantage is getting my shot off first and you literally drag the Tomcat into your missile while increasing the envelope (receding instead of head-on aspect).

I think you're best option is jamming the Tomcat and spike it with your longest ranged missiles. Problem is, most aerial jammers don't jam the radar, (unless you do some research...) so you're borked as you can't fly under a minimum altitude and the max altitude for the lofted trajectory is over 65,000 feet (65,616 to be exact).

There should be another "common" folder that you copy and paste into each directory (indian Navy and Kuznetsov).

Small update if you're having issues with Ravenclaw's AIM-120s: DiameterLimit=0.179000 LengthLimit=3.67000 for all AHM pylons in the Data entries.