So after being away from Falcon (actually, simming in general)for a bit I find my self engaged again. I have been driving myself nuts with laser guided bomb precision. I'm employing correctly as far as I can tell but what I do notive is that when I laser designate a target, the cursors tend to snap to a spot other than what I want to hit. Take the domes of a reactor building for example. I slew the cursors over the dome, designate and they snap to a point that would be more like an exterior wall of the building.

Is this typical?

Allied force, latest patch, if it matters.

When you change from "Area" to "Point" the cursors will jump a bit as they center on the hitbox of the target. At times the cursor will jump to a target other than the one you want. To prevent this, before you fly, recon the target area and write down the coordinates (Lat/Lon) of what you want to hit. Once you are in the jet, enter the new coordinates for the target steerpoint.

While making your approach to the target, be sure that the radar is set to STP mode (steerpoint), and press CZ on the radar to center the cursor on the currently selected steerpoint. Designate only once to go into Area, and drop the bomb in Area mode. This way you are releasing on the steerpoint coordinates, and not a radar contact (which may cause the cursors to jump). I find it also helps to bump the laser time to 15 seconds or so. Arm your laser, fly a good release, make sure to make a proper designator turn, and watch the countdown timer till the fireworks go off. Good luck

Yeah like cane said, make sure you aren't flying straight over the target.

Cane, just wanted to say how helpful your description is for GBU employment. I've flown these for a number of years, and felt reasonably comfortable with using them...and yet learned a lot from your concise post. Thanks very much.

Glad to help

I had the wrong A to G radar mode in my first post. It is now corrected. You want STP (steerpoint) mode, not SP (which is for snowplow)

Yes, I remembered the STP requirement and have been doing that all along.

I can hit a hangar spot on.... I can hit a factory spot on... I can hit a !@#$ grass hut spot on.

Reactors... pfffft.

What is the deal with going from area to spot? Area lets me drive, those always hit. Whenever I get spot (and how I get spot to come up is beyond me), those are always a smidge off mark.

The AF manual is really weak on this and help is appreciated.

Well.. I think I have it sorted. Use STP to "sorta" slave the TGP to the target but dont designate. Track the target with the cursor until fairly close in, when the targte is really filling the screen, then lock it in. Snaps to the building now.

I swear I am more accurate with iron bombs and CCIP.

Also, it is important to know that target doesn't need to be locked for LGB delivery.

As long as laser is lasing, GBUs drop where the TGP crosshair points to. LGB is pretty much the same as free fall bombs. It just gives an advantage of precision bombing by allowing CCIP kind of fine tuning of target by moving the TGP crosshair (lasing) on the target after the bomb is released in CCRP.

Yes, I have noted that I can drive the cursors manually thru the entire sequence and that is very accurate. Still, it's nice to be able to lock and run with your head concentrating on everything else but the bomb.

Very important yes, and more precisely, target does not need to be locked (TGP or radar) for any kind of bomb delivery. Locking only helps to keep the crosshairs on target, preventing inadvertent slews. Of course it is quite helpful when bombing moving vehicles

Delivery of conventional bombs on moving target is a different story.
LGB is not missile and has very limited maneuverability. (remember, it's not a missile)

Correct me if I am wrong but, for moving vehicle targets, I'd rather run CCIP deflection shooting.

Yes, but you can still hit vehicles with LGBs, mainly because...



...in CCRP the FCC calculates the necessary lead (deflection) for dropping on moving vehicles (obviously you need a lock for that). All you need to do is follow the steering line.

Theoretically, yes but I find the FCC calculation, if at all, to be very passive and PK is not very high. Think about it, in reality, drivers in the vehicle have theirs hands on steering wheels while I maintain the FPM on the steering line.

Yeah but they don't always know you're making a bombing run on them, plus lead calculation will get it to the general area, laser will guide it to the target even if it is changing direction a bit. Obviously if the target makes a sudden move, like stop and turn around it will probably miss, esp if it doesn't have enough energy, but how will he know there is a bomb coming his way to do that? I've hit vehicles with LGBs many times in the past, with very high PK (almost 100% actually). Anyway, the weapon of choice against movers are Mavs or CBUs anyway, but you can still get good hits with LGBs and occasionally even dumb bombs, is all I'm trying to say.

Agreed. IMO, cluster bombs are so superior against vehicles, moving or not, that using an LGB on one is just a waste of a Paveway.

I'll do initial attack with CBUs, then mop up stragglers and runners with GBUs or MAVs.

I read they (CBUs) were outlawed due to the Unexploded Ordnance they always leave But, then I read reports about their use in 2003 OIF and occasionally in Afghanistan. This is the old Mk20s and CBU-89s.