Not if I have anything to say about it ...

Right now you can make Radar SAMS 'a little smarter' by using a trigger centered on the SAM to manipulate his fire orders. Just set the SAM's ROE to 'do not fire' until it finds a plane inside the trigger zone ...

Anyway, there are a few issues to be taken care of to make all of this missile stuff work even better. In the end, beaming will be probably the best maneuver you can use in any situation where you cannot outrun the missile, together with chaff. But that's the future.

Wow, didn't think of that! Now I think things just got harder.

BTW, my "trick" used to be to get the Buk to launch a missile, then I would put it on my 4/8 o'clock, essentially beaming it and running away a bit and also diving down about 20 degrees. This makes the missile aim for an intercept in front of and below me. Once I guesstimate that it has burned out its rocket, I then execute some maneuvers to make it bleed off more energy. Pulling up and/or reversing direction or maybe executing a split S and also pulling up at the end of that maneuver. I usually find the missile explode well below and behind me.

Any comments? Obviously this was with the default setup for the SAM, I wonder how that tactic will do to a SAM with a "do not fire" ROE until say 50% range...

Thing is, it's hard to say if you're doing it right from a description - obviously, you're making the missile miss, which is just fine, so you have success there, but we already know it's going to be pretty much dead when it reaches you.

The only way to test if your last ditch maneuver is good is to do it when the missile is still capable of hitting you. One thing for sure, do NOT pull up with a missile unless it's your last ditch maneuver (basically an ortho roll) and if at all possible, do it inverted and pulling down rather than pulling up.

The ortho-roll requires you to point your wing at the missile (so on your 3-9. You could do 4/8 but it makes the missile less susceptible to countermeasures and thus more susceptible to intercepting you ), pull a lot of Gz when it's a couple seconds away from hitting you (you need speed! SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED! ) and keep your wing pointed at it - ie. you're rolling at the same time. It's going to look like you did a part of a barrel roll.

If you get launched at inside the missile's high energy zone, set up for an ortho roll immediately, put CM's in 'zomg panic' mode just before you're about to execute the last ditch maneuver, and then execute.

There's no way to get out of this 100%. In reality, you should expect losses, and the simulator well ... simulates that. The only way to not get beat up by SAMs in this case is good intelligence.

Hmmm... Pull down rather than up? Why? I would think pulling up since it will force the missile to "use up" energy to adjust course and I would think "going UP" required more energy to do than "going DOWN."

It'll use up energy going down, too. It has to pull (by rule of thumb for proportional navigation) about five times the amount of g's you're pulling in order to match you, for an out of plane maneuver (in-plane makes it a lot easier for a missile, this is why you never fly a flat turn into a missile as your actual last ditch defense). By going down you maintain your own energy, which the hog doesn't have an abundance of, and possibly force look-down ( = more sensor problems ) for the missile - once you complete the maneuver, if you escaped, you're closer to radar clutter, you've maintained more energy, and you're ready for the next missile in case it was a well-timed double-tap.

What if you have gone up? You drop to below 250kt on the top of your maneuver and the next missile ends all your problems.

Won't it lose MORE energy if you went up? ie, 5x more G plus losing energy on the climb too?

Basically, what I'm thinking is this --- the missile, once it finishes its burn, is essentially "coasting" or gliding and is bleeding off energy the whole time just to maintain altitude. Having to adjust course, pull Gs, etc. uses up more of this energy. Having to adjust course DOWNWARDS and maintain the dive doesn't cost as much energy as having to adjust the course UPWARDS and maintain the climb. On the other hand, the A10 has loads of energy -- called fuel -- and although a climb may bleed off energy, the A10 has "reserves." Obviously I'm not talking about a silly panic-climb that ends with the A10 in the air waiting to get a missile up it's behind, I'm talking more about short, controlled climbs at max throttle, making off-plane (out-of-plane) maneuvers, etc.

I guess I'm just not keen on losing altitude if I can help it since I know the A10 struggles to climb back up, so unless I know the area below me is clear of short-range SAMs (ie, I am over water or friendly territory), I prefer to lose as little altitude as possible.

Good tip GG, I knew about the 3-9 line of course from years of dimming, but I was in the "pitch up to force the missile to bleed energy climbing" club too. You make a good case for diving instead, especially in the "now less energy!" Hawg...

It'll get the exact same advantage from God's G that you will, so it cancels out. The difference - you won't be a slug after completing this maneuver.



A whole bunch of reserve energy waiting to explode when that second missile finds you 10 sec later, as you realize that you couldn't get your nose back in time and you're 50-100kts too slow to do anything about that missile now. Ortho-rolls are violent



I'm talking about a last ditch maneuver. I already said you can do a vertical snake if the missile isn't close and its rocket is burned out.



Well, an Igla may put a hole in your plane ... a large SAM will make a hole out of your plane

GG,

New addition to the mission:
"A BLF C-130 will evacuate non-essential personnel to safety. Allow this aircraft to take off with priority."



I volunteered you to escort the C-130 to Anapa. (All of the nurses and clerks are on board. The mess staff elected to stay and fight along with the A-10C crews.)


WC

Eno, just remembered something from the DCS Forums - a guy there said that to run in Windowed Mode, use the screen res that is one below what your monitor is set to. This should window A-10C such that you can get to the task bar and not have to Alt-Tab.

WC