I've been having the hardest time lately trying to take out multiple targets on one pass using the AGM 65D MAV ( no force correlate on this model) wwhen I slew to find another target it locks onto say a buildinng or other structure and I can't get it to unlock, I move the slew stick max left ot right, I hit grd stabilize, it stays locked, but I have to china aft short to cage the seeker then slave to original SPI and start over...what am I missing ?? Is my slew rate too high?? Thx---- Longreach

I'm experiencing this as well, so own up ye WH gurus you

Hmmm. I don't seem to have a problem with it. I can unlock using ground stabilize (tms down), then slew to acquire a new target. If it auto locks on something else, ground stabilize again and retry.

That said, I don't like the mav system too much. I use the TGP and slave the mav to it, most of the time.

I tend to use both depending on the situation, and IIRC usually get this when slewing and locking with the Mav CCV/seeker itself.

Wow, you've been allowed to fire real weapons? They keep making me land and take off and until I improve my D- in my Nav test I won't get to even look at live ordnance

You need to bomb the instructors office. Then you can do what you want.

Same here - I use the TGP, make the SPI, switch to MAV and slew it to the SPI, zoom in the FOV and lock with TMS Up Long and shoot, back to the TGP, pick the next target, rinse, repeat.

There is a stallturn mission, Fulda Gap, that does not give you a TGP. (One of my favorite mission, ummm :-) So there you are forced to use the MAV. It is very difficult to slave the MAV to another target unless the jet is stable and heading on to the target area. Trying to slave the MAV while the jet is turning or the target is near the gimbal limits is not productive.


WC

yes i always have the autopilot engaged and then lock up first tgt with TGP then fire on it, then slew to nxt tgt with nxt MAV seeker( zoomed in) then fire on tgt... On a good day I can do 6 AGM65-d's in a pass... I must have did something wrong cause I tried it again today and tms down short broke the lock, grd stabilized seeker and I was good to go... thx for everyones input! I was messing around with force correlation and think i didn't get it back in centroid tracking... ( of course D models mav's don't use force correlation) but I had something screwed up , because tms down short was not breaking the lock on tgt, and nothing i could do short of china aft short to re-cage would break the lock...

To take out multiple targets in one pass, it is best to mark targets via TGP, then just slave the Maverick to each mark, fire, next mark, slave, fire. Very easy to do and you can take 6 Mavs off the rails with practice. It does take at least two passes though to do this, or at least establish a holding pattern while marking targets, then do one actual pass to fire the Mavs.

I would never advise anyone to find and take out targets using the Maverick seeker head. Why? Simply because the low resolution and weak zoom means it is difficult to ID a target --- and I hate wasting a Mav on a truck, BMP, or even a tank. Mavs are your stand-off weapons, so I reserve them for SAMs and AAAs. The others you can take out with the gun, dumb bombs, or LGBs.

However, if you do insist on using the Maverick to find, lock, kill, and find another target, the best way to do it is to establish yourself in a wings-level flight, engage ALT/HDG autopilot, put your flaps on the MVR setting, and then drop your throttle to 80-90%. The idea here is to make your platform (read: your aircraft) a slow, nice, and stable base so that all you need to deal with is the Maverick head's movement. Then you can easily lock, unlock, and engage at your leisure. Or if you have altitude, engage PATH autopilot after establishing wings-level but with 3-5 degrees nose-down, then put your throttle to idle. However, you must still remember that the Mav head will lock on depending on the IR signature or the contrast between the target and the background. Also, DMS Down Short (ground-stabilize) or DMS Left Long (space-stabilize) may unlock the target, but note that sometimes the seeker head has a tendency to "snap" to the nearest high-contrast target it finds, which makes it sometimes difficult to lock on to that third vehicle on the convoy... which brings me again to using the TGP to find and designate targets.

Hope that helps.

Hmmm. Much to chew on here for a relative nubi like meself Thanks everyone.

It all makes sense the more you are familiar with the system.

However, your main concern for now as a "nubi" is to master manipulating the TGP, setting a target as SPI, then handing that SPI over to the Maverick and engaging said target. Once you got that down pat, all the others are "icing on the cake," so to speak.

Lol I actually understood that I'm down wid da Hawg speak!

Right, Mace. Now go to your flight instructor's office, recite the Maverick launch procedure from memory, and request a live-fire exercise mission now. Git!

I haven't actually got to weapons yet, just understood the acronyms lol

^^^^
THAT IS FUN

And that is why I have the keyboard 'A' for Steerpoint Incr and 'B' for Steerpoint Decr, 'X' for Flight Plan, 'S' for Mark and 'D' for Mission.

I make mark points of the TGP SPIs, as - Ice says. Then switch the Steerpoint Dial to Mark using keyboard S, then I verify the Marks with the TGP so that I know I'm on the first one to use in the MAV pass and I note how many and if one or more Marks are duplicates to skip, then switch to MAV, slew, shoot, keyboard A to advance to the next Mark, slew, shoot, rinse, repeat.

These keyboard assignments allow me to do the whole routine without taking my eyes off the target area.


This also works very well for INS bombs - GBU-38 500 pounders and GBU-31 2,000 pounders. Watching four GBU-38s go BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM is just sweet.


WC

This I can actually do, and kind of "shallow" know how to operate the bugger already too. But say storing multiple target markpoints - no clue just yet

But yah, you just gotta admire the depth of this simulation! Heeee, just built me a new rig and waiting for the controller set to arrive and then onwards & upwards we go - for years I reckon

WC, what I do is use the UFC. FUNC -> 8 if I remember it right brings you to MARK mode. Once marks are done, I just Coolie Hat Up to make HUD the SOI, go to the first mark, slave TGP to it (China Hat Forward Long) to verify. Once I'm ready, I go to Mav page and wait until engagement range (Mav is SOI here). Once the first missile is off the rail, Coolie Hat Up (HUD SOI), DMS Up Short selects the next mark, China Hat Forward Long slaves the Mav to the new mark, China Hat Forward Short brings up the Mav as SOI, China Hat Forward Short again zooms the Mav, TMS Up Short to lock, Rifle. Rinse and repeat. Keeps my hands on the throttle and stick the whole time.

Mmm, sounds like too much preperation to me. I rather use the TGP to set an initial central point, set SPI and slave mav. Then slew around with the mav until I lock/hit them one by one. I can get about 4 mavs off the rail that way without too much preperation.

True, the mav view isn't great, but most of the time it's not a problem. If it is a problem just hit china-hat-aft-short to get the mav cross back at your initial central point and then you can try again, all this in a fraction of a second.

It is, yes. But this allows me to select targets that I want to hit with a Maverick, and not rely on the seeker head to "find" the next target for me. Also allows me to accurately engage targets that are far apart. For example, on the abandoned airfield north of Bantumi, I can fire off one Maverick at six tanks... four tanks - one tank at each end of the runway, one tank at the center of the runway, and one tank located at random around the airfield.

Try that with your "initial central point" technique