Flanker 2.51 – Training Mission #10

Expanding on the ground attack facet of the Su-33 the mission today will be a two part anti-ship / anti-armor attack. For that purpose today we are loaded up with six Kh-29/AS-14 Kedge air-to-ground missiles. Effective against both hardened targets and ships this weapon is guided by either TV or IR homing. It is a fire-and-forget weapon, rocket powered for the initial phase of flight (not a free-fall bomb) and according to the manual can reach speeds of 2000-2300 km/h. I don’t know which is loaded on my aircraft (TV or IR) since the manual is rather vague in this respect simply stating that the X-29TE is either TV or passive IR homing. You decide.



The first order of business is, of course, finding the target area. In the enroute navigation mode I pull up the route map in the MFD and switch to the target area waypoint:



Turning toward the target area I switch to the air-to-ground mode and activate my electrical-optical sensors to start looking for the target. Initial target search is usually conducted at the 2x magnification level in the MFD to give you a wide field of view. The area in the MFD you are looking at is represented in the HUD under the circle:



As the training instructor has indicated, the Su-33, unlike its Western counter-parts, does NOT have a ground stabilized EO tracking system. What does this mean? It means it’s damn hard to search for a ground target through a soda straw when your aircraft is moving around. In most Western attack aircraft the targeting optics are gyro stabilized such that when you put the cross-hairs on something they will stay there regardless of how you maneuver the aircraft (within the gimble limits of the gyros of course). This is not the case with the Su-33, the field of view (FOV) will go nuts as you make corrections to the aircraft course or attitude. Therefore, ground target acquisition is best accomplished by putting the aircraft on altitude hold autopilot allowing you to concentrate on the difficult task of slewing and zooming the targeting crosshairs.

It’s worth noting that the MFD is showing you exactly what is being seen by the missile’s seeker. Once you have the target in view you can ramp down to the next zoom level 8x.

Locking the target results in the lighting of the appropriate “weapon ready” light under each weapon on the Weapons Readiness panel and if you are in range the “NP” or “release authorized” cue will appear in the HUD (as well as aurally):



The 32x view is useful for identify targets, but trying to target through this pin-prick is VERY difficult:



With all the launch parameters met, release the weapon:



After half a second of free-fall or so the rocket motor ignites and the weapon arcs down toward the target:



After launch you are free to maneuver the aircraft to avoid threats, but these training missions are a totally benign environment so I elect to fly straight and level while the missile tracks in for the kill:



Cont..

The view from the bridge as the Kh-29TE is about to impact:



My naval recognition skills are rather lacking, so I’m not sure what kind of ship this is, but it just got hit:





Taking a cue from the training mission I attempt a little trick to do a “snapshot”. To do this you slew the EO aiming reference onto the center of your HUD and simply point the nose of the aircraft at the target. When the target enters the FOV on the MFD hit the “lock” command on your HOTAS to lock-up the target and fire. I was unable to fly my aircraft precisely enough to do this, but I will continue practicing:



The sinking ship gives off a last burble of air as it slips beneath the waves:



Another pass results in another ship hit, which burns impressively for a while before going up in a tremendous blast wave and explosion:



I fly past the last ship and you can see the remnants of the smoke trail of my Kh-29TE leading into it. Something tells me I’ll never get this close when the lead starts shooting back at me!



There are also assorted armor targets on the ground near the ships, but after multiple passes I’m not able to lock them up. I’m running low on fuel so I abort the rest of the mission and leave them for another try later:



My impressions thus far of ground attack in F2.51 is pretty favorable. Though not nearly as complex or thorough as JF-15 & 18, the role is suitably modeled I feel. It is definitely a lot more work and I dare say a bit more hazardous to fly the Su-33 in ground attack than the F-18. The SLAM-ER spoiled me I think. Still there are many more ground attack weapons to explore with F2.51, so there are surely many more surprises around the corner.

BeachAV8R

"NP"? Surely, you mean "PR"?

No..I mean "NP"..as it appears in the HUD...I know the N is not really an N..but it looks like an NP..

BeachAV8R

Ok, so it may look like a mutated N and a P. But it's PR, trust me.

I'm aware of that

BeachAV8R

Good. So, you are going to refer to it correctly from now on?

Tx for another great report Beach.

great shots Beach, keep em coming.

BTW "NP" is really a PR cuz muted "N" in russian stands for P, while P stands for R, thus NP is PR

Since when? I thought that "N" stood for "I", really, not "P", so that would make it "IR" not "PR". Would make sense, too, wouldn't it? Where does that show up?

The HUD in the fourth screenshot reads "PR" to me, however, if that's what you mean.

Prion

Hello Beach,

Could you tell me where I can find training missions for 2.51. When I upgraded I realized the training missions were broken. I never bothered to look for a patch to fix them. I've decided to devote some time to Flanker in preparation for LOMAC. I've been out of the cockpit for sometime and am preparing to get back into the saddle.

Your help is appreciated. Thanx.
--T

IIRC somewhere buried in the options menu one can change the hud symbology from cyrillic to latin letters. That makes it somewhat easier for non-russians.

FYI.. Getting ready for Flanker



Recluse-ski

Talon - I've actually been using all the standard training tracks that shipped with Flanker 2.51..there are some errors in the air-to-air tracks..but to tell you the truth they aren't all that bad. For instance in one of the A2A tracks the "instructor" is supposed to shoot down 2 aircraft..but in fact only gets one..then the voice over gets out of synch with what's really happening. These missions are in the minority though..and I don't think I've missed anything by not having them totally complete. All the other missions seem to work fine though (A2G, Takeoff/landing, navigation, HUD modes..etc..)

Here's a good site for some tutorials:

http://562.50megs.com/a2g.htm

http://www.alasrojas.com/Torneos/gma/AirForceStaffCollege.htm

And from Ian:

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~ianboys/f2bvr.htm

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~ianboys/f2awacs.htm
Edit..one more:

http://flankertraining.com/ironhand/F2.html

Hope those help get you started...

BeachAV8R

JHawk - Yeah..you can change the HUD text and voice warnings to English..I prefer to keep them in Cyrillic...

np np np np np <-- that's for everyone else bustin' my balls over the description of the "launch authorized" cue...I'm choosing to take editorial license..as is my prerogative..



Recluse - Welcome to confusion, mayhem, disorder and lots of page flipping in the manual..lol..

Thankfully there is a knowledgeable group here helping me along..much as you helped me though JF-18 (although I think I only reached the barely past crawling stage in that sim too..lol..)

LOMAC is coming boys! If you haven't seen the most recent Su-25 movie..jeez..it just rocks.

BeachAV8R

Beach,

We'll see if I can stay the course

Does the manual give the Russian for the various HUD symbology??? Like, what the Russian words represented by the infamous 'LAUNCH AUTHORIZED' cue??

It will be several days before my recent AMAZON.COM purchase arrives...and then I still need to crack the manual..so I will hold other stupid questions until then....or people might start saying:

PTΦM !!



Recluse (cant make the Cyrillic L or I would have said: PEK(L)YC )

Yes Recluse..the manual is actually very good at describing the HUD text and also even gives some phonetic pronunciations for much of the stuff.

ie from page 53:

"The HUD will also display the nP (in English the designator will be LA for 'Launch Authorized') Shoot Cue or OTB (pronounced 'o-te-ve', stands for 'Turn Away' in Russian. In English the designator is No LA for 'No Launch Authorized') Reject Cue."


That's a word for word quote from the book..anyhow..I think you'll enjoy it.

BeachAV8R

W00000t another fine piece of work!

Thanx Beach,

Your reports have reignited my interest in Flanker. While I enjoyed it in the past, I've never really "studied" the sim.

--T

would it be realistic that one of those kh-29/as-14s would sink a ship? just wondering...