Heatblur F-14 and Forrestal Update

First I thought the bomb would miss because he dropped it in a pretty flat trajectory.
But it seems the speed was high enough.

On loft trajectories, the bomb really starts wasting a lot of energy if the laser is on all the time. Wondering if it will be an option to get delayed lasing. That would keep the bomb flying efficiently for the majority of the trajectory while still having terminal guidance.

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Yes/no. The RIO selects the bomb type on the AWG-15 stores management panel (itā€™s delightfully low tech). Additionally if the target is based off coordinates, than the RIO is going to be the one selecting/inputting them. However once the target is selected, all the bomb droppery is done by the pilot.

The ballistics for the GBU-12 in DCS areā€¦ optimistic

That and iā€™m not sure if inertia for the guidance surfaces is modelled. Compared to the real thing it seems to be able to guide incredibly stable (even though it uses just bang-bang as opposed to proportional guidance).

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Donā€™t the newer ones (since the 2000s) use proportional steering? I thought I had read about an upgrade sonewhere.
ā€¦but then the Bombcat didnā€™t have thoseā€¦

Youā€™re thinking of Paveway III (mid 80ies), or possibly the enhanced Paveway II series with dual mode GPS/laser guidance.

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Huh. Seems I mixed a few things up in my head then. Gotta read a few articles and get that right again.

Bog standard gbu-12s still do bang bang. For this kind of attack I would probly want to continuous lase if I donā€™t have super accurate coords, and delay lase if I knew they were accurate.

Paveway 3 is a monster as far as itā€™s guidance is concerned, and is super capable, but is also a beast to plan for because it is far too smart for its own good

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Plus they cost a teensy bit moreā€¦

They do that as well. Paveway three is what you use when you need to get very very specific impact conditions on a target, ie as close to x energy and y impact angle because with proper planning you can achieve that.

However if you screw it up by even a little bit it is very easy for the paveway three to never see the laser and just sail along on its glide profile forever.

Editorā€™s note: Heā€™s talking about ā€œBang-Bang Controlā€

TL;DR: If the seeker sees the laser dot go outside a certain distance from the center of its vision, it slaps the fins on the back FRONT in the right direction to make the dot go center again.

Control in any direction is always at max deflection/power, hence ā€œBANG BANGā€, which is the noise the servos make as they repeatedly smash into their mechanical limits. :grinning:

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Thanks for clearing that up!

Actually it is the forward fins that move. The entire guidance section is just in the front. :smartass: :wink:

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Probably old news to this crowd - but I swear I remember reading some account of perhaps POWs in Gulf I that said they could actually hear the bang bang of the fins slamming back and forth as the GBUs were falling on the city around where they were being held. I canā€™t remember what book I read that from, or if it is an urban mythā€¦but I do recall something about that.

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It was mentioned in Smallwoodā€™s F-15E book. I believe Iā€™ve heard it in other interviews as well.

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I remember reading it as well in the account of a pilot who was shot down and captured, but donā€™t remember if he was British or American. However he was definitely close to the receiving end.

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Definitely not a rumor, they are quite loud in the last 5-6 seconds of flight

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I can also confirm JDAMā€™s are extremely loud. Especially when they explode.

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Many of the munitions in DCS are not modeled as they should be, so I donā€™t expect anything out of that pattern right now. Even bullets seem wrong at times, although that may be because of supernatural AI aiming and not the actual projectile.

Still, I contend that the ā€œflying tankā€ A-10 should not be so vulnerable to a BTRā€™s turret at a range of 1.5 miles when Iā€™m not even flying straight at it. Iā€™ve been killed by regular MGā€™s 10x more than by enemy fighters in the A-10.

Some pics have surfaced

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