Critique requested on FCR/RWS/AMRAAM video script
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I wasn’t expecting this tutorial video to be as complicated as it has become. And that said I think it’s worth putting the video script out for review before I go any further.
Feel free to correct any mistakes or offer general feedback.
EXTERNAL
the A N / A P G - 68 is a pulse doppler airborne radar operating in the I / J band and is housed in a radome at the nose of the F 16
within the aircraft systems it is referred to as the Fire Control Radar, or F C R
COCKPIT
verify that Master Arm is set to ARM
set master mode to Dogfight by pressing the A dash A button on the I C P, or by pressing F 6
LEFT M F D
the horizontal line across the display in the Attitude Indicator
this can be used to determine roll relative to the horizonverify that R W S is selected at O S B 2
Range While Search, or R W S, is the primary Beyond Visual Range, or B V R, radar mode
it is designed to return as many contacts as possible in a short period of time and is the most basic of the search radars in terms of information returnedR W S is used to find targets and aim the A I M - 120 AMRAAM and A I M - 7 Sparrow missiles
you may put the system into standby by pressing O S B 4 which stops the radar emitting
R W S uses a B-scope display to present radar contacts
think of the radar as a projector which is projecting an angular beam from its lens outwards both horizontally and vertically
a B-scope display spreads the base of the beam along the bottom of the displaythe B-Scope picture represents a limited overhead view of the volume of airspace that the radar sweep pattern covers
R W S has several search options. range, azimuth sweep, bar scan, and radar elevation tilt
range can be set to 10, 20, 40, 80 or 160 miles
most targets will not be detected until they are well inside 40 nautical milesthe horizontal green lines on the right of the display are range scales and indicate one quarter, one half, and three quarters of the currently selected range
you may adjust range using O S B 19 and O S B 20
verify that range is set to 40 miles
azimuth sweep can be set to 10, 30 or 60 degrees and is indicated by the scale at the bottom of the radar screen. the scale is split into 20 degree marks, with zero at the centre, and it represents the full 120 degrees that the radar can scan
the two vertical cyan lines that appear on the radar screen when operating in restricted azimuth scan patterns are the Azimuth Gates
when operating in a restricted azimuth scan pattern the azimuth sweep can be slewed left and right by moving the Target Acquisition Cursor to the left and right edges of the current azimuth sweep areanote that targets outside the azimuth sweep will not be detected
you may adjust the azimuth sweep to 10, 30 or 60 degrees with O S B 18
the beam the antenna emits can scan 4.9 degrees in the vertical. when the radar bar scan pattern is set to 1 it will scan only this area. when the radar bar scan pattern is set to 2 or 4 the antenna tilt angle will be adjusted to scan a greater area. it takes 2.5 seconds to scan one bar and half a second to move the antenna to the next bar. a full 4 bar scan will therefore take 12 seconds to complete
in general a 2 bar scan pattern should be used when the position of enemy aircraft is known, otherwise a 4 bar scan pattern should be used
to set radar bar scan to 2, press O S B 17
you can also tilt the elevation of the entire radar bar scan pattern with the Antenna Elevation Control on the throttle. Tilt the antenna down with F5, tilt it up with F7, and centre the antenna with F6
elevation information is represented by the scale on the left of the radar screen
there are seven ticks in total, with a vertical line indicating the current elevation setting
the antenna is centred at the centre tick, with each further tick indicating tilt angle in 20 degree increments up or downthe advantage of searching a smaller area is that the search is completed more quickly. the disadvantage is that contacts outside the search area will not be detected
the Target Acquisition Cursor is made up of two small white vertical lines which can be slewed in the B-scope display and are used to lock onto targets
the two numbers to the right of the Target Acquisition Cursor are the minimum and maximum altitudes of the bar scan at that range. the numbers change as the Target Acquisition Cursor is moved away from your aircraft because of the angular nature of the beam. the volume of airspace searched is narrower closer to the aircraft, and wider further from it
the number below the contact is its altitude in thousands of feet
targets appear on the display as small squares, which fade with each radar sweep
each time the radar beam passes over a target a new square is generated
this creates what are known as target histories as targets move across the displaywhen you designate a target the R W S display will change to Situation Awareness Mode, or R W S - S A M
R W S - S A M mode is similar to R W S but because S A M mode has to track a designated target it can’t search the same volume of airspace
the azimuth gates will show the reduced radar azimuth coveragenote that using R W S - S A M mode increases the chance the target will detect you via a Radar Warning Receiver
if you designate the target again while in R W S - S A M mode the mode will change to Single Target Track, or S T T, mode
S T T will only track the designated target but will update continuously, providing the most accurate lock when using S T T the target will probably become aware of the target lock, but the lock will be stronger and more difficult to breakto designate a target, move the Target Acquisition Cursor over a target using the Target Acquisition Cursor keys, which are the shift arrow keys by default
and then press Target Management Switch, or T M S, up, which is Shift Home by defaultthe contact now has a yellow square around it, indicating that it is bugged
it has a velocity vector pointing from the nose of the aircraft to indicate its flight directionyou may cancel the target designation with Target Management Switch, or T M S, down, which is Shift End by default
AIRCRAFT
the A I M - 120 AMRAAM is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations
it uses two-stage guidance when fired at long range
the firing aircraft transmits periodic updates to the missile in flight, allowing the missile to adjust its course via actuation of the rear finswhen it reaches self-homing range it turns on its active radar seeker to locate the target aircraft
the missile can then guide itself to the targetRIGHT MFD
verify that A I M - 120 AMRAAM is selected at O S B 6
note that S L A V, or slave mode, is selected at OSB 18
boresight mode is also available. in this mode the missile will lock onto the first target it detects after launch. for this tutorial we will use slave modeyou may select the Radar Cross Section to match the target using O S B 17
options are small, medium, large or unknown. we will use medium Radar Cross SectionHUD
a target designation, or T D, box appears on the Head Up Display, or HUD, indicating the position of the designated target
to the right of the HUD is the Dynamic Launch Zone, or D L Z
the D L Z has five range markers. from top to bottom these are:
Range Aerodynamic. this is the maximum kinematic range of the missile, assuming the target doesn’t maneouver and that optimal lofting and azimuth are used. at this range the missile will have Nominal Termination Criteria, meaning it will have less energy to maneouver and less probability of hitting the target
Range Optimal. this range has the same characteristics as Range Aerodynamic, but with High Termination Criteria, meaning it has more energy and greater probability to hit the target
Range Probability of Intercept. this is the same as Range Optimal but does not require lofting or azimuth changes
Range Turn and Run. this represents maximum range assuming the target will turn away to tail aspect at missile launch
Range Minimum. this is the minimum firing range
the Target Range Cue will descend to the left of the D L Z as range to target decreases
to the left of the Target Range Cue is the Closure Speedwhen the target is within 125% of Range Aerodynamic the required loft angle is displayed above it
when the target is within Range Optimal M - POLE appears below the Target Range Cue
M - POLE is the range from your aircraft to the target when the missile will become Medium PulseRepetition Frequency, or M P R F, active
this value indicates the distance in nautical miles until the missile becomes M P R F activewhen the target is within high termination criteria of the AMRAAM the Digital Maneuvering Cue, or D M C, appears on the D L Z
this is the heading change the target would have to make to degrade the AMRAAM from High Termination Criteria, to Nominal Termination Criteriaonce the missile has been fired the predicted A - POLE, M - POLE or F - POLE will appear below the D L Z
A - POLE is the range from your aircraft to the target when the missile become High Pulse Repetition Frequency, or H P R F, active
F - POLE is the range from your aircraft to target missile impact time to H P R F active, or time to M P R F active, or Time to Impact will appear below the D L Z
times are preceded by an A for A - POLE, M for M - POLE, and T for Time to Impactyou may break target lock only when the missile has become H P R F active, but it is preferable to wait until it has become M P R F active
COCKPIT
to fire a missile at the designated target, press the weapon release button
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I would honestly feel like its a bit short. Perhaps you could break it up into two parts, one detailing the aircraft and missile systems, and another detailing the avionics? As it stands I can see most viewers getting confused by the different poles at the end. What you have there is basically what you would get out of a manual - with a couple typos - and with less detail. The benefit of a video, I would argue, is that you can use the AV presentation to explain how it works, break it down and show it in action.
As another aside - you might prefer to note that firing the AIM-120 will require depressing and holding the WPN REL button, rather than just pressing it.
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its possible to break STT before the missile gets to HPRF, as TMS down from STT will put the FCR back to RWS-SAM, which can still track the target and provide missile updates. Furthermore its possible to break the RWS-SAM lock also, putting the FCR back in RWS, but this will cause a target drop and the missile will go active when it reaches the predetermined range, and lock the first contact it sees (in range).
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For a fast contact with high aspect, there is little to no benefit to waiting for MPRF active. HPRF active is ideal for this scenario.
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Set master mode to Dogfight by pressing the A dash A button on the I C P, or by pressing F 6
Dogfight mode is entered only via the dogfight switch on the throttle.
R W S is used to find targets and aim the A I M - 120 AMRAAM and A I M - 7 Sparrow missiles
You can cue any AA missile to the FCR.
you may put the system into standby by pressing O S B 4 which stops the radar emitting
You can also use the RF switch. You can also use the dogfight mode as it will initialize in the selected ACM with the FCR not radiating. TMS down will also put the selected ACM mode in ACM20 and non radiating radar
Most targets will not be detected until they are well inside 40 nautical miles
Range detection is also basesd on RCS.
You may adjust range using O S B 19 and O S B 20
Or bump the FCR cursor.
Note that targets outside the azimuth sweep will not be detected
Not entirely true.
If a target is bugged while it’s out of the azimuth gates, the FCR will periodically “jump out” of the azimuth gates to update the track. This sweep will detect any aircraft that are to close proximity of the bugged target.You may adjust the azimuth sweep to 10, 30 or 60 degrees with O S B 18
You can adjust the 30 and 60 azimuth sweep with a FCR cursor bump. You can select a 10 degree azimuth using the spotlight scan while holding the TMS to designate for longer than 1second
Cursor is made up of two small white vertical lines which can be slewed in the B-scope display and are used to lock onto targets
Search Altitude Display (SAD). Placing the cursors over a search target causes that target altitude to be displayed.
Note that using R W S - S A M mode increases the chance the target will detect you via a Radar Warning Receiver
RWS-STT will surely trigger the RWR.
The contact now has a yellow square around it, indicating that it is bugged
it has a velocity vector pointing from the nose of the aircraft to indicate its flight directionThat is a system track file and not a bugged target. A bugged target ( priority target) is enclosed by a yellow circle
When the target is within high termination criteria of the AMRAAM the Digital Manoeuvring Cue, or D M C, appears on the D L Z
No. The DMC will appear when the target is between Rpi and Rtr.
Once the missile has been fired the predicted A - POLE, M - POLE or F - POLE will appear below the D L Z
You forgot the loose timer.
@supanova:F - POLE is the range from your aircraft to target missile impact time to H P R F active, or time to M P R F active, or Time to Impact will appear below the D L Z
times are preceded by an A for A - POLE, M for M - POLE, and T for Time to ImpactIf you talking about the post launch DLZ F-pole range, it appears only when the MPRF timer is replaced by the Time to Impact timer.
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You forgot the loose timer.
What is the loose timer? I haven’t come across that term.
Also, what is RF an abbreviation for? I can ony find “radio frequency” and I’m not sure if that’s correct.
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When MMC or FCC determines that the missile will not impact ,“xxL” is displayed, where xx is the time until termination. Lose indications are also displayed on the HUD and MFD.
Yes.Radio Frequency (RF).
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Thanks for all your feedback. I appreciate it.