Soft vs hard lock?
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Other than not being able to see other contacts, what is the difference between hard locking a bandit on the FCR?
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At work so others will have to fill in detail but…
soft lock is also known as “bugging” a target, allows other radar hits to be displayed and is less likely to spike their RWR, hardlock (STT) gives more info on the target, is less likely to be broken, and ensure a RWR spike to the target (they know you have them locked). soft lock is preferred to sneak up on a target, TWS is the soft lock mode of choice for Slammers for example.
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After you bug a contact , you must shout “raygun at bullseye *** *** miles AGL” in order to avoid friendly fire.
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After you bug a contact , you must shout “raygun at bullseye *** *** miles AGL” in order to avoid friendly fire.
Or ‘Declare’ via AWACS, or Visual ID by TGP or Mk1 Eyeball.
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At work so others will have to fill in detail but…
soft lock is also known as “bugging” a target, allows other radar hits to be displayed and is less likely to spike their RWR, hardlock (STT) gives more info on the target, is less likely to be broken, and ensure a RWR spike to the target (they know you have them locked). soft lock is preferred to sneak up on a target, TWS is the soft lock mode of choice for Slammers for example.
How does TWS stack up compared to the default mode?
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How does TWS stack up compared to the default mode?
You can track more targets, switch between them pretty easily (TMS Right), you can fire/support more Active Missiles (AIM-120’s)(6, I believe) and you get a velocity vector based on the ‘tail’ length of the contact.
Downside is that it takes a little longer for the initial contact to show up/stabilize (i.e. RWS seems to be a better ‘search’ mode). Due to limited track files (13?), it’s possible to miss threats while tracking ‘drones’. It can take longer to update tracks as more information is being provided on each contact. I think the FCR can seem more cluttered in a high activity area, but that’s mostly perception on my part, I think.
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So engaging multiple targets simultaneously with -120s works for the F-16 as well? Didn’t know that, cheers.
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So engaging multiple targets simultaneously with -120s works for the F-16 as well? Didn’t know that, cheers.
Yes. I’m sure it’s one of the manual (dash 1 probably). There is also discussion on it here. I believe it is 6 targets simultaneously, but it may be 4.
RWS you can only track/support 2 at a time.
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also hard lock is required for FOX 1 tracking, so if you’re using sparrows it’s required. ARH seekerhead on AMRAAM eliminates this requirement because the missile can terminal guide on it’s own.
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This has worked but not every time in TWS soft lock one and launch, then move to the next and repeat up to 4 times without waiting on pitbull. @Agave_Blue:
Yes. I’m sure it’s one of the manual (dash 1 probably). There is also discussion on it here. I believe it is 6 targets simultaneously, but it may be 4.
RWS you can only track/support 2 at a time.
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In all modes, soft locking selects a contact or track as the target of interest (TOI). In any CRM submode that normally displays contacts, white squares, it enters situation awareness mode (SAM). The contact selected is replaced with a track file, yellow triangle, and circled to indicate TOI. The search volume is reduced to accommodate the additional workload the radar has to maintain this track file. If you ever have a mixture of contact and tracks on the same B-scope, you’re in SAM (or two-target SAM, TTS).
In TWS all objects displayed are already track files and selecting TOI simply designates a particular track as TOI. TWS does not automatically revert to single target track (STT) within 5nm and so is the only radar mode that can maintain soft lock within 5nm.
Track files are hard to make. The radar has to scan a contact several times and the results have to make sense as a persistent and consistent object for the radar to display a track file. This being the case display of new track files is significantly slower and more delicate compared to the display of new contacts. The search volume for any track-based radar mode (TWS, SAM, TTS, STT) is almost always narrower than a contact-based radar mode by design to compensate for the higher workload and requirement to update tracks more frequently.
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After you bug a contact , you must shout “raygun at bullseye *** *** miles AGL” in order to avoid friendly fire.
Raygun is not a action that must follow a FCR STT or any other track mode.
AGL ? I think you mean MSL. Target altitude is MSL
