SAM/Air-to-Air Missile Defense Techniques

[peanuthead]

Hello to all,

Are the techniques for defending against Surface-to-Air Missiles and Air-to-Air Missiles different? Below are the techniques I use which are not working as I always get hit.

Surface-to-Air Missle Defense -
Jammer On
Beam the missile on my 3/9 line
Release a lot of Chaff with Program 1 (how much is enough Chaff anyway?)
If multiple SAM’s launch at me then I descend to 300FT AGL
I always tried that last ditch break into the missile but it never works for me.

Air-to-Air Missile Defense -
Jammer Off
Release Chaff and Flare in equal quantities with Program 3
Pull up and down to stay out of plane with the missile
Semi Active Missiles: These will give me a warning so pretty straight forward.
Active Missiles: I only notice these when the missiles goes active on the RWR. I can barley see anything behind me prior to launch; do I just keep him on the beam and watch for it? How do you know what’s initially being fired is not a Heat Seeker with no lock instead of an Active Missile?
Do we last ditch break into the missile just like the SAM?

Any insights on the techniques you are using will be helpful.

Thank you!

[Blu3wolf]

SAM and AAM defence starts well before you get launched on.

If you do get launched on, from a close enough range that you cannot outrun the missile, then your survival chances drop dramatically.

So, SAM defence. Would recommend reading the multicommand handbook in your install folder. The jammer decreases the range you can be targeted at. If you are just inside the targeting range of a SAM, jamming alone may be enough to prevent their missiles guiding. Dont rely on that however, if you get a missile launch warning you defend it. The initial step is to fly to the notch - put the missile on your 3/9 line, using the RWR if possible. If you are not tally on the missile, try to acquire it visually. Run a chaff program and assess the missile state. A missile guiding on you will stay in roughly the same position, while a missile which has become decoyed should start to track rearwards on the canopy. If the missile stays on you then as it starts to get close perform a high G orthogonal SAM break. To do this, with tally on the missile and high speed, put the SAM on your 3/9 line, and make a hard pitch (5 to 7G) - if the missile was on your 3/9 line (not your 3/9 plane) the lift vector will be out of plane with the missile, which will give it the maximum lead required to intercept you. Against older SAMs you can do this will 3 to 4G. Against double digit SAMs you will get shot down, every time.

AAM defence. The jammer will lower the range you can be locked at by a hostile radar. If a missile has been fired at you, chances are pretty damn good that you have already been targeted so your jammer doesnt do you much good at this point. In the case of modern ARH missiles with integrated HOJ capability, it helps only a little. In BMS, it allows such missiles to target you at very long ranges, and actually hurts you rather than helps you. So in BMS if you are doing AAM defence, turn your jammer off. In the case of close in IRMD, retract throttle to IDLE and run a flare program for as long as the IR threat exists. For the close in IRMD threat very short times of flight are a key characteristic, so about the best you can do is try to use high speed and G to force a high amount of lead to intercept you.
For medium range RMD, if a missile has gone active on you without you having already started your missile defence, you have screwed up somewhere. Assuming that to be the case, select a high throttle power (MAX AB is a good place to be) and perform a split-s or slice as needed to put the missile at your 6. Aim for somewhere around 550 to 650 knots, as your loadout permits. The lower you are, the faster the missile will bleed airspeed. You also have much higher drag again, but unlike the missile you have an engine and can maintain and even gain total mechanical energy (speed and altitude basically). Weave a little, dragging the missile around between your 5 and 7 positions. This forces it to pull lead to catch up to you, decreasing its energy further. Depending on its range, once it no longer has significant overtake on you, climb and turn back to the hot area. Determining rate of overtake is effectively impossible without tallying the missile, which is bloody small and fast. You can get an estimate on it from the RWR position, though this may change in the future. You can also estimate it by judging how long it has been flying for, how high and fast it was launched from, etc. Seeing as you wont know most of these factors in the case of a surprise launch, err on the side of caution.

In the event that you get a close in launch of a radar threat, try to use airspeed and lift vector placement to force a failed intercept. With sufficient speed and Lv placement, its possible to evade an AIM-120 fired from dead 6 oclock - but not easily.

[drtbkj]

Nice, Blu. Thx

[TeeSquare]

It is a good idea to record your encounters on the ACMI and review the tapes afterward. Most of what we do is with sensors and in our minds and is not something that we can look out the pit and see most of the time. Watching the tapes helps to build a better mental picture of the encounters.

A good reference on the jammer is the Realism Patch 5 Manual in the docs folder page 134 and on. Look at the diagram on p 135.