SEAD strike
-
So in my last campaign sortie i flew a SEAD to take out a AAA battalion. But in the briefing it highlights an SA-10 right by it. I knew i should have got to higher altitude and tried launching the JSOWs from further out but why oh why do they create SEAD strikes on AAA and then a strike on some factories all near an SA-10? leave the SA-10 alone just target everything else. Good idea, and what gets me is how the SA-10 shot me down but my wingman survives and RTB’s but also, another SEAD flight hits its target which is another AAA Btn right by the one i was targeting, and it didnt lose any of the 2 a/c. Seems the AI only wants to shoot me and that other SEAD flight seemed to fly over that SA-10 without it knowing lol.
-
Two choices - 1) be a SAM sponge, 2) take the SA-10 out first.
-
Cns, While the AI Briefs does a good job of flight planning, there is room for you to modify things a bit. Just today I flew a mission with 4 GBU-38s against 2 co located radar sites. I was planning on drop 2 pairs, but when I got there 2 SA-2 sites popped up, so I went to singles, hit the SAMS, then hit my target. So, have fun with it. Change your loadout to include something for that SA-10.
-
SA-10 is one of the worst beast together with Patriot. As said from others before when there is a SA-10 this is your first priority. It is necessary to clear the area before to think to hit other targets.
If I am not wrong, AI tries to hit before the leader (who should be the one with greater experience) and later it will focus on the wingman or wingmen. So if you are the leader be ready to be attacked first and heavily.
As you said to hit those SA-10 use a Jsow or otherwise you have to come in very low, pop-up deliver an AGM-88 and go down covered by the ground quickly hoping to do not get a tough answer…
-
Cns, While the AI Briefs does a good job of flight planning, there is room for you to modify things a bit. Just today I flew a mission with 4 GBU-38s against 2 co located radar sites. I was planning on drop 2 pairs, but when I got there 2 SA-2 sites popped up, so I went to singles, hit the SAMS, then hit my target. So, have fun with it. Change your loadout to include something for that SA-10.
drtbkj, curiously how did you identify (other than EWS I mean), separate out and target the SA-2 radars among all the ground targets typically surrounding them in order to hit them with the GBU-38’s?
-
Have your winman engage the SA10 first. The SA10 will engage you at >50 miles and unless you get really low will hit you. The SA10 threat circles do not appear on your planning map either. At campaign start I will always task and fly numerous sam dead strikes pre-planned on an SA2 or3 or 5 unit and be ready for the SA10 that will be there. At times I can see the 10 symbol in my RWR greater than 50 miles which appears to be my max range to hit them. Note they will respawn in a couple of days if you don’t mop them up after taking out the flap lid (jsow best for that). So taking charge of the ATO by manually tasking numerous DEAD strikes rolling back the thick sam belt will allow your aircraft to operate a lot more safely as the red air horde attacks.
-
As CPTMTGE mentioned, not all threat circles appear on your planning map. However you can put them there yourself.
If you look in the Briefing, it will give locations of SA threats (ie SA-10 5 Miles NW of Chiyoung etc). use the OOB (at bottom of screen in UI), open up the country (North Korea usually), open up Political sites and then scroll down to the city/town mentioned and press “FIND”. The UI map will now have that city on the map in the middle usually and from there you can estimate where to put a threat circle for that SAM threat (use the ruler option by right clicking mouse near the city). Save your data cartridge and wala you will now have the threat circle on your HSD when flying. This helps me immensely to judge where to move steerpoints and when to release AGM-88’s for instance.
-
drtbkj, curiously how did you identify (other than EWS I mean), separate out and target the SA-2 radars among all the ground targets typically surrounding them in order to hit them with the GBU-38’s?
Good Day, Sortofred. In this mission ECM was of course the first warning. The SAM site attacks themselves were done by changing to VIS mode against the launch plumes of the missiles they were shooting at everybody(including Yours Truly!).
-
Not all the threat circles will show up in the UI planning, but I believe WDP will find more IIRC. I always use WDP for campaign missions.
-
Create AI packages with relevant timing to support you at the target.
-
[Good Day, Sortofred. In this mission ECM was of course the first warning. The SAM site attacks themselves were done by changing to VIS mode against the launch plumes of the missiles they were shooting at everybody(including Yours Truly!)]
Wow, you are good! I have a hard time spotting plumes let alone timely change modes to attack via HARM in VIS, by which time I’m sure I would be smoked!
-
I have seen where sead escorts will use their few Harms on aaa far before reaching your actual target leaving you vulnerable. So I task a sead mission before any strike to see wtf is really out there and can often destroy with a 2 ship F-16 flight 4 SAM’s threatening the strike flight and clearing a corridor to the target. One other point is often you will have a squadron or two of stealth aircraft so as soon as it gets dark hit the red airbases hosting the red fighter squadrons and by morning you will find a much better threat environment to conduct your operations. And normally you can see the SA2-3-4-5 and 6 launch plumes with RWR alert. So fun!
-
Much was said already. From my little experience, spotting the Sa-10 launch sites by paying attention to RWR allows me to assess its position and load it in my DTE. From that point, I usually make a point of DEADing it myself. With 88s I can do it, but I may not play at a sufficient difficulty level to tell. Enough to take care of them before anything, though. One of my last videos is about Sa-10 attacking my flight above target. Always a displeasant situation. Yet somehow fun suspense, to be honest
-
As CPTMTGE mentioned, not all threat circles appear on your planning map. However you can put them there yourself.
If you look in the Briefing, it will give locations of SA threats (ie SA-10 5 Miles NW of Chiyoung etc). use the OOB (at bottom of screen in UI), open up the country (North Korea usually), open up Political sites and then scroll down to the city/town mentioned and press “FIND”. The UI map will now have that city on the map in the middle usually and from there you can estimate where to put a threat circle for that SAM threat (use the ruler option by right clicking mouse near the city). Save your data cartridge and wala you will now have the threat circle on your HSD when flying. This helps me immensely to judge where to move steerpoints and when to release AGM-88’s for instance.
Yep this is what i did. So i knew when i was within its range (set the PPT, it was put at 1nm west of Chongjin) and i saw it on the RWR, and heard its’ tone a few times, then nothing. Could still see the 10 on the RWR but no more tones. Then all of a sudden BOOM and i’m in flames. No launch warning and i’m guessing this is because the SA-10 is command guided? if it was SARH then i would have had a launch warning. I was somehow confident it wouldnt engage me, i dont know why was stupid of me really. I shouldnt be ranting about the ATO not planning a strike on that SA-10 and what i should have done was used the JSOWs on that instead. Trouble is when i get my debrief it will say i failed as i didnt hit the intended target.
Anyway very relevant comments made by all, and obviously the SA-10 is the most dangerous SAM. Does anyone know what max range i can get with JSOWs in 4.32 and at what altitude? also with a pop up HARM attack what altitude do i need to be at to fire them? and another thing even though it has the Flap Lid as its’ illumination radar…how does this work as it has the SA-10 as command guided and not SARH?
-
SA-10 is most dangerous for BMS… just be glad the north koreans dont have SA-21s and SA-23s in BMS campaigns…
-
I hope we can face them soon Blu3wolf!
-
You can get 35 miles with JSOW hence the SA10 will get you first if you stay high of course and I believe the SA10/12 uses a phased array radar and has unique capabilities. All I know for sure is if I see a 10 in my rwr I must fly as though I am being engaged. Planning a strike mission at campaign start you must be prepared for the SA10 to be active and a lot more sams then the threats you can see in the planning map hence I completely control the ATO otherwise I will lose a lot of aircraft tasked by the AI ATO to hit airbases through a forest of sams basically mission impossible.
-
The SA-10 is bad enough, for me. With modern A3D weapons in the theater, you stop wanting multiroles and start wanting F-22s and B-2As…
-
well we got the B2’s. having the F22 would be awesome. The best red fighters can’t lock you, catch up to you or run away from you…now that is Raptor love!
-
Ah well. Just landed safely at my alternate AB, Wonsan from another SEAD strike on a supposed AAA Btn called XX. No exact location of it, it wasnt at the target steerpoint set by the AI ATO flight plan. Tried to find it with TGP and couldnt see any guns at all. When i was in area mode for TGP i press TMS down and it snaps to the selected steer, but i thought it was supposed to snap to whatever your FCR locks up? i had it lock up some ground contacts but the TGP stuck to steer 5 (where there was nothing at all). I see a port city on the coast and i scan that with Mk1 eyeball for any guns and couldnt see any. Then as i turned back whilst flying over the city i see explosions round my plane. There is the AAA firing at me so now i know where it is but needed to avoid its fire and get out of its range first which i do. But then what happens…i get 29s appear on my 6 on the RWR. AWACS gives direct bearing vectors and they’re only 25 miles away, so i get the hell out of there. Soon theres’ loads of them. Mig 29s, su-27s, su-30s. I turned round, got one AMRAAM off on a 29 and then turn back round again. The whole way back to Wonsan i’m tracked by 29s and they at times appear to get closer and i’m running very low on fuel with wingman already nearly back at Wonsan himself. I manage to make it and find a Hawk SAM shoot down what i think was a su-30. Saw some other explosions, looked a bit chaotic and was right on the FLOT. Find that my AMRAAM i fired missed the Mig in the debrief. But in the end glad i made it back and at least got a shot off. Saved my JSOWs…next i’ll do an escort sortie for a strike.
Before the previous sortie i hadnt flown any air to ground mission without already knowing exactly where the targets are which allowed me to put target steerpoints on KS-19 guns, and certain buildings at a nuclear plant. Will need to hone my skills in using the FCR with the TGP to find targets that i dont already know the exact location of. Thing is on top of that, these 2 SEAD strikes i’ve flown were both at night so can only make finding targets harder.