The "Uber" Command: Modern Air/Naval Ops Thread

[mikeck]

According to various official sources, the AIM-54A was successfully tested against sea skimmers down to 50ft:

http://vnfawing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1253&sid=4f01c9dccde209a32ed1d33869a2ebb0

I can increase the minimum target altitude of the AIM-54A from 30 to 50ft, but that would still make it capable against Tomahawks at 60ft.

Ok. Like I said, I'm no expert. From a laymen perspective though, seems a but odd that ancient Phoenix missles could have a better hit rate against sea skimming missles than my SM-2s. I mean, they fired six and took out 4 missles. 66% hit rate? Could have been luck as it's a small sample size. Anyway, take a look at it is all I ask. Thanks guys

[GDS_Starfury]

it really depends on the version and timeline.  I think it would also depend on what kind of sea skimming missiles youre shooting at and whether or not your planes have AWACS or E-2 support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-54_Phoenix

[mikeck]

It would. And in this case my sea skimmers were really tomahawks at 18 m above the surface and the enemy- the Iranians -did not have any airborne warning support.  just launched F-14s and started peppering missiles into my tomahawks., who knows maybe it's accurate maybe it's not it was still fun just a question

[emsoy]

Thanks guys, re-researched the Iranian F-14s and thanks to new information I've updated the Command database:

F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1977, AIM-54A Only
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1984, AIM-7E/-9J
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1986, No AIM-54A Thermal Batteries
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1987, AIM-23C
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1990, AIM-23C, AIM-54A Restored
F-14A Tomcat [F-14AM] -- Iran (Air Force), 2012, Fakour-90

Fair?

[mirth]

Thanks guys, re-researched the Iranian F-14s and thanks to new information I've updated the Command database:

F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1977, AIM-54A Only
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1984, AIM-7E/-9J
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1986, No AIM-54A Thermal Batteries
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1987, AIM-23C
F-14A Tomcat -- Iran (Air Force), 1990, AIM-23C, AIM-54A Restored
F-14A Tomcat [F-14AM] -- Iran (Air Force), 2012, Fakour-90

Fair?

That's it? I heard they were doing tests with R-27s too :P

kidding. very cool that you updated it so quickly!

[Nefaro]

actually got to the end of the air tutorial without the white screen of death but had trouble taking out the industrial sites. I just couldn't get my aircraft to fly below the altitude needed to release their bombs. might I suggest instead of a slider for manual override that we just get a box to type in the altitude that we want? when I got near the bottom using the slider it would go all wonky and revert back to 40k. is there any way to order a group of planes to fly at a certain altitude? I tried dragging a box around them and then pressed f2 but it didn't affect them. I had to click on each aircraft individually. thanks.

The problem  you had with ordering them down so low is that the manual Altitude ordered is Barometric altitude.  So while you may be trying to force them down below 650m to release some cluster bombs, on the alt slider, they will actually be going down to their minimum allowed altitude (100m).  I'd like to see the manual altitude slider give them AGL orders, if possible.

[Nefaro]

It would. And in this case my sea skimmers were really tomahawks at 18 m above the surface and the enemy- the Iranians -did not have any airborne warning support.  just launched F-14s and started peppering missiles into my tomahawks., who knows maybe it's accurate maybe it's not it was still fun just a question

This reminds me.. is LD/SD stuff modelled with aircraft radars and missile tracking limitations?   Notably when it comes to terrain-following/sea-skimming targets?  Or is it just a universal hit penalty?

[Dimitris]

Yes. Limited LD/SD too (e.g. F-4J, MiG-23, MiG-25PD).

Aircraft with limited LD/SD will descend towards the target's lower altitude (but still keep above it) if providing SARH illumination.

[Nefaro]

Yes. Limited LD/SD too (e.g. F-4J, MiG-23, MiG-25PD).

Great.  Thanks.

I don't recall but was the AIM-54A & F-14A able to lock and engage such small targets that low? 

[Dimitris]

Yes, the AWG-9 was and remains a very powerful set for illumination and full LD/SD. In fact it was so good that the F-14 was often appreciated better as an AIM-7F shooter (compared to the F-15A with the same weapon) rather than for its AIM-54. Overwater it had excellent coverage down to VLow altitude, but overland it had problems that were really only resolved with the APG-71 on the F-14D.

[CptHowdy]

actually got to the end of the air tutorial without the white screen of death but had trouble taking out the industrial sites. I just couldn't get my aircraft to fly below the altitude needed to release their bombs. might I suggest instead of a slider for manual override that we just get a box to type in the altitude that we want? when I got near the bottom using the slider it would go all wonky and revert back to 40k. is there any way to order a group of planes to fly at a certain altitude? I tried dragging a box around them and then pressed f2 but it didn't affect them. I had to click on each aircraft individually. thanks.

The problem  you had with ordering them down so low is that the manual Altitude ordered is Barometric altitude.  So while you may be trying to force them down below 650m to release some cluster bombs, on the alt slider, they will actually be going down to their minimum allowed altitude (100m).  I'd like to see the manual altitude slider give them AGL orders, if possible.

hehe well I have no clue what the difference is between barometric altitude and altitude and what are AGL orders? I know in the new update that those bombs are being removed from the loadout and just going with the shrikes. is that plane capable of using that loadout with the low altitude bombs, ever?

[CptHowdy]

another question! while playing the air tutorial I unassigned my tomcats from their patrol mission since there was no longer a threat of enemy air. I then deleted the patrol mission. what behavior should I expect from those tomcats after they are unassigned? the ones I had in the air remained in the air and their status was unassigned. should they RTB automatically since they have no mission and are just flying around aimlessly or will I need to manually order them to do so? thanks.

[Baloogan]

Baloogan has just put up the videos from his Episode 2 of playing Command.
http://baloogancampaign.com/2013/09/30/command-episode-2/

Thanks so much for helping me get the word out  ;D

Awesome videos Baloogan! Thanks for your efforts...

+1

Baloogan, i had found your videos with a search at youtube, just the other day (before they showed u here) 8)
..."The way its meant to be played"-videos!  :)

That was what i was looking for as a newbie to the unfamiliar Naval stuff  i am more a Faust toting low crawl kind of grognard ;-) daring into dangerous waters...   

(reminds me on the tutorial videos of CO:BftB, where Arjuna -the developers- explained how the game engine is used best and why features are there and how to bring them to bear while he is playing the tutorials... like BfTB, Command is a sim for grogs.
and the true nature of a grog is: one mans loved feature is the other mans worst nightmare and the other way around, that may be the reason for some of the uproar...)

after some time in the sandbox (to kill the curiosity, and doing it wrong) and a glance at your vids i began now with the tutorial, seriously  ... and loving it :)   

Cheers!  Thanks so much for watching!


Here are some links for anyone who is interested!

Site: http://baloogancampaign.com

YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/baloogan

Follow my videos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BalooganCamp

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/baloogancampaign (Saturdays at 5PM PDT)

Here is a list of my videos that are currently on YouTube:

Episode 1

• Part 1 Air Tutorial
  I play though the Air Tutorial while explaining terrain masking and other radar sensor oriented details.
  
  
• Part 2 Submarine Tutorial
  I play though the Submarine Tutorial, sink 2 ships, 1 sub and evade a few torpedoes while discussing sonar physics and modern submarine ASW & ASuW tactics.
  
  
• Part 3 Syria Sandbox
  Who knew nuking Syria with Israeli nukes would be so fun?
  

Episode 2

• Part 1 Operation Lightning Strike
  I play through Operation Lightning Strike. There is nothing more frightening to U.S. military planners than nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately the most likely places this could happen also present significant political and military challenges.
  
  
• Part 2 Google Earth Livestream
  After that I tested out a utility I made to live stream or geostream data from Command into Google Earth on my stream's viewers' computers.
  
  
• Part 3 GIUK Sandbox
  A sandbox GIUK 1980 scenario between a Soviet SAG (Surface Action Group) and American forces stationed on Iceland with a CVBG (Carrier Battle Group) moving to help oppose the Soviets.
  
  
• Part 4 Shoot That Sat
  Someone in the stream's chat had a question about ASAT weapons; so I immideately set out to intercept a Kosmos Soviet satellite using F-15 Eagles armed with ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite multi-stage missiles. I expended 2 ASM-135′s and scored one hit on the ELINT sat.
  

Going to be streaming live every weekend on Saturday at 5:00 pm PDT. Everyone welcome. :D

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/baloogancampaign

[mikeck]

Is there a sandbox mode that I am missing or are these missions created through the scenario designer?

[JudgeDredd]

There's no sandbox mode - you create your own missions using the scenario editor