Detection and Evasion of SAM sites

One thing that confuses me is the RWR and the ability to avoid or even, engage, enemy SAM sites.

I know normally the A10C would call in a SEAD strike to remove the threat, but for me, I always seem to get shot at by SAMs resulting in my firey death.

So, when I get a RWR warning, how can I avoid this, or even engage it. How do I know how far away it is? Shilkas dont tend to be a problem but longer range SAMs are a nightmare for me.

Some advice on how to prolong my survival would be appreciated.

If you get an RWR indication of a SAM threat, turn away from it, at least 90 degrees. Do not try and engange anything above AAA/SHOARD systems, and if enganging SHORAD be very careful and don't take unnessesary risks. If that means you can't complete your ovjective fine, getting yourself and your aircraft back to base are always your first priority.

If you have an RWR indication in the outer ring you are in detection range, if it's in the inner ring you're in the systems WEZ.

Short range SAMs shouldn't be a problem as long as you stay at/above ~ 15.000 '. Longer range SAMs should be mentioned in the mission briefings, and you should plan you approach accordingly. That is: stay away from them, or stay low and use terrain masking.

What we do online is one guy drawing fire while the others spot for the SAM launch. With the exact location of the SAM known an attack can then be planned.

The RWR doesn't really give you range information, it essentially judges the threats based on identification and arranges them according to threat level. Whatever's closest is the thing you should be the most worried about.

As for how to engage and so on, it all depends on which type of SAM we're talking about. A Tunguska is usually okey and easy as long as it didn't hide and only start tracking when you were already close. OSAs can be a bit of an issue, but still definitely doable. Buks and Kubs... Them I would say that you really shouldn't engage at all. There are cases where you can get away with it - for example, in the In The Weeds mission you can "kite" the large SAM sites through getting close enough for them to engage you, and then dive down behind the hills. Rinse and repeat until they're out of missiles, then fly in to take them out with Mavs. (Be careful to not fly too close to the Tunguskas though. :P )

Now, if you are launched upon, there are some things you can do. My personal "fav" if I don't have terrain to mask myself with is to turn around (but not sharp enough to lose all my speed) and then do a bit of up/down "waving" to attempt bleeding the energy of the missiles in order to cause them to miss.

A while ago I made a video to illustrate something else, but it actually shows this type of "waving" as well:

DkYM8UWSnok

I should have done one set more, since he still almost got me, but it should show what I mean. Whether this will actually work though depends on the threat and the range when the threat launched it's weapons.

Thanks. I saw a guide to the RWR symbology regarding the different types of SAM threat. Anyone have a link?

Flight Manual, page 411 to 413,

Also, see the following threads. However, keep in mind that some information may be out of date.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=76856

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=68182

One thing that confuses me is the RWR and the ability to avoid or even, engage, enemy SAM sites......

Know your enemy. Vitally important that you are able to identify the RWR symbology correctly - Doing so will enable you to react appropriately to any given threat.

Keep the threat out of the Inner threat circle - do not just run away when being painted. Use the RWR to aid you in seeking out the SAM and plotting it's position via landmarks, markpoints or whatever else aids you in remembering. If you first of all identify the type of threat, the range to the threat will follow and you can then attempt to seek out the SAM.

Worst-case scenario is to bait the SAM into a launch and in doing so plot his position. To do this effectively, ingress at Angels 6 with the threat on your nose. Once he launches, Split-S and extend 180 degrees - as said a last-ditch manoeuvre if you're desperate.

Again - for all radar-guided SAM's there's no excuse to get tagged. Keep them out of the RWR inner circle and you'll be fine.

I know normally the A10C would call in a SEAD strike to remove the threat

Do not underestimate the Warthog's SEAD ability. There's a reason some operational Hog-flights were dubbed 'Wartweasels': Dedicated SEAD operations were the order of the day.

As for actually conducting said SEAD operations, In-SIM all the SHORAD are capable of being engaged well outwith their Kill-Zone. Employ your stand-off weapons and eradicate the SAM's with impunity - it's actually too easy at present (which could and indeed should hopefully improve with intelligent mission-design).

As for the MERAD systems (MIM-23, SA-11 etc etc), again, it's just a wee bit more work to effectively neutralise the SAM systems. It can however be done - also adds a new dimension to gameplay with dedicated operational A-10C SEAD flights to spice things up.

If you're interested I can post a coupla tracks illustrating various SAM system engagements. As said it's relatively simple to engage and destroy a majority of the systems - The trick is to find them first: Use your RWR wisely and that'll too become second nature :)

I'm not going to search through every post in every thread to see if this has been posted before, so don't bother with any "re-post" comments. I'm not interested.

Wow, and to think you could've said the same thing minus the attitude with "Sorry if this has been posted before."

Wow, and to think you could've said the same thing minus the attitude with "Sorry if this has been posted before."

What he said.... come on Trev.. play nicely please.

I think this is a good guide (from unknown):

http://bastiani.at/dcs/GroundThreatGuide.pdf

In order to mimic realism, open the mission, remove visible (unhidden) SAM units, save as, overwrite. Win! That is from reading KEZ

I think this is a good guide (from unknown):

http://bastiani.at/dcs/GroundThreatGuide.pdf

Thats a good guide!

I was thinking of making such a document. But just put everything in one table that i can print out and put on my desk....