Mk-82 SE and Frag Area "X"

Been dropping these in CCIP ~500'-1000' AGL in the RET mode and ~400-550 KIAS and still getting the Frag Area X on the HUD. I've visually confirmed that when they hit, I am not in the blast area, and have done this multiple times. Is there a reason that the frag area X still shows up? Should this be the case or?

WIP I guess..

The fragmentation area in reality is much bigger than is represented in DCS. Often the danger area is expressed as a 1:100 or 1:1000 chance to be damaged. Realistically modeled frag envelope warning systems are always going to feel overly cautious compared to DCS realities. Bits of bomb go flying ~3,000' for a Mk-83 in all directions.

And the X might include more factors than self-frag including:

arming requirements

ground avoidance maneuver assumption

avoidance in assumed case that high drag device fails

specific planned escape maneuver selection

Even in real flying you could release a weapon inside the warning region and still come out without damage most times. It's a statistical thing.

One source shows a MRA of about 850' for a no turn level release of MK-82 high drag at sea level for safe escape. So probably you shouldn't have an X warning at 1,000' AGL. Although this value increases to >1000' if the density altitude is 5,000' (thinner air, frag goes farther faster).

MFDH (maximum fragmentation distance horizontal) for the MK83 series is approximately 2520 feet. Are all those tiny bits of frag going to travel that far? Of course not. The strongback (the portion of the bomb where the lifting lugs and charging well are located) and the baseplate (the potion of the bomb where the fin kit is installed) generally remain intact upon detonation as the metal in those areas is much thicker than the rest of the bomb body. These two parts retain a great deal of kinetic energy upon detonation and fly farthest. Smaller bits of frag usually only travel about 50-75 percent of the MFDH. All explosive calculations for specific ordnance are based on the MFDH and K-Factor worst case scenarios as determined by explosive testing at EOD TechDiv, or from recorded incidents.

The real interesting question is whether the aircraft system is plotting the frag envelope as a fixed altitude over its current position, or as a calculation of altitude at the projected point of impact.

btw, how accurate are they for you?

I have trouble getting them to fall unpredictably long or short. Even a string of four sometimes cant hit a target, with a straight and level drop from about 500' and 450kts or so, results in an unpredictably long or short hit. Maybe I just need to go slower.

In CCIP incredibly accurate, but CCRP not so much. I think it’s due to me having a hard time settng my target accurately via the hud.

DUD cue

Excuse my ignorance, but what is this? Didn't come up with anything when I searched the early access manual.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is this? Didn't come up with anything when I searched the early access manual.

I assume it means that if you dropped at that point, the weapon wouldn't have time to arm.

Right, typical HUD cues in bombing for these kinds of planes are:

1. The predicted TOF is less than the arming delay.

2. The assumed recovery trajectory will impact the ground.

3. The assumed recovery trajectory places the airplane within the fragmentation envelope at evaluated time.

In order and for short: dud, (ground) clobber, and frag.

And that's about the order of difficulty for the airplane to warn you. The bomb math for CCIP/CCRP already knows TOF and inventory knows fuze setting so that's easy. Ground clobber warning is harder but projects some maneuver into the future and checks ground clearance. Lastly frag avoidance is the most involved in calculating.

F-16, contemporary design, doesn't advise for frag built into the design. You have to look up a value and set an MRA alert of some kind. I don't think the A-10C does as well. That should be easy enough to check in DCS by profiling a short fuze MK-84 with a level delivery and a very frag-y SEM and see if the computer warns you.