Cannot select all 14 Mk-82 AIR

Hello...Is there something I'm missing? Sorry if it was posted already. I can select and deliver 14 Mk-82 Snake Eyes but when I load 14 Mk-82 AIR, I can either ONLY select stations 2,3,5 and 6 or ONLY stations 1 and 7, but not all of them. Thanks for any help!

I wonder if that is on purpose that you can put 500 lb bombs on the wing-tips. Wouldn't be the first slip-up like that.

TIP: Don't select any stations.

- Go to the left MFCD and select the STOR stores management page.

- At the top of the page select Mk82 HD or LD (High Drag or Low Drag -- I'm not sure what it displays of you mix Mk 82 LD's with Mk 82 SE's, but I generally don't try such smut :music_whistling: ). From my understanding, if you select LD, it will drop the Snakeys, but not deploy their air-brakes (at least that is what I was told once). Once you have selected the weapon type your are deploying, the indicators of the stations carrying these weapons at the bottom of the ASMCI (Armaments Stores Management & Controls Indicators) panel will be asserted.

Now switch to the ASMCI panel directly below the left MFCD.

- QTY: Enter the total number of bombs to be dropped in this sequence.

- MULT: Enter the maximum number of weapon stations (pilons) from which bombs my be dropped per impulse. (I've never tried it, but if you cannot enter more than 4, then mounting bombs on stations 1 & 7 is probably a bug.)

- INTV: Enter the distance between impact points. If for example you are bombing a runway, and are carrying 12 bombs and want to drop one bomb every 100 feet you would set:

QTY 12

MULT 1

INTV 10 (x10 = 100)

Set AGM mode, and FUZ and run your planed attack normally.

So, just got around to testing this. Same settings as above, but with 14 eggs:

QTY 14

MULT 1

INTV 10

All 14 eggs dropped on the runway. It was eggs-selent! :D

Tried it..no go..thanks for the help anyway!!

Are you maybe not holding the pickle button until all the bombs drop? If you release the pickle ahead of time, it will cancel the sequence from that point in time leaving whichever bombs are left hanging on the wings.

Hello...Is there something I'm missing? Sorry if it was posted already. I can select and deliver 14 Mk-82 Snake Eyes but when I load 14 Mk-82 AIR, I can either ONLY select stations 2,3,5 and 6 or ONLY stations 1 and 7, but not all of them. Thanks for any help!

Hi Defrabo, there is an awful lot going on here when I started digging into this so bear with me. Disclaimer: I am working from the A1-AV8BB-TAC-050, change 1, dated May 1998. This is the latest thing I can find, but until Razbam lets us know our exact BuNo of the aircraft and the documentation they used to build it, if anyone has data from anything more recent/pertinent that contradicts any of this please let me know.

The short answer is that DCS appears to have something coded differently between how 82Snakeye and 82AIR are loaded.

To start, lets look at a loadout of 14 82 Snakeye. When you go into the STOR page, at the top left you will see 82L - 82H. When you select either of these choices, it will highlight all 14 Snakeyes on the aircraft, allowing you to set parameters and release all of them. (I believe, but of course I can't say definitively, that this is what Capt Orso is doing, as he mentions Snakes but never AIRs in his post; please correct me if I am wrong Capt).

When you load 14 82AIRs and look at the top of the STOR page, you see something different; 82L - 82H - 82L -82H. Selecting the leftmost 82 L and H arms ONLY the outboard pylon weapons. Selecting the rightmost 82 L and H arms ONLY the intermediate and inboard weapons (AKA the 12 AIRs on the ITERs).

I am not going to go so far as to say the way the AIRs work is incorrect, however, because I don't know. The reason for this is the BRU-36's (the standard inboard / intermediate / outboard pylons) are NOT allowed to be used for in flight selection of delivery mode (high drag v low drag), whether using the Mk15/BSU-86 fin (Snakeye) or the BSU-85 ballute (AIR). This is because latching pins used to either hold or release arming wires on the BRU-36 are not mechanically driven open during a release and thus can't be trusted for fin selection. However, the BRU-42 Improved Triple Ejector Rack (ITER) IS authorized for in flight selection.

My understanding is that the information on the STOR page we see as pilots regarding the ordnance loaded on the aircraft is programmed into a physical SMC panel external of the cockpit by ground personnel (obviously prior to flight). So IRL, the two bombs on the outboard pylons would be EITHER high drag or low drag, as set prior to flight. The bombs on the ITERs would be selectable in flight. The question THEN becomes; how would the STOR page treat a collection of inflight selectable (IFS) bombs and fixed HI / LO bombs? To that question, I have no answer, but DCS seems to be doing something different with AIR v Snakeye.

Some other points...

-Mark 82s are absolutely a valid loading on the outboard pylon (no wingtip station on a Harrier)

-Using a MULT of greater than 2 for bombs is prohibited. Only singles (QTY = 1, MULT = 1), pairs (QTY = 2, MULT =2), ripple singles (QTY > 1, MULT =1) or ripple pairs (QTY > 2, MULT = 2) are authorized for bombs. MULT of 3 or 4 are used for rockets.

-A full load of 14 Mark 82s, either slicks, snakes, or AIR technically isn't an allowable loadout. The book calls for running only 2 bombs on the inboard ITERs (so 1-3-2-2-3-1), not sure if there were concerns of a bomb contacting the strakes / gun pods or what...

Finally; because I had never played with this before, I wasn't too familiar with the LD / HD selections on the Harrier. Can anyone actually get an AIR or Snakeye to deploy in a low drag configuration? Short of trying every fuse option, I couldn't get either to drop low drag, whether off a standard pylon or the ITER.

All tests on latest OB build 40647.

Thanks so much for the input..tried a ground load out as well..no go..probably latches or code, like you mentioned..oh well ..I'll just drop 12..!

Held the pickle long enough...thanks

Okay, now I've tested everything.

I have to admit, I only tested with Mk 82 LD's the first time, thinking this was a general issue. I've now tested with Mk 82 SE and Mk 82 Air.

Tests were in all cases done with 14 Mk 82 type bombs loaded.

To summe up what I've learned as quickly as possible:

- Although both the retarded bomb types (yes, officially they belong to that category :D ) have LD listed in the STOR page along with the expected HD, whether you chose LD or HD to be deployed, both the Snakeyes and AIR's will drop in their hight drag configurations.

- Mk 82 LD's and Snakeyes both have only one set of OSB's (both HD & LD as per above) on the STOR page. Selecting either will select all 14 bombs on all 6 stations.

- Mk 82 AIR are an exception. When 14 bombs on 6 stations are loaded, the STOR page shows:

82HD 82LD 82HD 82LD across the top OSB's. Selecting one of the first (f.l.t.r.) selects only the bombs on stations 1 & 7. Selecting one of the last 2 OSB's selects stations 2, 3, 5, & 6.

Conclusion: since in the NATOPS carrying 14 Mk 82's is a valid load-out, the way the STOR page works with Mk 82 AIR's loaded is bugged.

Whether Snakeys and AIR's should be deployable in an LD configuration remains to be seen. If not, this is also a bug.

Thanks for doing the testing Capt Orso, nice to have another set of data backing up the issue. Just one question I had, what NATOPs are you using? My TAC-050, Volume II is dated May 98. Chapter 5, External Stores Limitations, is the most definitive source for carriage limitations on the aircraft I can find. It shows the Harrier is limited to only 12 Mk82s using the configuration I explained in post 6 of this thread. I’m not doubting you, just wondering where you found an authorization for 14 bombs because I want to be working from the most current/pertinent data!

I ummm... *cough* didn't look at NATOPS... :chair: *ouch-ouch-ouch-stopit!-ouchy-ouch* :surrender:

I just tested loading up the different weapon types and doing 2 bombing runs with each.

BTW my NATOPS Vol. I is Change 2, Aug. 2002, and Vol. II is Change 1, May 1998

I ummm... *cough* didn't look at NATOPS... :chair: *ouch-ouch-ouch-stopit!-ouchy-ouch* :surrender:

 

I just tested loading up the different weapon types and doing 2 bombing runs with each.

 

BTW my NATOPS Vol. I is Change 2, Aug. 2002, and Vol. II is Change 1, May 1998

Haha, very good, I am just always on the lookout for the latest and greatest with regards to publications,

Thanks everyone, for the effort and info...