TAC 23 - CSAR Day

Any tips for passing this mission? I can't even do it with the labels on.

Here is what is repeatedly happening. I clear the area of enemy air defenses. I see the pilot climbing up over the hill to position himself near waypoint 'ARCO'. So I send in the rescue choppers who then proceed to hover/putdown about 1nm SE of him. Then suddenly, literally 'out of nowhere' appear 2 groups of 3 vehicles with IR sams and ZSU-23 guns about 1nm away from them. Within 10 seconds before I can react the choppers are shot down.

It seems impossible to complete the mission? Why do these vehicles suddenly appear out of thin air? :helpsmilie:

They appear if you failed to authenticate the downed pilot. This is to simulate an enemy trap.

Check the F10 menu for the authentication commands. There will be some back and forth between you and the downed pilot so you need to ensure you are transmitting over Guard 243.0 Mhz.

The downed pilot should respond to each "Alpha Check" and the responses should match those in the CSAR instructions briefing page.

When you have the final result then you can be confident the downed pilot has not been compromised.

Then send the helos in for pickup but keep an eye on the LZ as there maybe other enemy racing to get to the LZ too to ruin the pickup.

This is one of the more challenging missions so we recommend trying the practice mission first until you are confident with the mission flow.

Ohhhh OK. I switched back from guard after awhile to communicate with my wingman. Maybe that is the problem. Will try again tonight.

Also, Is it necessary to take out the 2 x sa7 that are behind the hill? I've just been leaving them the last couple of attempts.

They do pose a threat to your flight but they are on the opposite side of the hill so likely won't engage the helos as they do their ingress and egress.

The biggest challenge is the number of units chasing after the downed pilot and trying to spoil the extraction.

Ok...that worked. Thanks!

Quick question, is it possible to miss a transmission 'on guard frequency' while temporarily switching over frequency to talk to wingman to give orders?

No. The radio voice messages will only play if you are tuned to the frequency so you won't miss anything.

Is waypoint Arco part of our flight plan or somewhere that I have to look for? I authenticate the pilot without issues but then they say something about popping green smoke yet I don't see it anywhere.

I'm holding at IP Chevy circling around. Will try the practice misison again but last time there were no voice overs in the practice misison once reaching CP bravo like there is in the actual checkpoint misison.

Yes ARCO is the SARDOT - The search and rescue point and is the rendezvous point for the downed pilot.

Once you hear the pilot has gone down you should start searching around the ARCO area for any enemy units. It helps if you instruct your wingmen to engage any AAA units.

The downed pilot will make his way to the ARCO area and once you authenticate him and know he has not been compromised and you are confident any enemy nearby have been eliminated then you can send in the choppers for the pickup.

You should also check the roads around ARCO for any enemy units moving towards the area. They are also hunting for the downed pilot.

This is another challenging mission because if you send the choppers in too early they will get attacked ruining the rescue.