HARPOON! so soon?

The Harpoon has me wondering how complex the SLAM and especially the AGM-84K SLAM-ER will be to get on target.

 

 

Regarding hitting well defended ships. Wouldn't a combination of HARMs and Harpoons be better as the AGM-88s can take out the ships' defenses or at the very least, keep them occupied enough for a few of the Harpoons to get through.

The only problem with that is that HARMs are also quite susceptible to being blown out of the sky when i've used them against the more recent generation SAMs. It would seem to me that you'd really need a coordinated attack from a fair number of planes coming from several directions to really put a group of ships that can fight back into some major bother.

It worked for me (so it’s not just theory) also using the HPTP function like you but I used slightly different bearings and destruction distances for each station. Each found a target and scored a hit.

 

Not saying it is bug free, in fact ED clearly said it is „heavily“ WIP. I just haven‘t encountered any so far, instead the weapon always worked as expected so far. Maybe I‘m just lucky...but I don‘t complain ;)

No you're not lucky... In spite of limited programmability Harpoons worked like a charm for me.

I used with HPTP and fixed. Both worked fine. I must've fired ay least a 100 of them already... I'm not BS'ing… only 3 missed due to my error setting self-destruct too early.

Forget HARM's... the way Harpoons surf the waves, when launched within proper parameters they will connect! Granted, I've tested Harpoons only against Chinese frigates and destroyers so there might be something out there in DCS world that would be able to stop them and I intend to find out:D

After 4 Harpoon hits the fire dies down and the frigate is still moving. After 5, the fire was considerably bigger and the boat moving slower but still recoverable. Then I went to 8... it took care of the frigate every time.

One thing that I need to be careful about is forgetting to press "Enter" when punching in the numbers on UFC and making sure that either HPTP or FXP is boxed for each missile step.

Now, we're only talking DCS World here:smilewink:

Volley of explosions in my first ship kill. It was in SP and I didn't trust AI with this task so.. after first 4 Harpoons were launched I went RTB (signal Buster!) for a reload:D

https://youtu.be/gaiOURJCkOY

Yeah, that is the cool thing about their range: I drop the Harpoons and turn the jet back to base and put it on autopilot. I then watch the missiles in F6 view all the way to impact. By then, the jet is already overhead home and I can quickly refuel and rearm and do it again and again...:)

Finally got some hits with the Harpoon and definitely noticed the damage model is weak compared to what it probably should be. Only inflicted 40% damage to a tanker. I hit the same type of tanker with a Maverick and did 85 - 90% damage.

I don't expect one Harpoon to destroy a ship, but after testing, I found it was doing similar damage as the AGM-65G, with a 135 kg warhead. And it often happens that they are smaller.

AGM-65G is not detected by the ship's defense. I conducted tests on the Grisha Corvette.

Takes 5 to destroy a Moskva, 4 take it to 95% lol

Takes 5 to destroy a Moskva, 4 take it to 95% lol

I've been trying several A-G weapons with the Hornet form yesterday... very good indeed.

Regarding the AGM-84 Harpoon:

- never tried against the Moskva, seeing how easy a Neutrashimy class ship, can destroy any Harpoon, Harm, or other guided missile;

- I believe even the Grisha class can intercept Harpoons with its somewhat limited anti missile systems if in certain conditions... but when the 4 Harpoons hit, the Grisha will sink;

- other than that, although they are relatively easy to defend against, comparing to other sort of anti-ship ordnance they are relatively easy to employ and accurate.