Su-25 - Best unguided anti-tank weapon? For Abrams tank

[panzerd18]

I have set up a few missions were I have tried to destroy a long line of Abrams tanks with unguided rockets and bombs.

 

My results were most disappointing.

 

Giving myself one pass the most I was able to do is destroy 2 Abrams.

 

What would be the best tactic and weapon to destroy a convoy of heavy tanks on a road with the Su-25 using unguided weapons for one pass only?

[59th_LeFty]

s-25 / S13

[flashben]

MBD-2-67U Bombrack carrying 4 FAB-100 bombs can do some nice damage OR S-13 rockets.

[panzerd18]

I actually equipped with 8 FAB-500 and released all down the entire column. Delay set at 0.4. I found they could land very close and it still wasn't enough to destroy the Abrams. Other than a direct hit, I don't think FAB-500 is a good enough idea.

[WinterH]

S-24, S-25, S-13 and to a degree a full load of FAB-500 are all great. But... Abrams are pretty tough and 2 kills a pass sound kind of normal to me.

 

You can try a full load of KMGU too, may be it can do good if you are accurate with the release.

[Case]

My choice would also be S-25 or FAB-500. Success is determined by how close you can get your weapon to the target, but if you can these are better than S-13.

[panzerd18]

What is the correct anti-tank cluster bomb to use?

 

There are a few options with different bomblet sizes.

[vicx]

There was a guy who carried out some pretty cool tests and posted a youtube video.

 

His testing showed a full loadout of FAB-100 did the most consistent amount of damage.

[panzerd18]

I can confirm, eight pylons loaded with 32 FAB-100, attack run made at 2000m diving in with ripple of 0.3 seconds. Managed to knock out 3-4 tanks on average and sometimes 5 without taking any return fire.

Edited February 11, 2015 by panzerd18

[number3]

Using unguided rockets on main battle tanks is extremely tough when you want to kill a column of more than 2 - 3 at a time.

 

Accurate delivery of unguided rockets requires both high altitude and a steep dive angle; using these parameters to take out a long convoy of MBTs can be a difficult task.

 

The more shallow the angle the less the accuracy, as your rockets will only land around the calculated point of impact. I'm not certain of how the splash damaged is calculated in DCS, but I've found that you can't rely on it too much.

[DarkFire]

Purely by observation I've found cluster bombs of all types, and the KGMU sub-munition dispensers, to be utterly ineffective against even older (T-55) MBTs.

 

The Vikhr is effective, though things like the T-90 and Abrams usually take 3 hits to achieve a kill from the frontal quarter.

 

A single hit from a Kh-29, with its enormous warhead, is enough to kill anything smaller than a bunker.

 

The Kh-25Ml gives very useful stand-off range and decent damage but you can only carry 4 along with a set of fuel tanks.

 

My favourite approach is to use the Vikhr from a rear or side aspect.

[esb77]

For closely spaced tanks the cluster bombs or dispensers are the best bet.

 

For more widely spaced tanks FAB-100s on ripple release or manual release depending on how wide the spacing is.

 

 

For the cluster munitions you need to hit with multiple submunitions. To do that you need to be extremely accurate, and you need the footprint of at least two of the bombs or dispensers to be over a target you wish to kill.

 

 

For the normal bombs you need to get a direct hit on each tank you kill, the same is true for the large unguided rockets.

 

 

Sometimes you can use bombs or rockets on one end of a convoy and pick up another one or two kills at the other end by switching to guns.

 

 

Accuracy is the primary factor in success though. If you're getting direct hits on the rear and top of the target you can get kills with pretty much anything except S-5 rockets.

 

Misses, even near misses, tend to do only minor non-lethal damage to tanks, even if you use very heavy rockets or bombs.

 

Ultimately, the best unguided weapon is the one that you are best at aiming.

 

I recommend lots and lots of practice with the unguided munitions. Practice is what can make them deadly.