Hornet toss/loft bomb planning

[AvroLanc]

This is a question for those with some inside knowledge or those with good sources.

 

Both in the real jet and in our DCS jet, the Hornet bomb system doesn’t present any kind of toss or loft pull-up cue for toss attacks. Of course AUTO bomb mode is capable of tossing bombs with good accuracy even inside our sim. In real life how exactly are these attacks conducted?

 

Presumably the pull-up is initiated with pre planned parameters for height above target, airspeed and g on pull. There seems to be no real-time calculation in AUTO, unlike the systems of say the F-16, F-15E or Tornado etc.

 

There must be a planning tool for this IRL, but any rules of thumb? 550kts, 4.5 mile range and 4g pull is fairly standard. But how’s it done for real?

[IvanK]

In the Jet for Lo Drag bombs the release cue appears on the ASL when with a 4.0G pull achieved in 1/2 second you will get a release at or before 45 Degrees Nose up. Currently in the Sim its not quite doing this.

[Talvid]

I learned to use JDAMs for loft bombing with pre-planned coordinates. set the mode to auto-loft, 30 degrees, and get up to around 500kts, and pull-up at 5 nm from the target, I hold the flight path marker at the 30 line, and a bomb-fall line with release cue will appear, as well as the words 'in-zone' on the right side of the HUD. It's a press and hold on the pickle and the bomb releases when that cue line meets the FPM.

[Frederf]

There are ballistic tables to plan attacks but the airplane does have features to aid in unguided loft deliveries. Ivak, does the Hornet have symbology similar to JDAM loft for unguided lofts, e.g. in FD?

 

Re: low alt toss. Important is that real life goals are to minimize altitude gain and time spent above ingress height. Often you see sim pilots pull up into a climb and maintain straight line flight. You don't want to do that. Bomb should come off while G and nose rate are both high. Don't worry about exact 45 degree release. From 35-45 degree range bomb range is practically the same. After release either keep pulling or pull and roll and get the nose down on a new heading and run away. It's all one motion with G on the entire time until is buried low again.

[Swift.]

There are ballistic tables to plan attacks but the airplane does have features to aid in unguided loft deliveries. Ivak, does the Hornet have symbology similar to JDAM loft for unguided lofts, e.g. in FD?

 

Yeah AUTO mode in JDAM provides the same loft cues as AUTO mode with free fall bombs. Don't loft JDAMs though

[AvroLanc]

Yeah AUTO mode in JDAM provides the same loft cues as AUTO mode with free fall bombs. Don't loft JDAMs though

 

Well currently there arn't really any loft cues available for free fall bombs. Sure, you can loft (or toss as it should be termed), but you kind of have to approximate a pull up point since it's not calculated or displayed in our version yet.

 

JDAM loft (maybe toss, two different things), is possible, and will come with a later update. A loft pull up cue will appear on the HSI. Don't try it yet though, I don't think the JDAM autopilot has been tweaked to work with that kind of maneuver yet. At least, my attempts usually fail.

 

(LOFT = pull up and release in climb with 1G. TOSS = pull up and release in climb with G, typically 4-5G)

[Swift.]

Well currently there arn't really any loft cues available for free fall bombs. Sure, you can loft (or toss as it should be termed), but you kind of have to approximate a pull up point since it's not calculated or displayed in our version yet.

 

JDAM loft (maybe toss, two different things), is possible, and will come with a later update. A loft pull up cue will appear on the HSI. Don't try it yet though, I don't think the JDAM autopilot has been tweaked to work with that kind of maneuver yet. At least, my attempts usually fail.

 

(LOFT = pull up and release in climb with 1G. TOSS = pull up and release in climb with G, typically 4-5G)

 

Ivank described the Loft cues for freefall. As I said they already exist in DCS although are likely buggy. The same loft cue (the appearance of the drop cue) appears for JDAMs too. The Loft initiation cue on the HSI should also be present yes, but I doubt you would be using that as it doesnt really have the resolution needed.

[AvroLanc]

Ivank described the Loft cues for freefall. As I said they already exist in DCS although are likely buggy. The same loft cue (the appearance of the drop cue) appears for JDAMs too. The Loft initiation cue on the HSI should also be present yes, but I doubt you would be using that as it doesnt really have the resolution needed.

 

It’s ok, we’re on the same side.

 

Freefall AUTO mode doesn’t feature a loft cue at all really, it’s just the 5 sec drop cue. If you pulled then it would be the shortest loft in history. The proper loft cue (ok, same symbol) should happen about 20 secs earlier.

 

I think the JDAM HSI loft cue is a guide for max loft range. The bombs autopilot and DLZ will take care of the rest. Although, as you know, the procedures in the RL manual don’t recommend it’s use.