Can someone help me understand the AG weapons better?

[testudine2002]

Hello,

 

I enjoy flying around in this sim a lot. One of my many problems is that I've never been in the military, so I don't understand what a lot of the weapons do. I've spent some time researching them on the internet, but the info I got was not that practical for the game.

 

Can anyone just give me a quick simple breakdown of what air to ground weapon is to used on what? Like the different uses of the Mk-82 vs 83. Zuni vs lau. What actually dies when I shoot it with my cannon?

 

I'm getting a lot of direct hits, but not many kills. I'm wondering if it I because I'm using the wrong tools for the job. Like I said, I'm just a regular nerd, and I've never been to war. This game is so real! Help.

[=4c=Nikola]

Well you do not have many options:

 

Zuni in DCS has only one warhead option. It's not specified, but by weight it seems like HE frag effective against soft targets only.

 

Hydra (2.75' rocket) have M151 warhead which is in theory capable to penetrate some armor and fragmentize at the same time, so it's kinda dual purpose, but I'm not sure how well it works in DCS.

 

Another warhead option for hydra is MK5, effective against soft targets.

 

Mk-8x bombs are just general purpose free fall bombs of different size. You can use them with high drag kits like snakeye or chute to slow them down enough to escape blast radius when deploying them from low altitude, or you can use them with precision guidance kit like JDAM or paweway II.

 

Unfortunately, lack of fusing selection makes these weapons really straight forward, drop it as close to target as you can and hope for the best. Keep in mind that close miss will not always destroy a vehicle but it can render it inoperative.

[dawgie79]

First of all, I'm like you. Never served or have any experience with any type of weapon except kitchen knives. ;)

 

That said, if somebody can help you better than I can, by all means.

 

Mk-82/83/84: Freefall bombs used for all sorts of things. Think small buildings/compounds, vehicles, parked aircraft, other (small) infrastructure such as bridges. There are variants which have fins or a small dragchute deployed when you drop them, this is called retarded, used when there's a lot of anti-air around or when for some other reason you need to ingress at low altitudes. Whereas 82 is a 500lbs explosive, 83 1000, 84 2000.

 

Zuni/2.75"/5": small rockets used on vehicles. Lau is the rack they're on if I'm not mistaken.

 

CBU-99/Mk-20 Cluster bombs. Bomb that bursts open at a given altitude (which you can set), it then releases quite a few smaller bomblets which have small dragchutes, so they can cover a big surface, depending on the burst-altitude you've set. Not as precise though. Used for small, non-armored (I think) vehicles or runway's.

 

GBU-31/32/38 JDAM: Same as Mk-82/83/84 but equipped with GPS/INS. Fire and forget, can be designated through TGP or GPS coordinates.

 

GBU-10/12/16 LGB: Same as Mk-82/83/84 but equipped with laserguidance. Can be designated through TGP with lasing, or a JTAC/FAC.

 

AGM-65E/F Maverick: Air to ground guided missile for relatively small targets such as (moving) armored vehicles or small ships. Don't know for sure if you can use them on infrastructure though. The E-variant is laserguided and can be used with TGP with lasing, or a JTAC/FAC. F-variant has an infrared seeker.

 

AGM-88C HARM: Missile used to take out radarinstallations, so for SEAD/DEAD operations.

 

AGM-154A/C JSOW: Long-range GPS/INS guided standoff weapon. Fire from a long distance to a predesignated point (or a given point if you have the GPS-coordinates) and forget. Used against heavily defended targets.

 

AGM-84D Harpoon: Air-to-ship missile used to take out ships.

 

Walleye: Man-in-the-middle weapon. Sort of the father of the AGM-65 Mavericks I guess. Old very heavy bomb with a tv-camera which can be guided to it's target mid-flight, hence the "man-in-the-middle".

 

AGM-84E SLAM: Don't know for sure, I think it's a man-in-the-middle (through infrared) cruise missile used for static high-profile targets. Standoff Land Attack Missile, GPS guided.

 

AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER: Same as SLAM except it can also attack ships. Mid to long range, GPS guided.

 

Hope this helps. :)

Edited May 20, 2020 by dawgie79

[Harker]

You should start by reading the manual, located in DCS/Mods/aircraft/FA-18C/Doc/. Apart from that, a general rule of thumb is:

20mm cannon is OK for soft targets.

Mk-82/3/4 can take out an armored target with a direct hit, but they're better used against medium armored and/or soft targets.

The rockets are best used for soft targets clustered together, firing multiples during attack runs. The Zuni ones are heavier.

The AGM-65 is suited for heavily armored targets.

GBU-12/16/10 are laser guided variants of the Mk-82/83/84 respectively and can be used in the same way, with the added bonus of making direct hits easily achievable. You'll usually release those with AUTO and while flying straight and level.

GBU-38/31 is the same as the above, but INS/GPS guided. There is also a variant of the 31 suited for more hardened targets.

The AGM-154 JSOW is a INS/GPS guided glide bomb. The A variant is a cluster bomb used for soft, high value targets, such as a SAM radar. The C variant has a BROACH penetrator warhead and is used for bunkers, hardened hangars etc.

The AGM-88C HARM is your anti-radiation missile, used against enemy SAM radars. Note that it can just as easily home in on friendly radars, so confirm your target before firing.

The AGM-84D Harpoon is your anti-ship cruise missile.

The upcoming AGM-84E SLAM (and later H/K SLAM-ER) is a cruise missile with a Man-in-the-loop (MITL) guidance part at the end, facilitated through a datakink pod.

The AGM-62 Walleye is an unpowered bomb that also uses MITL guidance, but it's an old weapon, not in service any more. Occasionally fun to play with though.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Harker
Forgot the rockets. Also got sniped to death.

[Snacko]

Check this Kneeboard out. You can put it in the game and show it on your kneeboard.

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3305957/?sphrase_id=1194546

[QuiGon]

Some of the basic Hornet weapons are:

 

Iron Bombs (Mk-8x)

Basic dumb iron bombs that fall balistically. Avalable in different sizes starting with the Mk-82 (500 lbs) over the Navy/USMC-only Mk-83 (1000 lbs) up to the big Mk-84 (2000 lbs). They can be fitted with air brakes (Mk-8x Snakeye) or ballutes (Mk-8xY) for low level employment, so that the deploying aircraft has more time to get out of the blast area.

 

Laser Guided Bombs (GBU-12, GBU-16, GBU-10)

These laser guided bombs (LGBs) take the dumb iron bombs of the Mk-8x series and fit them with a laser sensor and steering fins, so they can home in on a laser signal. The GBU-12 is based on the Mk-82, the GBU-16 on the Mk-83 and the GBU-10 on the Mk-84.

 

Joint Direct Attack Munition (GBU-38, GBU-32, GBU-31)

JDAMs are also based on the Mk-8x bombs*, fitted with a INS/GPS navigation kit and steering fins to enable them to be dropped onto a given set of coordinates. The GBU-38 is based on the Mk-82, the GBU-32 on the Mk-83 and the GBU-31 on the Mk-84.

 

Cluster Bombs (Mk-20, CBU-XX)

Dumb bombs (or rather canisters), that are filled with A LOT of smaller bomblets, designed to make swiss cheese out of soft targets and disable armored targets by destroying their sensors. They're not very effective in DCS though (apart from the CBU-97), because DCS lacks proper fragmentation damage modeling.

 

Anti Tank Guided Missile (AGM-65 Maverick)

The AGM-65 is an ATGM, that was developed to take out tanks and smaller hardened structures. It is guided by a fire & forget TV or IR seeker with the exception of the AGM-65E which is not fire & forget, as it is guided by a laser seeker.

 

Anti Ship Missile (AGM-84 Harpoon)

A radar seeking missile to attack ships.

 

 

Anti Radiation Missile (AGM-88 HARM)

A radiation seeking missile, that homes in on radar sources, designed to supress or even destroy enemy SAM sites.

 

Glide Bombs (AGM-62 Walleye, AGM-154 JSOW)

Bombs that are designed to glide over longer distances to strike from outside enemy engagement zones. The AGM-62 is a pretty old TV guided glide bomb from the Vietnam era, while the AGM-154 is a modern INS/GPS-guided glide bomb, equipped with a cluster munition dispenser (154A) or a high explosive warhead (154C).

 

 

I hope this helps a bit as a simple overview :)

 

* Some JDAM variants are based on the BLU series instead of the Mk-8x, but I wanna keep it simple here.

 

Edit: Guess I took to long to write this :music_whistling:

[Thump]

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Edited May 20, 2020 by Thump
Others Responded

[testudine2002]

Thanks so much! This is so helpful. I wish ED would sticky your responses somewhere. As a new player, it seemed like there were dozens of different weapons. It's much less than that...mostly variants of the 82, 3, and 4. The way you guys categorized them helped me. I'll also check out the manual for more info.

 

I think I'm still a little unclear about rockets though. Hydra, Zuni, Lau? I think someone said that the lau was the launcher? I don't really understand the relevance of that. Are these different warheads? Different rockets? Sorry.

[=4c=Nikola]

Hydra and Zuni are rockets. Each rocket consist of motor, fuzing device and warhead. There are multiple generations and variants for each of these components, as these weapons evolved.

 

Zuni is larger rocket with 5in diameter. Hydra is smaller rocket with 2.75in diameter.

 

Now you need a launcher. That's a construction you attach to an aircraft that has holes inside to insert rockets and fire them. Multiple launchers are available with different sizes/number of rocket spaces. Some launchers support single rocket fire while others support both single and salvo fire.

[QuiGon]

I think I'm still a little unclear about rockets though. Hydra, Zuni, Lau? I think someone said that the lau was the launcher? I don't really understand the relevance of that. Are these different warheads? Different rockets? Sorry.

Zunis are bigger older rockets, while Hydras are smaller modern rockets. The LAUs are indeed the launchers (the rocket pods) and depending on the LAU variant it can carry more or less rockets.

[testudine2002]

Thanks Nikola,

 

Let me make sure I'm reading you correctly...

 

We have a small rocket for lighter targets (Hydra), and a larger one for heavier targets (Zuni). Then we have a bunch of different launchers like the Lau. But the only difference the launchers make is how many rockets they hold? I hope it's that simple. Thanks again.

 

Practically speaking, do you mess with the fusing, or usually leave it as is?

[=4c=Nikola]

Yes. Just keep in mind you cannot insert large rocket in launcher with small holes and vice versa.

 

Zuni has a bigger warheads but it's older technology so I'm not sure how they compare. They are designed to be launched in salvo so you will almost never have just one rocket hit a target area.

[testudine2002]

Which rockets are more powerful when compared one to on? The larger older ones (Zuni), or the newer smaller ones (hydra)? My guess would be the bigger, the better, right?

[QuiGon]

Which rockets are more powerful when compared one to on? The larger older ones (Zuni), or the newer smaller ones (hydra)? My guess would be the bigger, the better, right?

That's right, although they are not in service anymore and hence might not be available in more modern DCS missions.

[CBStu]

Re; the launchers. When you go to the re-arm page each position on the wing will list in a drop down what is available for that position. For instance a mid-wing spot can hold either one 120c or a pair of 120c's, your choice. But the positions on the side of the fuselage can only hold one 120c each. So no need to know anything about the launchers, just choose your weapon from the list, and it will mount the weapon and appropriate launchers.

[Bunny Clark]

Which rockets are more powerful when compared one to on? The larger older ones (Zuni), or the newer smaller ones (hydra)? My guess would be the bigger, the better, right?

In this case age has nothing to do with effectiveness. Rockets are the second-simplest air to ground weapon in existence, they're basically dumb bombs with a rocket motor, there haven't been appreciable improvements in unguided rocket technology in the last 50 years at least.

 

The choice here is a pretty simple one: bigger rockets make a bigger explosion, but you carry less of them, smaller rockets go boom smaller but you carry more. It's no more complicated than that.