1. travel
2. transports
3. air travel
4. helicopters

562nd Tactical School
DCS JFO/JTAC-Pilot Guide
DCS JFO/JTAC-Pilot Guide
Before we begin, I’ll introduce myself, I’m Eric Johnson, and I spent a good 11 months in
Afghanistan and one of the SMEs for the DCS: A-10C manual. Unlike the other SMEs I was not
Air Force, I was a US Army JFO that had some good practical experience downrange. I have zero
fratricide incidents and zero civilians to my record, in the real world so far. Granted most of the
JTAC skills I put towards Arma 3 as of late, I decided that a lot of people just simply don’t know
how to transfer a lot of material from manuals to practical use on the battlefield. Which is not to say
the manuals are wrong, but a lot of people I’ve seen post on the forums tend to stick to the manual
as opposed to knowing that some things are just techniques, and not an absolute rule to always use.
Before we begin
Having been part of the series in various capacities over the years it should be recommended
that it takes a lot of time and practice to become proficient in the aircraft described. I like to try and
keep it generic in some parts but in some cases I will get into specifics about particular aircraft I like
to fly. As a rule of thumb however, the FC3 aircraft in the larger part of the game more generic in
operation. Which is to say they’re not complex in their own right, but overall the Russian aircraft,
i.e. the Su-27, Su-33, Su-25, Su-25T, Mig-29A/S are steadily becoming more separate down the road
an also more enhanced as time goes on. This in a large part is a real good idea and allows more
fidelity in as mentioned a more generic tone with Flaming Cliffs 3. Sometimes what I’ve discussed
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in some topics is stuff I’ve done for years while other things are what I learn through learning new
aircraft and working out ways to help you out with your own flying techniques.
One thing I’ve noticed in the years is a lot of people have a lot of views, and also that
includes mapping buttons for your stick or remapping default keyboard mapping. Which is fine as
again developers regardless of the software have a basic setup to what they feel is a good
combination or efficient use of the keyboard and on the stick. If you bought a Thrustmaster
Warthog stick and want to fly other aircraft it’s a good thing to take the time, go fly and figure out
what you want to do with your stick. Me? I’ve flown the Su-33 enough to last me probably a
lifetime. Granted when I came back to DCS I had to re-learn how to land it but overall once I got
that done I well.. have to fly something else, as fun as the aircraft is, it’s only limited to my desire to
have precision guided munitions, which in my opinion was bad that it was removed (realistically
though it had to happen) and the Russian Navy didn’t fund it anyway, so in both ways I was screwed
as far as what I liked about Flanker 2.0. Anyway the point is that now I fly the Su-33, A-10A, A10C, and picking up the Su-25T as I’m a mud mover by heart and can hold my own against enemy
fighters if needed (though I’d be lacking in the last three aircraft) so I have a problem: Four different
aircraft with four different sets of controls or abilities. Yes here comes the confusion.
However to offset that I do “common mapping” for basic needs so I can figure out what I
need to do in order to fly and fight the aircraft as needed. So I go in the Options and find the
respective aircraft pages and map the same buttons to do the same things. For the Flaming Cliffs
jets it’s fairly easy as they don’t require button pressing or clicking to get working so most of the
basic functions are similarly mapped. I have a TM Hotas X so I’m always limited with the A-10C
but basic functions I map that I need for reflexive shooting as well as for any precision work. Also I
use my own sensor and gunnery techniques to complement the clicking and joystick work and my
tactics reflect that and after a couple months or so I’ve gotten fairly competent again to get
something like this working and out the door for you to read.
JFO/JTAC Section
Establishing Friendly Position
The first thing you should do when getting set in is relay your position to the pilot so he/she
knows where you are at. This is simple as all you are doing is a talk-on and the pilot inputs the
location into the CDU and marks it accordingly (For A-10C pilots only). For the rest of the aircraft
you’re going to have to do it “old school”, which depending on the skill level of the A-10C pilot, still
needs to be done anyway. For the most part it’s fairly simple, the JTAC talks to the pilot where he’s
at. For the example above I can say:
“HAWG 20 this is Rock9N, my location is grid GG 2937 6274, just Southeast of Poti.”
And if the pilot searches for me and still can’t get a visual, go into the Binos (Binoculars but
habit returns so if I say “Binos” from now on, it means Binoculars) and orient to the side of my
vehicle, and press 3 for green smoke, let it build, and the pilot when he/she flies low enough, will
see something generally like this:
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Pretty easy right? Once the pilot memorizes the location by memory (he or she can look at
the same terrain from any angle and know where I am at all times, unless I change position, in which
I talk to the pilot and go from there). At night it’s a different issue as naturally the pilot can’t see
your positon if you drop some smoke on the ground, so use the same procedure, except this time
turn on your IR laser (R as default) and point it to the sky. This technique is called “Roping” and
when used, helps the pilot find your position relative to him or her. Note this assumes that the F10
view is disabled. If not then the pilot an also use this view to see the friendly position as well.
Big to Small
The first thing when working as a JFO/JTAC is using the “Big to Small” technique. First
off use the largest visible terrain feature that you can see, and imagine from the air:
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As you can see from a mission I got from the ED Forums (and subsequently modified by
me now that I realize it) this shows the JFO/JTAC’s location (Blue) and the ATMZ-5 group of
trucks (once we zoom in you’ll see they’re spread out) to the general East of the JTAC’s location. At
this point referencing the map in the Editor it’s fairly easy to get a good idea of the area where the
target vehicles are at. Starting Big we have that lake in-between the vehicles and your location (again
the Blue icons) just on the southeast corner of Poti. Once I maneuver my M1043 HMMWV into a
good position I use my binoculars and scan and see this vehicle:
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Given that the .50 caliber machinegun cannot reach across the lake and my orders are to
maintain my position, calling CAS is the best option (even though they’re harmless fuel trucks), so
once I scan around to my right I do see some trees to the “right” of my target vehicle, and a quick
use of the F10 confirms the vehicle relative to my own is the one I’m looking at (the one NE of the
mushroom shaped treeline going approximately N to South, bearing 105 degrees from my position
with the vehicle itself at a bearing of 96 degrees at a distance (using the laser) of roughly 3857m, at
an elevation of roughly 10 feet. Bear in mind distance estimation is harder by eyesight on flat terrain
as opposed to rough terrain, and if in doubt use the laser (L by default) to get the exact range. Okay
here we go with the generated CAS 9-Line:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
N/A
N/A
N/A
5 feet
ATMZ-5 (or “truck” if you can’t discern the actual type)
GG 27180 64985
Laser 1688 (default code, and if you’re designating for the A-10A/C only)
West 3857m
Pilot’s Discretion
In various other situations however you may need to be more specific, remember keep it
common sense but also brief. If there are multiple vehicles in the area and you need to separate that
vehicle from the rest again specify the type of building, general orientation, etc. But remember the
pilot can’t see the scale of what you are seeing on the ground to pick everything else out. If you’ve
flown mostly in DCS you know what I’ll be talking about and down the road given any feedback I
will also include pilots in the document.
Another thing is that it’s not your position to tell the pilot how to do his or her job but to
direct the pilot onto the target better.
Run-in Headings
Not to be confused with Final Attack Headings (though in a way similar), run-in headings
are less specific, as opposed to final attack headings which require you to fly a specific heading.
Using the image above we have several options here:
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A lot of arrows right? Breaking the angles down you can have the pilot do his/her attacks
from South to North, North to South, SW to NE, and NW to SE (the green arrows). You definitely
don’t want your pilot coming in from behind you and don’t want him or her pointing at you in any
way. While you can debate the finer application of direction on this map the point is that Run-in
Headings are very general, and not again degree specific. As mentioned before it’s a technique, not a
rule of thumb you always have to use, but also field expedient as you’re telling the pilot that’ the best
way based on your situational awareness and ability. Plus it saves you energy where spending time
finding the ultimate degree to have them come in on may be a waste of time. This way you can
deliver ordnance on target without getting yourself killed.
Mountain Warfare
To be quite honest most of my run-in heading practice came from working the Kunar
Province. On the eastern part of Afghanistan the Hindu Kush extends naturally into Pakistan and
so on. So when you’re in the mountains you have some issues, as the terrain deeply restricts your
observation and your attack geometries. Using this example:
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In this example things get a little interesting, as the JFO/JTAC position is a little higher than
the target convoys. After flying this example I found out that most of the angles you can work
without hitting your position (The blue icons of course). The west to east run seems a bit unsafe
but that can be solved via offsetting slightly, or coming in from the south to north. Again you want
to keep your run in headings specific to the target location rather than absolutes, so a West to East
will be good for the northern convoy and maybe not always good for the group southwest of it
(even though you can pull it off if you come in from the SW slightly). North to South in all cases is
not good for anybody (including the enemy) due to the simple fact that the terrain simply prohibits
any kind of engagement regardless of height and angle. The East to West will work great with the
northern convoy of trucks, as well as West to East but not for the other group southwest of that
convoy, while the offset SE to NW (as long as you keep your run in that valley and depending on
which vehicle) can work for the convoy to the general northwest of your position but isn’t from the
pilot’s perspective a good angle to get all of them, where South to North works very well as long as
the convoy is stationary. The NW to SE arrow is simply not good at all, and just detest that angle as
it’s not safe at all, regardless if you are on a higher position. The other red arrow again is just poor
geometry given the terrain, so the best thing if you’re not a pilot and simply want to drive around is
to think and help the pilot out as much as possible. Plus you ensure that you keep weapon effects
from killing you as well. Over time the more you do this however, the easier it gets anywhere,
especially on flat land.
Offset
Another issue with the above is Offset, which if you reference JP 3-09.30, Close Air
Support, mentions Offset. In this case it’s a means to deliver ordnance safely without killing your
friendlies. The example of above can be referenced and used as an Offset example. So here’s the
situation, I’m rolling with my Infantry Squad in my M1126 Stryker, EPLRS on. As I scan the road
ahead I notice an Insurgent T-55. Naturally the T-55 is not considered a threat vehicle, but against
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my .50 cal machinegun, it is. So I back down the road and find some cover. Before I backed behind
the hill I noted the target’s position, GG 4796 1291, at an altitude of 1019 ft:
Once I get a hold of HAWG I go ahead and give the pilot all the necessary information. If
you look at the image above my target is about northeastish of me along the road. I can call in a
North to South only (there is no other practical way, maybe East to West, maybe) So you say “Well
EricJ you just said it may not be safe and therefore you’re wrong.” Correct, your argument is valid.
However, I can still pull it off with a North to South only, Offset East.” Which in some cases may
not be necessary but it’s a nice component for mountain warfare, where it will be needed and
therefore provide the effects desired, which is killing the T-55 some Insurgents managed to scrape
up. It should be noted that this applies to deconfliction but in most cases it’s a proper term yes, but
overall in practice Offsetting is a different animal when deconfliction for artillery and mortars.
The main rule of thumb for Offset is mainly keeping the Offset perpendicular to your own
direction of engagement, or what can be called an “O-T” line, which is an imaginary direct line from
you to the target. Now naturally it can change given relative position but overall even if you want to
give a Final Attack Heading then that will work too, but generally Offset is more of a field expedient
method as opposed to something more exact. As long as you get the bomb on the target and
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engage the enemy that’s what counts and don’t get your friendlies killed. Additionally this should
mainly be used in tight confining valleys as opposed to open areas due to the limited accessibility to
most airstrikes.
Deconfliction
This is going to be a little less complex than real-world deconfliction. Generally because
modelling aspects of real life (maps and so on, especially 1km grid squares, etc.). Anyway
Deconfliction does not necessarily mean aircraft (though it involves it.). First off here’s the
situation, my M1A2 Abrams platoon is going to do a movement to contact on Dgvaba (center of
mass grid GG 2526 9169). Intel reports at least a semi-working T-55 and maybe some dismounted
infantry. The town is declared hostile and no report of civilian presence. So for clearance and
scenario’s sake the town could be empty or occupied solely by hostile infantry. Either way the use
of artillery is authorized, and why not shell it before running in right? So I send up my fire mission
and get CAS on station. I’m lobbing HE into the town, blowing up buildings, etc. but I want CAS
in on the fun too (and what better CAS than A-10s right?) so first I have to deconflict to ensure
that my Hogs don’t get shot down by friendly artillery (Big Bullet, Little Sky) So I estimate the GunTarget-Line (imaginary line drawn from the turret of the artillery piece to the target area) is
approximately 36 degrees, as my artillery is firing from Kulevi. So since I can’t use a real map in the
simulation I’ll deconflict. Since that’s the only problem area so far I can use the airspace North of
Dgvaba to keep my Hogs, as well as to the South East, or East of the village, safe from artillery fire.
Since the area will be under bombardment you can also brief the Hogs as well that you’re firing
artillery there. In the real world it can get more convoluted but overall again since I’m describing for
the simulation I just don’t need to go into that sort of information.
Managing Air Assets
During one TIC during my tour in Afghanistan we had upwards of a flight of Kiowas,
Apaches, and I think some F-15Es. So guess what? A lot of air assets and twelve people, and then
you had my JFO also involved, and everybody naturally wanted a piece of the pie (and believe me
they did). Best thing to do in this situation is for the JFO/JTAC to declare the first arrived flight
(regardless of type) as the “Air Mission Commander” if more oncoming flights come in. That way
you’re talking to only one element in the flight and not the various personalities involved. Again
remember the first flight you’re dealing with, and not specific to rank or airframe. It’s a simple
common sense thing as while particularly gaming units sometimes like to strut their rank around, it’s
not going to do you any good and therefore you should keep that in mind when doing multiplayer
events if doing multiple CAS flights. I only mention this for you unit leaders if you designate your
“subordinate” as AMC. Again it’s just the simple fact that he or she has been there longer than you
and knows the situation better.
Creating a Laser Cone (JP 3-09.3 Close Air Support)
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For laser guided bomb drops the Laser Cone is a good way to ensure you get a laser guided
bomb onto the target safely and without it hitting you. In this case we’ll take a moment and create
the Laser Cone. While you’re waiting for the aircraft take a sheet of paper and draw what is basically
above. But for example’s sake we’ll assume you’re looking directly north and trying to take out an
HVT or similar target and he’s directly north of you. So what you do is you can draw a cone or as
you see here, a simple triangle, with the direction you’re facing on the top (0 or 360 degrees) with
the reverse angle at the bottom (180 degrees), subtract 10 degrees and that would equal 170 degrees,
this is the right side of your red triangle. Add ten degrees and you’ll end up with 190 degrees.
That’s your left side of the “no go” triangle, or the arcs that the bomb has a 50% chance of hitting
you instead of the target as the bomb simply doesn’t have the brains to know where it is emanating
from as it’s gliding towards the earth. From those add and subtract 50 degrees to get your extreme
left and right limits. Then cut it in half and subtract 25 degrees on both sides, which gives you 215
and 145 degrees. These two arcs represent the optimum angles for your Final Attack Heading.
Remember that sometimes pilots aren’t always exact (combat situations, flight, etc.) but remember as
long as the pilot declares he’s coming in from the directions that fall in the green portions it’s okay.
The pilot can be coming in at 171 degrees or even 191 degrees but it’ll still be safe.
Correcting the Pilot after an attack
Even after nearly 20 years of virtual flying, I still miss, and so will the pilot. That’s fine as
vehicles move, and they disperse, given the simulation logic. The best thing to remember is to use
cardinal directions as opposed to the “right”, “left”, and so on, use 100m South, North, whatever
works. If you have your own set of ways of doing things then this section isn’t necessary, but what
matters is that when you give corrections your pilot knows how to do so, and that information is
vital if the bombs miss, especially iron bombs (Mk82, Mk84, FAB-series, etc.). Other means to help
the pilot is to use simple destroyed vehicles as an easy reference, like “From your last destroyed
target go east two hundred meters and another truck is there.” And so on:
Weaponeering
Weaponeering is the art of using the appropriate weapon for the job, and not getting too
excessive. While a Mk84 makes a big boom, the thing is that you don’t always need to use it when a
500lb bomb can do the job just as effectively. Guided missiles like the Maverick and the Kh29TE/L are great for moving targets, while the warhead of the Kedge is well… a bit powerful for a
tank but if it guides then it works right? JDAMs are great for stationary targets of all types, and
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don’t work well for moving targets (as it needs a fixed coordinate and the simulation doesn’t model
the dual-mode GBU-54 as of yet). GBU-12s can be used against slow moving targets and stationary
targets but require a laser designator, if your vehicle is not setup with the JTAC addition then it
becomes useless. Gun use is really based on the skill of the pilot but like shooting a rifle, the more
stationary the target is, the better it is to hit it.
Not using a mark to talk a pilot on
Needless to say a laser or IR pointer is a great and easy way to get a pilot on target.
However sometimes things may not always work in your favor such as you’re running from an
enemy vehicle, or maybe your presence may actually set off the AI or for Player versus Player, your
position. Destroyed vehicles by you (if you have the capability) always work, such as this:
As you can see there is a destroyed vehicle just to the upper left of the trailing edge of my
left tailfin (what the pilot sees), so when he/she comes around again they will see that and you can
simply use that as a target reference, such as the general location of the enemy, or use that as an
adjusting point. There are myriad examples to do such a thing but overall if the pilot can see it in
the air it’ll help for target prosecution and engagement. While using Big to Small may not always be
necessary it doesn’t hurt sometime, but the more the pilot can see and work with, the better you will
be off. The use of smoke in some situations works, though you and the pilot (if part of a virtual
unit) will have to work out which color is friendly (usually green when part of a non-DCS virtual
unit) and for example, Orange or Red smoke may be used for such things, but again that’s
something your unit has to decide on for play.
DMPI/Sort
DMPI stands for Desired Mean Point of Impact. In other words its highfalutin speak for
where do you want the bomb dropped? In most cases you’ll hear or see BOT and BOC associated
with this as well. BOT is simply Bomb On Target, which at that grid a T-80 may be your target, and
when the pilot confirms the target, BOT is that, as that’s your target. BOC is Bomb On Coordinate.
You may need to use BOC on infantry depending on the location or a specific effect is required at
that specific coordinate, such as the frag effects of a JDAM/Mk82/FAB-series (for general
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examples) is needed more than anything else, etc. Also associated with this is “Sort” which tells the
pilot what you want attacked first if attacking an area with multiple target types. Usually high threat
vehicles such as AAA/SAM vehicles need to be high on any pilot’s priority list and naturally should
be attacked first. So saying Sort “Tanks and then Trucks” tells the pilot to look for and engage
tanks before any cargo trucks, as needless to say a T-80 in your immediate vicinity is definitely more
important than a cargo truck carrying supplies, etc.
Urban Warfare
Since DCS World is not like Arma 3, where you can “physically” get down on the ground,
the most you’ll get with this is simply with the Ground Units and the overall abstractness of the
simulation. However there are some natural considerations when dealing with close air support in
the urban battlefield. The first of course is the type of area you are in. Cities are more difficult as
you have the larger buildings creating what is called an “Urban Canyon”. This manmade
phenomenon will restrict your bomb drops considerably as the intent is the bomb to hit the target,
not hit the building (mission parameters may not allow this, or in some way penalize the action). So
for example I’m driving along clearing Senkaki when an enemy tank is by a building, say a T-80 for
example’s sake. So I move forward (no T-80 is present for this screenshot but example-wise it is
“there”) and see this:
Because its cropped out I’m looking directly at 330 degrees, so I scuttle back because my
TOWs give or take aren’t always that effective on T-80s. So what I’ll have to do of course is call in
some CAS and take that tank out so I can move on clearing the city (which in the simulation’s sense
is fairly easy since you don’t have to clear each building, which is an operation in itself) of other
threats. The problem now of course is what’s the best way? Well if F10 is available open that up
and decide that a North to South, or South to North would have to do the trick:
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Now that we figured everything out and passed up the 9-Line most of this is going to take
some work. Talking on a pilot is going to be a real pain in the butt due to all of the buildings. The
Stryker series of vehicles have the EPLRS function so mission designers you may want to enable it
for your friendly vehicles. While in the sense to some it may be “cheating” but the tech is available,
so use it! In this case we can say that the target is roughly 100, maybe 150 meters away, on the
southeast corner of the tall building to my northwest in that distance (100-150m) and therefore the
pilot will have to slew his TGP on the target (if either Su-25T or A-10C). In most cases for
Weaponeering it is possible to drop JDAM, and LGBs in an urban environment and the smaller
versions (GBU-38/GBU-12/KAB-500) are highly recommended as they do the job and don’t level
the rest of the countryside in the process and realistically shouldn’t cause any more damage than is
needed. Iron unguided bombs can work if precisely put on the target, not so much a Stalingrad or
Chechnya theory, unless the city is declared a “Free Fire Zone” by the mission designer. I.e. as
Confucius says “Don’t use a cannon to kill a mosquito”, the same applies for urban CAS.
Depending on the angle Mavericks can be used but that requires close coordination (smoke on the
target to cue A-10A or even in some cases C aircraft) due to the aiming techniques needed for each
aircraft. And remember Danger Close.
`Other considerations when using the A-10C/Su-25T for your CAS missions is thermal
bloom in the city. Believe it or not the TGP can’t see everything and for those virtual pilots with the
Litening III have to realize that the city has so many varying tones that your pilot may take a bit
longer depending on skill. Even then after a long time virtually flying my first urban combat training
mission it took a long time to find just one target. Even then prosecuting those additional targets I
had setup took twice to three times as long due to thermal bloom in the screen and zoom levels in
the virtual cockpit. If your pilots are having issues then they need to switch between
BHOT/WHOT/CCD in order for target recognition in an urban environment. It’s harder but not
impossible to do urban combat, it just needs some time and training and practice for proficiency.
While this can really go in the pilot’s section it’s good to know what the pilots are seeing on their
screens as well for your reference and awareness. It’s not like they’re faking the funk or stupid,
reality just has a way of impinging on your ability to get effective CAS.
Composite view of a target in a semi-urban area:
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Remember this is what an A-10C pilot will see when looking for targets, so if he or she is
having issues, again remind them (and pilots if you’re reading this as well) to switch their settings to
see the target better. Since DCS doesn’t model the ROVER system you’re stuck with talking to the
pilot on what’s going on and confirming the target.
Another way of expediting CAS in urban environments is what is called a “Grid Reference
Guide” or quite simply a “map” using the simulation rendering to produce what is basically this:
While in a sense it’s for mission designers for a mission for a weekend it’s also pretty damn
effective when used properly and clearly illustrated. So instead of always saying “I have friendly
elements on the southwest corner of Sagvamichavo” I can say “HAWG 20 this is Rock9N, we’re
currently vicinity Romeo 1 (R1 on the image above), clearing the building at this time, negative
contact.” However while it can be used for friendly awareness it can also be used of course for
target location. So given the transmission I sent to HAWG20 already I can confirm location of R1
while anything around G1 is considered hostile. Again for you the JFO/JTAC its pure situational
awareness and you should have a basic understanding of where your friendly elements. And this
goes with any briefing documents that need to get passed out to the units on the ground and of
course make sure your pilots know… As it makes no sense in saying you have hostile vehicles
vicinity G1 and your pilot doesn’t know where it is then it makes no sense for that pilot to support
you. Granted you don’t have responsibility over the pilots in your virtual unit it’s a matter of making
sure everybody has the information. And if for some reason you don’t know, ask!
Playtime
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“Playtime” is the amount of time on-station that the pilot has to fly, and includes bingo fuel.
So if a pilot tells you “30 minutes”, then it is based on his or her estimate of the fuel he or she has to
return to either the tanker or the nearest airfield if friendly. One thing I’ll stress when doing such a
thing is that it can fluctuate based on what the pilot is doing. So he or she may have thirty minutes
at that point but if he or she has to go somewhere else then the time will drastically be reduced
(based on the pilot’s throttle setting, activities). And for God’s sake don’t ask every five minutes, as
seriously it’s obvious that the pilot has five minutes less fuel.
JFO-JTAC Debate
As a formerly qualified JFO (I only lost my qualification due to me leaving the US Army)
there’s been a raging debate as far as capabilities and ability to do a JTAC job. The JFO program
was developed by the US Army and US Air Force in providing the beleaguered USAF JTACs with
better skilled observers so that they have more eyes on the ground because the amount of real world
JTACs isn’t that big relative to the amount of observers the US Army can put on the ground. So the
JFO program was started to do just that, provide US Army 13Fs (and later on other MOS’s can take
the course, just not receive the special identifier) with the knowledge necessary to get the better data
to pass to the JTACs. If you’ve been keeping up which I’ve noticed on various forums, is that JFOs
by design can only do Type 2 controls. Which means that the JFO passes data to a qualified JTAC
(Usually USAF) and prosecute the targets. Only in extreme situations the USAF JTAC can give
authority (as had been done to one of my JFOs during a rather nasty day, weather-wise as well as
enemy contact) to a JFO Type 1 authority, i.e. the JFO now can clear an aircraft hot, as opposed the
pilot getting final clearance from the JTAC.
To understand the theory behind this is that JFOs from Private to SGM as well as
commissioned officers, can request the training. So the US Army prefers the on-scene ground
commander to authorize it’s airstrikes as opposed to Private Snuffy who may know what’s going on,
but may not. It’s simply a responsibility and not always a capability issue. In practice this is
seamless and therefore in most cases isn’t an issue. And as far as I know for the US Marine JTAC
program it’s strictly Staff Sergeant and above, and Staff Sergeant for the US Air Force. So are JFOs
capable of performing JTAC tasks, yes, as again as a former JFO with at least one tour as a qualified
JFO in Afghanistan the only real difference is that the JTAC has to monitor the comms so he knows
what’s going on. Hopefully this can shed some light as in practice being a “Virtual JTAC” (Again
never reality qualified) has shown me and in practice that there’s not much of a difference only just
how you play it. So while JFO isn’t as “Cool” as JTAC, it gets the job done in either way. And
besides, JFOs are evaluated by JTACs in order to be qualified.
Miscellaneous Section
Transitioning from the Air to the Ground
For those who play Arma 3 or related games in some cases you wish you could have the
mixture of both, i.e. the infantry aspect of Arma 3 and the flight fidelity of DCS (or maybe that’s my
wish…). As a whole DCS: World is that bridge but focuses on vehicle combat as well as against
infantry and you can make virtual units based on that, provided you can get enough people
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interested as well. So in most sense compared to the game and the simulation there’s a big
difference. I don’t like fixed-wing flying in Arma 3 because due to game limitations areas aren’t
good for flying, or more geared towards helicopters and infantry combat (which of course is its
design intent, but they’re shifting away from the old abstractness to more detailed modelling. It
won’t rival DCS but it’s getting better). But DCS I always enjoyed due to the fact you can go flying
for an hour or two and able to go somewhere, even though it’s so far still the Caucasus region, but
overall it’s still varied enough to keep you occupied until the newer maps come out.
But the reason I bring this up is that being a virtual (or real if that’s the case) pilot helps you
in my opinion be a better JFO/JTAC, whether in the game environment (Arma 3, or DCS: World in
a vehicle) or in the real world, where simulations are now becoming more prevalent in doing training
of all sorts, whether its military or for hobby, which most of this is for. Granted there are
multitudes of programs (VBS3, etc.) but overall the key point from all this is that being a virtual pilot
helps tremendously on the ground. And that’s because you can visualize better what you expect the
pilot to see rather than always assuming. So you’ve been in the pilot’s seat (real or virtual, but since
this is DCS, virtual) and something to keep in mind should you want to transition to the ground.
Pilot’s Section
Given the focus on the JTAC above, we’ll also look at you, the pilot. Most of the pilots who
have flown for real and simulated don’t always know how to interpret the 9-Line, which is fairly
simple to understand. So here we go:
Interpreting a CAS 9-Line
Once you receive a 9-Line the first question is what does it all mean?
Line 1: Line 1 is simply the IP you reference to look out for on the map, or relative position
on the map as per the mission.
Line 2: This is the direction from the IP you take once you reach it to go to the target area.
Line 3: Distance, distance is in nautical miles, which is for the Europeans, 1850 meters per
nautical mile, so you know how to calculate from that to nm.
Line 4: Simply the target elevation, useful for JDAM attacks with the A-10C and future DCS:
Hornet/Super Hornet.
Line 5: What the target is. The JTAC may not know specifically what the actual type is, a
“tank”, “truck” will suffice, no need to worry too much about specific types.
Line 6: Needless to say the grid zone designator and the 8-to 10-digit grid location of the
target, useful for A-10C pilots in inputting that into the CDU.
Line 7: Type of marking device the JTAC will use and you can still work with a talk-on with
“None” if the JTAC simply doesn’t have a way to mark the target. His or her talk-on should be
good enough in most cases to get you looking.
Line 8: The direction Opposite is the direction that the enemy vehicles are at, i.e. using the
example above, the JTAC says: “West 3587 meters” well, the targets are East of him/her, 3587
meters.
Line 9: Any specific instructions the JTAC may need to pass to you based on threats in the
area (SAM/AAA if any). Most of the time “Pilot’s Discretion” will suffice if it’s a training mission
or equivalent.
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Next the JTAC will say “Read back lines 4 and 6”, so you the pilot read them back which
you should be writing down on a notepad with a pen/pencil. Once your read back is correct, the
JTAC will ask you “Say when ready for remarks.” If not, then the JTAC will correct you and again
will ensure that you have the same data he is giving you that you have the same information. He’ll
then list off (per the 9-line) any specific restrictions he has, such as run-in heading, etc, and will ask
you to read back the restrictions so you are on both sheets of music (or both people know you
understand the information correctly). Then once you’re finished He/she should say “Say when
ready for talk-on.” If you know the area it’s fine, let the JTAC know you understand (especially
training missions, you fly an area for so long, you’ll know where to go) or for other missions such as
virtual unit missions, this portion is where the above in the JTAC section comes into play. The
JTAC will simply question you, such as “Do you see the big lake just East of Poti?” If not you’re
blind, but the point is that yes you see it, and then he’ll use the Big to Small routine described above
to get you on to his/her target. And from there you know what to do as far as engaging the target.
Remember you’re the pilot, it’s not your job to tell the JTAC how to do his or her job, but
how to do it better, as you’re the one prosecuting the attack not him/her.
PTL and LTL
The Pointer-Target Line is the literal line that the IR laser creates, both in the simulation as
well in real life. In real life dismounted infantry (when the IR laser is set correctly) can “point” the
pilot on to the target at night time only (since IR lasers cannot in the dark be seen by the naked eye)
when wearing NVGs. Since the PTL is part of the Restrictions portion of the 9-Line, the way to
figure out the PTL is by opening up your Binoculars and selecting the IR Laser, which looks like
this:
In this picture the target truck is at 99.53 degrees, so you can send it up (rounding up) as 100
degrees or 99 degrees if you round down. While this could spark a debate amongst people, the fact
is that degrees as a whole is accurate, but we’re not using mils (6400 mils in one circle) so it’s up to
JTAC discretion whether he or she sends up, but either way it’s accurate, or you can send it up as
“99.53 degrees”, etc. In any case that’s the gist of the PTL as it’s designed to tell the pilot which way
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you are facing and not anything more. It also helps with the talk on since using this example you
can still confirm your location when pilots look at it from the air, as now you reconfirmed your
location as you are on the west side of the lake, and generally looking southeast, and so on. If you
are still having problems ask the JFO/JTAC to “Snake” the IR beam, in which the JFO/JTAC
simply rotates in a general circle in the direction of the target. Remember that the wider circle is the
target area, and once you’re more confident tell him/her to “Steady” where the beam is held again in
a direct line towards the target.
The LTL however is a different but same animal. You can use it for two purposes, marking
the target for marking the target’s sake, or for a laser bomb drop. In the first instance you’re simply
doing the same as the PTL above, only you’re using a laser designator. The benefit however is that
it works in both day and nighttime (the mark should appear either on your HUD as the impact point
with the pilot setting his TGP to Search for a Laser Designator. When the pilot does this the TGP
will find the spot and latch onto the target being lased. Again use run-in headings to ensure safe
weapons delivery regardless, as even with a laser designator it doesn’t stop you from using them at
all.
The next portion is the Laser Cone, when the JTAC determines the Final Attack Heading
that coincides with the LTL that was given to you. Here’s a simple image to show you how to make
a laser cone. Just a note however, as I was taught in JFO school to use an inverted ice cream cone, I
tend to use a triangle, as that’s less confusing for me. For this example I’ll be facing directly North
(0/360 degrees) and want to drop a bomb on an HVT. Since I’m facing north and given the angles
I have to use, the JFO/JTAC will make a “no-go” cone between 190 to 170 degrees. The reason
you do this is that a laser guided bomb simply doesn’t know which end is which (unlike humans,
which still need that reassurance) and a 50% chance (not in the JFO/JTAC’s favor) exists of the
bomb actually locking onto the source, not the specific point being designated. However, from 170
to 120 degrees or from 190 to 240 degrees the aircraft (even at 171 its still safe if coming over the
JFO/JTAC’s right shoulder) can come in and the bomb has a high probability of the bomb hitting
the target. As you can see also the JTAC may cut that arc in half by 25 degrees which represents the
optimum trajectory for a successful strike.
Also another thing to ease up possible confusion with the Laser Cone as remember, it’s for
you, the JTAC when you yourself is designating. The only reasons you should have to require laser
designation is A) You want to just do it, as that’s fine for practice to get in sync with how it’s done
and there’s nothing wrong with blowing stuff up, even in a simulation. Or B) The pilot’s TGP is
“Deadeye”, or it can’t lase itself. Or C) Tactical requirements (pilot taking a little bit too long for
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your own patience) dictate using an LGB drop. Remember that the pilot can also switch on his or
her laser but again if the situation requires it and you’re setup, do it.
Terrain References
Nothing is worse than a pilot who gets lost, and doing CAS you can sometimes get
disoriented. Which is fine as sometimes mountains look alike, fields look alike, etc. The best thing
to do is always look around and find a good piece of memorable terrain to look for when making
your runs (ideally if you’re working with a JFO/JTAC to know where he or she is at on the
battlefield) you can easily can look out, see where you are in relation to the target and not get terribly
confused. Another thing is to have the F10 view mapped to your stick if possible and able to switch
back to the cockpit so you can quickly open up the view and quickly get back in the cockpit. A
common sense thing but it helps… and possibly part of your pre-flight checks to scale the view
appropriately to where you plan on working for the mission.
Maverick/Gun Cross Shooting (A-10A/C Only)
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One good tip to use is slewing your Maverick onto the target, and then using the gun cross
to aim the GAU-8/A onto the target instead of always using the Maverick. Needless to say you do
have to have a Maverick loaded on the pylon (and don’t launch it). This helps in keeping a target
marked and also may save a missile down the road as sometimes they are a precious commodity.
This also helps greatly with doing gun runs in the mountains, where you have to be on top of the
vehicle to see it. Put a few rounds as necessary into the target and come around again. Of course
when doing a re-attack you’ll have to go through the process of putting the pipper where it needs to
be but overall a handy tool. It should be noted however that with the A-10C the pipper will start to
gradually move forward depending on the angle, so keep this in mind if you want to shoot this way
sometimes.
Maverick/Vikhr Gunnery (A-10A/Su-25T)
Face it, shooting Mavericks for both the A and the C are sometimes a real pain in the ass.
First for the A model, the aircraft is a little too unstable and when you’re looking through a tiny
window (“soda straw”) working the mountains will be difficult. So to help you simply first put the
pipper in the middle of the HUD, but don’t lock it. Once you get the pipper in the general area,
lock the weapon and then throttle to either idle or recommended, 50%. I have a TM Hotas X and
while with Arma 3 it annoys me it works great for DCS and Strike Fighters 2, a veritable “cruise
control” system, so that allows me to maintain some speed and gives me some extra time in
maneuvering the pipper onto the target. Since I’m lazy and don’t have Track IR you can ignore
trying to find the best view to suit you but the more I zoom in with the TV screen showing the
seeker view the better it is to see your targets. It’s annoying but in the end once you lock the target,
fire and break away, and then re-attack if necessary.
Another recommendation is to use the F10 view to use terrain association when placing the
pipper once locked (remember simulation logic will lock the Maverick by itself, that in itself a saving
grace) to get the pipper onto the target, and yes even Big to Small applies when shooting Mavericks
in the A version. Also remember if you get annoyed by the scrolling of the TV screen because
you’re out of gimbal limits, select another weapon or just re-select the weapon which will reset the
pipper, but again remember to move it to the center.
The Su-25T however is a bit better when equipped with the Mercury LLTV pod as it
provides the capability to zoom in and see the target at a distance which helps naturally for long
range shots. Again altitude is a concern and should be always considered (like any other weapon
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system), and also remember if you’re learning the Su-25T, for laser guided weapon shots you have to
put your pipper inside the double ringed pipper in order to fire (remember hold down the trigger):
After launching your Vikhr the system “cools down” for 20 seconds, and the countdown is
obviously shown in the HUD on the left. The good thing about the Vikhr is that it’s fast (better
than the Maverick in some ways) so once you hit your target you can throttle to idle or 50% (or
whatever works with you) and during that phase simply move the pipper onto the next target and
then it’ll give you the “NP/LA” launch cue and you should be able to hit another target on the same
run. Unfortunately accuracy sometimes goes as high as 50% to 100% of missing the target (based
on aspect, speed) so if you hit a second target simply fly past and come around and re-engage. Note
that if you don’t lock within time, the system will reset itself, so once you get the pipper in the
double ring large pipper you’re good to fire. On average though you can get a max two kills per run,
so it’s not perfect but it’s there in case.
Regardless of any FC3 or Study module (i.e. the more in-depth modeled aircraft) as opposed
to the “generic” FC3 aircraft, which to be fair still requires some familiarization in employing
correctly and the more you spend time with the particular aircraft you get much better.
Using your Cool TGP for ISR
Just to stop the rumors, the TGP on the Su-25T and A-10C can be used for ISR… to a
degree. Remember that the TGP is strictly for targeting and not surveillance, as such not considered
capable of the same resolution and clarity that a dedicated device can provide. However there is a
“but” in the rule. It can be used somewhat as an ISR device if used properly, but remember the
“soda straw” effect, i.e. if you pick up a soda straw and look through it that’s indicative of your field
of view and just a reality check as it has been used quite successfully operationally as well. It’s an aid
to targeting and allows some reconnaissance (such as conducting a mission and your aircraft
providing overwatch) that can always do your mission a favor during missions.
Also bear in mind with the Mercury LLTV pod you’re not going to get the same
functionality that the A-10C enjoys (as well as the DCS: Hornet and DCS: Super Hornet when they
get released). So the best thing for the Mercury is simple stability and allows better engagement with
the Kh-29T and other systems that require this system. And naturally it’s restricted to the forward
quarter only.
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Maverick/TGP Co-Shooting (A-10C Only)
Brought up by scrim on the SimHQ forums, this is a way to get faster with shooting the
Maverick. Since I prefer the D models I will talk mostly (as well as the screenshots will show this as
well) with that missile but obviously can apply to any other model. First off you get your TGP
warmed up as well as your Mavericks. Granted the Mavericks take longer so take the time to get the
TGP once ready, select A-G mode, and ensure its SOI by pressing the TGP MFD button and you
can move it around. For this example I have my own practice area so I can get familiar and do some
practice with the weapon systems rather than hopping in a pre-built mission where trying to figure
things you don’t know while getting shot it is a bad idea. Anyway first you get your TGP on target
and start searching:
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Once you get your TGP on the vehicle, switch back to the MAV page and then get the
pipper on the TGP diamond:
Once you get a proper lock the symbology will change and your Maverick will be locked on,
and you simply launch and move on. Remember to go into the Mission Editor and make your own
practice range simply by putting some vehicles down to shoot at. As that’s the beauty of the
simulation, you can do a lot of training by setting up a simple mission to let you practice without
always having to go online, which I mainly prefer to do. It’s also recommended to map your
HOTAS DMS Up/Down keys to your hat switch, though with my stick I have to use modifiers but
overall it helps you by not always having to move to the keyboard to zoom in and out. As after
doing that using the TGP became much easier to control and I can focus on flying as well, which
makes it easier to find the targets as well.
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And despite the obvious uses of the TGP, don’t forget to select your Master Mode if using
CCIP with the M key, and use the TGP diamond for other uses, such as marking a target for a gun
run:
Break Maneuver
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A common sense tactic that can apply to any aircraft is to simply break to the desired
direction away from the impact area of your weapons. This is mainly geared for missions where you
don’t know if there are threats hanging around and allows safe delivery of weapons as well as
ensuring that you don’t get shot down.
Again this is relative to the aircraft and threats if known in the area. In some cases it doesn’t
have to be a violent turn but a simple way of not flying into the threat zone. If you use a TGP it
may throw it off a bit due to climbing and roll of the aircraft (sometimes what’s more important is
your life, not the targeting pods ability to compensate for your movement) but as long as you
remember the location from the air where the targets are re-orienting your TGP may be quicker and
due to settings may take a bit but once you find the area and your targets...
Some Common Sense use of the TGP
In the image above, the target village is off of my right wing. Guess where my TGP is? On
my right wing station as we all know the TGP can only be put on the 2 and 10 stations of the
aircraft, and while double mounting is allowed the simulation logic should not allow it to transition
from to either one. If one breaks down then you have another one but the simulation logic simply
won’t allow dual pod use. Needless to say if you’re going to orbit an area keep your TGP nearest to
the objective area, that way you limit the masking by the airframe or weapons mounted.
Another issue is what I call “TGP Drift” or the fact that your aircraft rolls and climbs so
much that the TGP cannot compensate. Sometimes I’ve been level and the thing still moved a bit,
and in some cases it’s a bit… annoying to say the least. Best thing to compensate for that is to look
out at the cockpit and remember where you’re aiming in the first place when it does this.
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Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s fairly easy, but all is not lost when it does this. Simply finish
your attack, regroup and re-position the TGP on the target.
Efficient use of the CBU-97/CBU-105 (A-10A/C)
Often times I see some questions on the CBU-97 and figured that after messing with it that
it’s a very effective bomb when properly employed. However, it’s not easily understood as it’s a
simple cluster bomb that ejects target seeking bomblets that allows you to engage multiple armored
(to include some structures or fortifications) vehicles in one pass and in one drop. For the A-10A
you will always drop a pair of bombs so keep that in mind if you have more targets then loading up
prior is the key here. For the A-10C it’s simply selecting how many bombs on the DSMS page and
going from there. While the below will discuss the C version in the below images, the A-10A is
always going to be visual targeting in either CCIP or CCRP (or the C version without the TGP not
mounted or inoperable) modes. For the C version since it has better capabilities we’ll find our
training area with our targets and I will move the TGP in the area. For best effects use the “center
of mass” rule, i.e. as the pictures will show, I designate the area via the China Hat Forward Long
setting and select the CBU-97 in the DSMS page, ensuring Master Safe is OFF and then select
CCRP mode:
Once I am within constraints I hold down the Weapon Release button until the system
pickles the bomb:
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The target area is right on the lower right corner of the image above, so all I do is perform a
Break Maneuver and wait for the fireworks. On average depending on the amount of targets and
location of the drop I will get about 90% to sometimes 100% of my targets or as low as 40% to 50%
but that’s dependent on how spread out the targets are and target location. It will hit enemy bunkers
but won’t destroy them outright. If you have another CBU-97 then by all means go for it. And it
should be reinforced that it takes a few minutes for the seekers to find the targets, so if you’re in the
C just wait for the show or in the A as well if you’re orbiting the area. If F10 is enabled then simply
look at the enemy vehicles disappearing versus the original count and go from there.
The newer version of the CBU-97, the CBU-105 WCMD (Wind Corrected Munitions
Dispenser) can only be used by the A-10C and only in CCRP mode. Using it is just like a JDAM
and has a HOF of 1800 feet, which allows a better spread against targets and allow the seekers on
the submunitions to find their targets. But it should be noted that it isn’t a “silver bomb” and
always do what you want it to. Urban environments restrict the seeker’s view as well as trajectory in
attacking a target. Again it is always to carry more than one if needed of either type in order to
prosecute your targets better.
Efficient use of your bombas
Being a former artilleryman I have a “little” experience with high explosives, in Iraq and
especially Afghanistan. As such this is essentially a “weaponeering” section for the pilot to
understand though the JFO/JTAC section above can be applied to here as well. In some cases
you’ll get the hang of analyzing target behavior and knowing what to do. So for this example (A10C only, but can apply somewhat to the Su-25T and visual bomb dropping in general for all
aircraft) is essentially if they’re close then drop a bomb in the center, such as this small image:
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In the slideshow above I simply dropped one GBU-38 on the crosshairs. So while a GBU31 would have done the job quicker, it also shows that you can save your ordnance and use lighter
munitions (no smaller than 500lb or Russian equivalent). While with some vehicles, such as tanks it
may disable them, it still benefits other flights or your ground units easier targets, so it’s not so much
always an assured kill (though the one on the right took the brunt of it due to aspect of the bomb
coming in) it does help you save precious bombs. Also depending on how spread out and your
target type (no more than say 5M on the crosshair of your TGP will this be effective) in regards to
the A-10C TGP symbology. And ensure that the TGP is set to POINT rather than AREA as it will
strike the nearest vehicle.
Multiple JDAM strikes (A-10C Only)
As such the A-10C cannot perform multiple strikes by itself (it’s good enough in my opinion
with one at a time) it is somewhat possible to do such a thing. Some people mention using Mark
points as reference points to slew the TGP to but overall it’s easier sometimes when you have other
things going on and in itself this is a “crude” method compared to “exact” parameters. So to do a
simple two-bomb drop is to get within drop parameters and drop your first JDAM. Move your
TGP onto the next target and select the next bomb and drop on that one. Even at 50% throttle to
simply stay aloft you need to realize that your window even at height is small. The higher you go the
more “lead time” you have and can possibly drop three or more depending on how fast you are with
your joystick manipulation as well as that of the DSMS page that you’ll need to have open. The only
thing is that if you’re bombing a few vehicles the possibility (likely) is that the vehicle will simply
move if his buddy gets blown up. There’s no real counter other than a faster drop, but the need to
hold the Weapon Release button down makes it a chancy option at best. Personally if you are
dropping on a vehicle as well as a static target then it’s more effective. Or sometimes the targeted
vehicle simply doesn’t move either. Again the second strike is on average a 50% hit rate after the
first kill against vehicles, so make it count!
Appendix 1
Setting up a mission to use a human JTAC
Once you’ve gone through this document you may want to try it on your own which is fine
as being a former JFO I prefer the ground sometimes more than the air, which is why I don’t always
fly. Anyway, here’s how to setup a simple JTAC for human players. First open up the Mission
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Editor and create your mission. Once you’ve finished all that place your JTAC where you’ll think
he’ll start out safe or in a good position to observe the target. To do this press the Add or modify
ground units group button
Once you position your vehicle go to Armor/APC M1043
HMMWV (or any vehicle that you can actually drive) and place it on the map, and make sure you
click on “Player can drive” for your MP session. Now go to the Triggered Actions and add a new
Action, Then Leave the Perform Task menu alone and for Action, select FAC – Assign Group and
then designate for AI the vehicles (if flying the A-10C this matters as you can specify the frequency
such as the default 133 AM channel to talk to the AI JTAC). For human JTACs it’s quite obvious
the minimum you’ll need is Teamspeak or any equivalent program to speak to the pilot.
Next is for the simulation to recognize that you want to have your players in your session
have the ability to actually drive around:
Click on the Battlefield Commanders button and
check Pilot Can Drive Vehicles. Once that’s done also edit the appropriate fields but if you have
two vehicles like I do for my sample mission, then simply make two JTAC slots and that’s all you
need to do.
NVG Setup for the A-10A/Ka-50
Thanks to a heads up from KeyCat, there is a small mod available for virtual A-10A pilots as
well as the Ka-50. Made by nrgizer, this small modification allows you to enable the NVGs on the
aircraft. The mod topic can be found here:
http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=100333
To enable this mod you have to open your default.lua file, which can be found in the
\DCS\Mods\aircraft\Flaming Cliffs\Input\a-10a\keyboard\default.lua folder. Copy and paste these lines
in the Sensor section:
{combos = {{key = “Num-“, reformers = {“LCtrl”}}}, pressed = iCommandPlane_Helmet_Brightess_Down, name = “Gain goggles down”,
category = “Sensors”},
{combos = {{key = “Num+”, reformers = {“LCtrl”}}}, pressed = iCommandPlane_Helmet_Brightess_Up, name = “Gain goggles up”, category =
“Sensors”},
{combos = {{key = “N”}}, down = iCommandViewNightVisionGogglesOn, name = “Toggle goggles”, category = “Sensors”},
Once you do that, open up the simulation and press N (default for this mod) and you’ll be
able to see at night with the NVGs as for realism’s sake the A-10A pilots did have them issued
before the C upgrade, and subsequent DCS module.
Basic weapons key configuration for the A-10C
One of the first things when transitioning from the A-10A to the A-10C is quite obviously
the fact you have so many keys and not enough buttons on your joystick… but here are some basic
definitions of what the most keys you will need and what they will do to get you better able to
memorize and figure out what works for you:
HOTAS CMS Forward = Ejects flares/countermeasures
HOTAS Boat Switch Aft = White Hot switch for TGP
HOTAS Boat Switch Center = CCD (normal camera) switch for TGP
HOTAS Boat Switch Forward = Black Hot switch for TGP
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HOTAS China Hat Switch Aft = Resets TGP and Maverick and HUD when HUD is SOI
HOTAS China Hat Switch Forward = Zoom in/out for Maverick when on that specific page
HOTAS DMS Aft = Zooms out TGP view
HOTAS DMS Forward = Zooms in TGP view
HOTAS Master Mode Button = Switches between NAV,GUNS,CCIP, and CCRP modes
HOTAS Slew Down = Moves Pipper down when TGP/HUD/Maverick is SOI
HOTAS Slew Left = Same as above and moves the pipper left
HOTAS Slew Right = Same as above and moves the pipper right
HOTAS Slew Up = Same as above and moves the pipper up
HOTAS TMS Forward = Allows you to select AREA and POINT settings on the TGP, where POINT is
designed for moving targets. To designate for targets hold this command down which is necessary for JDAM
and the CBU-103/107
Nosewheel Steering Button = During flight allows you to fire the laser from your TGP (IR or
Designator/Both) and naturally when you land allows you to steer the nosewheel.
Needless to say these allow you to use all of the weapons at the basic level and should provide
somebody with the necessary knowledge to map them to their preference. Again we all have our own ways
of doing things, but these are what’s to mind important for “easy” access to allow you to fire your weapons.
And it should be noted this applies for non TM Warthog joysticks, as a correct Warthog stick has all the
functions already mapped and the simulation will recognize it. However I do recommend as I personally use
the Thrustmaster Hotas X, which has proven very nice for flying the aircraft as well as weapon related tasks.
Appendix 2
Creating a Basic mission in the Mission Editor
Given that I’ve been out of the DCS environment for a couple years I’ve always
remembered that the simulation comes with a basic mission Editor and personally eschew
multiplayer training or practice due to the simple fact that you can create what you want and go fly
or with DCS: World, drive around and blow things up. This coming from the Arma 3 community
where some people simply don’t take the time to use it. While naturally Mission Editors of varying
degrees are designed for players to have a mission, here are some basic things to get you going if you
don’t want to go online and practice, when you can stay offline and practice, so when you do go
online, you can spend less time figuring things out and more time enjoying simulated flight.
To create a new mission simply press the page icon on the upper left, right under the “DCS”
graphic:
. After that a dialog window (default) will come up:
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From here you can assign coalitions to suit your own preference. By default since given the
real world political climate I’ll stick with the default and click OK. Since I’ll be blowing up some
Insurgents (and who doesn’t enjoy that?) I’ll first decide what plane I’ll be flying, and given what I’m
learning, the A-10C, so I click on the Airplane icon and this comes up:
To be fair I did go a bit ahead, but first off I’ve taken a shine to Kobuleti and so I placed my
jet icon on top of the airfield. Off to the right I used the “Type” which is the A-10C (Drop down
menu, the yellow highlighted names are modules you can fly yourself, depending on what you
purchased) and as said, selected the A-10C. Once I did that I can select “Skill” and since it’s for me
only, and just this aircraft, Player, which is me. Next for US Aircraft only, you can select
CALLSIGN, and it’s a drop down menu and for an A-10… Hawg is much appropriate. Okay now I
can go ahead and save this to whatever name I want to but when I click that green checkmark, I’ll
start above the airfield, which I don’t want to do. I like to taxi and do Real Pilot things even though
I’ve been a virtual pilot my whole life. And by default I left the Country to USA, even though you
can select Russia and fly the same aircraft as in a “What If” capacity. Moving on you can specify
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Pilot name and so on. I usually don’t hide from the map (though you can if you choose) and Late
Activation which I don’t bother with.
First up is the Waypoint menu and that shows where you are currently at on the screen so
far. WAYPNT is the starting waypoint and also the number (1, 2, 3…, etc.) OF x number of
waypoints. Again all I want to do is taxi and go fly. So I’ll leave it as is for now and if I want to give
it a name (shows up on the HUD in the A-10A/C, and possibly the F-15C) you can, but since it’s a
start position no real need to do so. Type is default (since Flanker 1.0) is “Turning point, and that’s
all it is a generic waypoint, and ALT is 6,562 ft, or 2000m for the Russian Aircraft. However I want
to taxi so I’ll select “Takeoff from parking lot”, which will start me at a randomly assigned point and
I will have to taxi in order to takeoff. This activates another menu,”PRK”, and I can select a
different spot should I feel like it. But default is a bit far, so I will open the menu and click “01:,
which puts me closest to the runway. “Feet” is MSL or Mean Sea Level, or actual height above the
Sea, which is determined to always be 0. Or AGL, which is Above Ground Level, so if I selected
AGL and put in 1,000 feet at the current location, I’d be 1,000 feet (or metric equivalent) above that
particular point, regardless of actual simulation height (and real world analogy as well). Speed is
default enough to keep you in the air to allow you to take control and add your input. Start is the
default time setting, which for this is 12 Noon. Time is done by the 24 hour clock, not 12-hour. So
for example, if you want your flight to start at 1:00 PM, you would put 13, or 13 : 00 : 00, which is
Hour, Minute, and Seconds, “/” meaning it will vary by x number of seconds. I want to fly so I just
select that point and this is what it looks like so far:
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As you notice the “ADD” button is pressed, so everytime I click on the map somewhere, it
will continue to add a waypoint until the default setting is maxed out (and generally you don’t need
to add that many!) but simulation logic can work if you don’t add anymore, but if you want to go
somewhere click to that location and when you click on the Green Checkmark, you can go into the
simulation and go fly. But for now I don’t need to so I’ll simply click EDIT and it will not create a
waypoint. Pressing the DEL button will delete the waypoint. It should be noted that pressing the
actual Delete key on your keyboard will delete the whole flight you are creating, just so you don’t get
confused when you click something or somewhere you don’t want to or want to change what you
saved already. Next I want to look Gucci with weapons and bombs hanging off the pylons (or want
to practice weapons use) I click on the circle X (
)and it brings up the Payload menu:
From here we can do a lot of things, starting with the left side, which shows available
weapons that can be loaded on the aircraft. As you can see there are a lot of presets and at the
bottom left of this pane you can create your own loadout as you see fit, given pylon and load
limitations. The above schematic shows the airplane and right wing is the left and left wing is the
right, or you’re looking at the aircraft, so you can figure out what you want. Before this interface the
simulation would show the balance for asymmetric loads. Now it’s simply reflected in flight and
therefore you will have to manually trim the aircraft. For laziness we’ll select the first available
loadout. At the right of the pane is “INTERNAL FUEL” and that shows the full fuel capacity by
default. The slider under the words adjusts the amount of fuel, so right now at the right it’s at full
fuel, slide it to the left and it will reduce the fuel. “Empty” is the empty weight (no fuel, weapons,
ammunition) and will never change as that’s fixed. Weapons is the weight of the amount of
weapons you loaded. Planning Cargo is normally not used (dead weight for combat aircraft),
“MAX” is the max take off weight of the particular aircraft and is also fixed for the appropriate type.
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“Total” is what the fuel, ammunition and weapons total up to. The bottom box is something you
do need to be concerned about. Up to 100% the aircraft will fly as it should. If you go above that
when you select your loadout but just have to have those weapons, it’s recommended to reduce your
fuel until it’s not red. “CHAFF” is pretty self-explanatory, with the amount being increased or
decreased by 1 per click of the arrow, with FLARES the same thing, and remember a click on the
left pointing triangle means decrease, right, increase. Note that depending on the aircraft but
generally if you want more flares the right click will add, and the other one will subtract, but never
removes the total capacity, so for this picture I will stick with the default 240 chaff, and 120 flares.
Ammo Type can be selected for the appropriate type of mission, but overall since you’re doing
weapons practice for the A-10C “Combat Mix” will be fine, or you can select TP, or HEI only. For
mixed situations just a note go with Combat Mix as you can never go wrong with a Tungsten/HEI
mix. “PAINT SCHEME” allows you to select various patterns, and since I’m from Maryland, we’ll
stick with the default selection. Now we’ll stop and save it as it’s a good point to see what happens:
And using normal Windows naming conventions, I’ll name it “Mission Tutorial” and save it
to the selected drive for me. Done? No lets take a look real quick in the mission and see how it
turns out:
Again that’s a basic way of getting stated into mission building. Remember that official
documentation is available at various forums as well as the DCSWorld\Doc folder as well.
Time to Blow Some things up
As mentioned above, I’m going to at least enjoy blowing things up right? Okay here we go,
we’ll for scenario’s sake setup a few tanks for some plinking and maybe to just practice with the
weapons that are already pre-loaded. To put down vehicles to shoot at you click on this icon:
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. It should be noted that this is of course a generic icon but it serves its purpose. Once I
click that this panel comes up on the right hand side of the screen:
Much like the aircraft tutorial above you can place the vehicle on the ground and select what
type of vehicle. If you want to name the group you can enter that if desired. Condition can be True
or False, while the box to the right of it is the percentage of it showing up (i.e. randomly).
COUNTRY is obvious and then Unit. When you place one vehicle down on the ground it will be
only one vehicle. Off the right is the “OF” and another box. If you click on the right triangle
beside the one you can add more vehicles. Since I have a lot of firepower on my A-10C I’ll add five
more targets, for a total of six vehicles:
As you see the number of vehicles you have on the ground and with LMB I can click on
each one and drag them out if you want to practice slewing the TGP or Maverick, or both really in
this case. So I’ll move them around a bit:
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Whoops! I forgot to turn off the waypoint! So what I do instead is go to the right and click
DEL and then EDIT. It should be noted that for the whole simulation it operates the same
throughout so I don’t need to go into how to work this again. So I delete my waypoint I
accidentally created and move them around:
It should be noted that if a vehicle is not amphibious (LVTP-7 or others, check the
Encyclopedia) simulation logic will simply not allow you to move them into the water, and if you do
it enough the simulation will give you a warning that it can’t be placed into the water. Since I’m
satisfied with that then I’ll save the mission just to make sure. And now I need to create some
waypoints so in case for some reason I’m lost, I can fly to and from there back to Kobuleti and hang
out or do whatever else after doing some target practice. To do so I would click the aircraft I just
put on the map (A-10C) and then it will reopen the pane on the right, and go to the Waypoint tab
and press “ADD” and click to the point where I want to go to (the area where my newly placed
tanks are:
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On the map you’ll see I added “IP Rock” to the area and when I’m flying I’ll see that on the
right side of my HUD when I select my waypoint through the TAD or default keys for the A-10A
(Other aircraft will be a simple waypoint marker, nothing more) and go fly. I can also add a
waypoint to bring me back as well, in which I simply click somewhere on the airport, and with the
drop down menu, select “Landing” Remember that simulation logic for various aircraft will
automatically generate the landing pattern for you to follow. For me since I always prefer the
Straight In Landing Approach it’s just there for me to know in case of any possible confusion:
You’ll note that most of the information is greyed out as to be honest, it’s not required as it
simply tells the simulation engine to tell the pilot to approach the airfield. Most US aircraft do not
show this, but Russian HUDs do show approach vectors, so it’s basic theory on how various
militaries approach their pilots as far as directions, etc. Again I’ll save and if I want to, jump in the
pilot’s seat.
Going Online.
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Having been a former server admin for Arma 3, let’s just say that life and people (gamers
especially for Arma 3) is well… an issue. But overall there are good people to play with online, and
you may want to join the myriad virtual units out there that allow you to play with either some
morons or cool people, take your pick and good luck! But this section isn’t so much about the
online servers, but setting up this mission for online multiplayer play. In most cases it’s simple, add
another plane and set the skill of each aircraft to “Client”. This tells the software that it shouldn’t
expect an AI pilot, but solely a human one and if one doesn’t show up it doesn’t spawn the aircraft.
And besides playing with yourself (mind out of the gutter you weirdos) sometimes isn’t that cool and
sometimes in a way boring. And that is okay as the human mind sometimes needs a social setting
every now and then to interact with like-minded individuals. I could show you an image but overall
it’s nothing spectacular. Note that for a varied training mission it’s advised to setup the aircraft that
you don’t have the module for, such as me as I have no real interest in buying the WWII aircraft due
to the fact I’m a modern aircraft flyer, and while it’s “cool” to fly old prop planes, it’s not my thing.
But besides that somebody obviously will pay for that particular module so regardless if you buy it
or not, the simulation will react accordingly based on the human input that is given anyway.
But what if you want to play that mission offline? Simple, open the Mission Editor and
navigate to that mission and open it. Edit the Payload and schemes as appropriate and click on the
Green Checkmark. Once the simulation loads and instead of hopping into the cockpit you will see
something like this:
Simply click on the aircraft you want to fly Granted this is for my own offline flying and
practice, you can also setup multiple aircraft on the same mission without having to create multiple
missions to do the same tasks or simply to condense and help with file management as well.
Needless from this menu you can select which aircraft you want to fly and the assigned nation.
Again you can go into the simulation and change the payload or like me already assign it prior to
launching to go into the simulator.
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Questions?
Credits:
KeyCat for the NVG Mod and help in getting it sorted.
Scrim for tactical advice and recommendations for some portions of this document regarding the A10C
Real World References:
JP 3-09.3 Close Air Support
JFIRE FM 3-09.32
Visit the 562nd Tactical Site here:
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If you like my work please donate (PayPal): [email protected]
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EricJ (Steam ID)
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I also write Military Science Fiction books, if interested you can check them out here:
http://www.amazon.com/EricJohnson/e/B003NQA7QK/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=393193&linkCode=shr&tag=hup
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Eric Johnson, 2014
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