LASER GUIDED BOMB TRAINING FOR JANES F/A-18
			January 23, 2000
			Bob Tullman (bobtull@interactive.net)


Thank you for trying my training missions for Janes F/A-18. Feedback is welcome!

Laser guided bomb employment is rather complicated, so there are some issues you need to be aware of, both with regard to the avionics involved and the peculiarities of these training missions (it also has made these files rather LARGE):

A) Avionics

Weapons employment is only as good as the designation. The AG Radar and ATFLIR are powerful systems, and are quite complex. Please understand the following points about the ATFLIR:

1)Ground Stabilized Mode - This is the mode where the FLIR is pointing at a particular place on the ground. It can be a target, or a patch of dirt. In this mode you can slew the FLIR with the TDC to stabilize over another ground target or dirt patch. This mode is entered in many ways, especially when the FLIR is SLAVED to a target that has been designated by Radar, or 'through the HUD'. The FLIR will point at this target, but can be slewed. A special case of this is TGT slave after designation with AG Radar in SEA or GMT mode. The FLIR will continue to track the target even though it is moving as the radar is feeding it updates.

2)AUTOTRACK mode - This is the mode entered when the FLIR is LOCKED on a target, and is entered by hitting ENTER in the FLIR page when the FLIR is pointing at something. You cannot slew the FLIR without UNDESIGNATING the target by using the BACKSPACE key. When engaging a moving target, designated by radar (GMT or SEA) the FLIR  will continue tracking in GND STAB mode along with the Radar. If you put the FLIR in AUTOTRACK mode, it will continue tracking the moving target, but the Radar will lose lock. For Laser Guided weapons, either mode will work. The only advantage of AUTOTRACK is  you are no longer dependent on the RADAR FOV to keep laser lock on the target.

B) Mission Issues

1)LGBTRAIN.lot  Included in this .zip file is a custom loadout, LGBTRAIN.LOT. Copy this file into your RESOURCE subdirectory so it is available to you when you begin the mission.

2)IMPACT COUNTDOWN - There seems to be a problem with the predicted impact timer. Impact is usually quite a bit AFTER the impact timer counts down to zero. With ALAS mode, the laser will shut down before impact, but the bomb will still hit. This is especially pronounced with moving targets.

3)TIMING of VOICEOVER - I have tried to time the voiceovers so they are close enough together so you don't get bored :-). However, sometimes they are TOO close for you to follow the directions. Most of the pertinent info is in text that can be recovered with CNTRL M. This is an issue especially with the 2nd training mission.  I have tried to allow enough time for the player to engage each target before giving instruction for the next engagement. Sometimes this timing will be off depending on your airspeed, altitude and reaction time. I tested with airspeed about 350, altitude 10,000 ft.  In the first mission, I made it so you had to destroy one target before going on to the next.  In the second mission, there is a time limit, after which you are sent on to the next target whether or not you hit the first. This made timing tricky, as I couldn't use the destruction of one target as the trigger for the next event.  I wanted to give you a pat on the back for hitting the target, but not a slap on the wrist for missing. You may well have to fly these missions several times to get familiar with the systems. In the second mission, there is a fairly long time lag between AUTO, CCIP and SKIPPER lessons, to allow separation from the target and re-acquisition. Still, you may start getting orders for one before the other is complete. My apologies!

4)Mission 2, SKIPPER - You may have a hard time acquiring the last target with all the smoke and flames over the target area. Do your best! Depending on the graphics settings, there is a distance where the smoke and flames don't show up visually or on the FLIR...if you can get a decent designation here, you should be OK. Otherwise, guess.. the warhead is pretty big!

5) ENOUGH TALK!!  Get in the air and good hunting!

Bob