DCS Black Shark: Where did my target go?

Flying an attack helicopter in combat is a very demanding task. Keeping track on the targets, the threats, communications, weapon systems and flying the damn thing at the same time is the pinnacle of multitasking. Ed Macy put it very eloquently in his book "Apache": "... taking an Apache into battle is like playing an Xbox, a Playstation, and chess grand master simultaneously-while riding Disney World's biggest roller coaster ..." The information overload used to kick me hard when I couldn't find enemy units or landmarks I've seen in the Shkval just before performing hard evasive maneuvers. I reckon that probably the main cause for this is the shock of the near-(virtual) death experience (I tend to kill myself just maneuvering out of a missile's path). But I digress.

The I-251 "Shkval" electro-optical targeting system offers a great way to find back that enemy unit, landmark or general terrain area I have just been watching before maneuvering the Black Shark. The trick is locking the Shkval onto that point of interest before losing sight of it.

Locked into a multistory building. Please note the appearance of the building in front of the one I've locked. Click for an expanded view.

Now performing a 360 degrees turn while descending. I've lost sight of the building and off course the lock on it. Click for an expanded view.


Turn and descent complete. Now looking at the general area again from a lower altitude, the Shkval is in ground stabilized mode pointing just a few dozen meters ahead of the previous lock (do you recognize the building that was in front of my previous lock?). Click for an expanded view.

Everytime you lock onto something, the Shkval stores the target's angular coordinates and range into it's memory. I suppose this allows the targeting system to point itself back into the area you have locked into. I'm sure that there has to be a limit for how long in time or how far spatially you can be from the original lock-on in order to get the targeting system keeping the data in its memory. But as you can see I descended a lot from my original lock-on position, turned 360 degrees and still the targeting system was ground-stabilized fairly close to the original lock-on.

Cheers,

"The Defense of Jisr Al Doreaa", A New Classic in COIN

Have you guys read "The Defense of Duffer's Drift", the classic book on small unit tactics written by the British soldier and military thinker Major General Sir Earnest D. Swinton? "The Defense of Duffer's Drift" is centered on the defense of a river crossing by a young officer in charge of a platoon of British light infantry during the Boer War. This officer has a series of dreams, each one starting at the planning of the defense, going through the unsuccessful attempts to defend the drift and ending in a series of lessons learned that he applies in the next dream. In the final dream, the young officer finally succeeds. There were at least one other book with the same format of "plan-execute-improve" cycle of dreams: "The Defense of Hill 781", by Robert McDonough (if you are playing Steel Beasts, this one is a must).

"The Defense of Jisr Al Doreaa" is written in the same format, but the defense is now of a combat outpost in modern Iraq. The young officer belongs to the US Army and goes through six dreams in which he and his troops fight insurgents in the small town of Jisr Al Doreaa. The officer faces challenges that will push him to polish his knowledge of tactics he learnt for conventional wars (security, sector defense, correct assesment of fields of fire, etc) and learn new the new tactics required for fighting an insurgency (patrols, counter-ambushes, counter-sniper tactics, how to move through the "human terrain", etc).

Learning tactics from after action reports or other type of combat narrative is always easier and more enjoyable when there is an explanation of why and how the tactical decisions were made. That is exactly what makes "The Defense of Jisr Al Doreaa" such a wonderful book.

The book is short enough to be read in one sitting and is formatted in a way that would fit in a slightly oversized pocket. Perfect for reading during that last leg of the airlift and sized to fit into any pocket of the combat fatigues. Don't get fooled by the lenght or size of this book: it packs a lot of knowledge.

As a bonus, a copy of "The Defense of Duffer's Drift" is included at the end.

Cheers,

Beautiful map artwork in ProSim's latest free wargame

As you know, ProSim (partnering with their publisher Shrapnel Games and the Armchair General magazine) has released a free war game with two scenarios based on the battle at the Tallil Airbase during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The maps artwork in ProSim games keeps getting better and better. In the screenshot below you can see An-Nasiriyah (the town north of the Euphrates river). An-Nasiriyah ... any chance we get to play some Marines scenario in the future?

Click the image to expand it.

Cheers,

Strike mission right into a SAM nest

The flight sim: "Wings over Vietnam"
The mission: Strike a North Vietnamese airbase
The machine: F4J Phantom II

I've chosen a low flying approach into the target zone. That little box on the dashboard is a RWR/threat indicator. The North Vietnamese are painting us with all the have. In the background, two SA-2 SAMs have been launched in quick sequence. Click on the image to expand.

After striking the airbase with free-fall bombs, I egress the target zone with a steep climb, jinking and watching for SAMs. Burning fuel tanks can be seen in the airbase. Click the image to expand.

RTB, finally. Fast but with the throttle just short of afterburners. The North Vietnamese will send some interceptors sooner than later. Click on the image to expand.

The angle of attack(AoA, red square) indicator of the "Double Ugly". It really shows that this aircraft was designed for the US Navy (by that time Navy aviators were trained to land at a fixed AoA rather than at a fixed airspeed). Click in the image to expand.

This flight simulator is a strange thing. It seems to capture the feeling of fighting over Vietnam during the 60-70's, but so many simplifications are starting to drain the fun.

Cheers,

Bellus interruptus, the ugly side of PBEM in Combat Mission Shock Force British Forces

As you know, I have been PBEM a Combat Mission Shock Force British Forces scenario with my friend Olav.

This screenshot from my PBEM battle with Olav. I'm commanding the British forces and we are advancing very slowly to secure a start position for the assault on the first objective. Click the image to expand it.

Sixty turns or so into the battle, my computer could not handle the scenario anymore and we had to call it a day. There were 60 turns left in this scenario. What a pity. This is not the first time that this happens to me. Other big scenarios have crashed on me in turn-based solo matches.

This section is patrolling the groves, making way for the armor. Click the image to expand it.

It was a great battle and I'm going to post more about it in the following days.

Cheers,

P/S: Olav, can you push the "Cease Fire" button? I would like to see the body count. I am affraid there are lots of virtual families that will need letters.

Books recently published or to be published soon ...

... that may be of interest for the simulation fans who visit this blog.
This one is already out in the UK. Let's hope that they publish it in the US sooner than later because I read only good things about this book. As you remember, Ed Macy already had authored Apache. If you are into DCS Black Shark, like this book you will (Yoda's advice :) ).

This other book was published by the Naval Institute Press, but will be available in US stores later in September. There is no shortage of books and reports about the Battle of 73 Easting, but Douglas Mc Gregor is a top-notch soldier, writer and thinker. Looking forward to feed my already big Steel Beasts ProPE passion with this book.

Cheers,

DCS Black Shark: "A Stick and Rudder Man's Guide" at SimHQ

Frank "Dart" Giger (SimHQ Aviation and Air Combat co-Editor) has written a wonderful article on how tackle the complex task of flying the Black Shark.

Mr. Giger is a great writer and a straight forward thinker. His previous article on DRM schemes in games was brilliant.

As I recently started to fly "Wings over Vietnam", with its extremely simplified avionics and target acquisition systems, I found the following paragraph spot on (bold is mine):

I dislike “switch simulations” with a passion. Nothing sucks the joy from my soul quite like the word procedure in relationship to the operation of flight simulation, and referring to an aircraft as a platform is the height of insult in my book. It’s not the technical brilliance of the band and the craftsmanship of the floor that that excites me near as much as the woman I’m dancing with, after all — and it’s the only reason I’m there, to be honest.

Cheers,

Free New Wargame: "March to Baghdad: Decision at Tallil Air Base"

A new ProSim title, "March to Baghdad: Decision at Tallil Air Base" is availabe (for free!) at the Armchair General's website.

Main menu. Click for an expanded view.

This mini-game consists of two scenarios that allow players to take command of battalion-sized forces belonging to the 3rd BCT (the Hammer brigade) during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The two scenarios included in the mini game focus on the fight around Talil Air Base.

In-game screenshot of the first scenario. Click the image for an expanded view.

The Hammer's Brigade scheme of maneuver near the Talil Air Base. From "On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom". Click the image for an expanded view.

As with previous ProSim titles based on recent conflicts, this is a great opportunity to interactively learn military history.

Congratulations to Pat Proctor (head honcho of ProSim), who by the way has been recently deployed to Iraq. Thanks for your service, Pat! EDIT: and off course congrats to all the crew of ProSim!

Cheers,

Flight simming the air war over Vietnam

Just in time for my new work schedule with almost no free time, a new itch: air combat during the Vietnam era.

I installed my long-forgotten copy of "Wings over Vietnam" (WoV, from Thirdwire) and I took off to the virtual skies of Vietnam. This flight simulator is certainly not the cup of tea of the hardcore crowd out there. WoV doesn't feature detailed avionics, weapons targeting procedures, mission planning or a clickeable cockpit. Hell, you can even land your aircraft in the middle of the jungle!

In my case I am just happy with just some sort of fidelity in the flight modeling and weapons performance. To a certain extent, WoV delivers in those departments. In any case, WoV looks like the only choice I have.

Just as fighter pilots described in the abundant literature about the air war in Vietnam, flying the Phantom II is like flying a brick. Click the image for a better view.

My first encounters with the MIG-17 were not pretty. If you are flying a Phantom, avoid a turning fight with this guy! Click the image for a better view.

If this goes well and time allows, I would like to purchase Yankee Air Pirate 2.

Cheers,

A public THANK YOU to Chuck "Magnum" Ankenbauer, SimHQ

The Land & Armor Combat Editor of SimHQ (a premiere website for simulations fans), Chuck "Magnum" Ankenbauer, has been regularly featuring this blog in SimHQ's "Land Combat News" section.

A big thank you to "Magnum" for pointing simulation fans to this humble blog.

Much appreciated, Magnum! :)

Odd finds at an odd place ...

WARNING. This entry may contain mild references to my personal life. Reader discretion is advised. :)

I'm addicted to military-themed books. My sweet tooth for them has gotten more "gourmetized" over the years and the type of hardcore books I long for are hard to find in the average bookstore. During this past weekend, I was almost floored when I spotted great military history books in a store located at a tourist hot spot, just a couple of hundred yards from the beach.

The bookstore in question is Atlantic Books (see google street view below, the store with yellow letters on top), located in Rehoboth/Dewey beach (DE, USA).


View Larger Map

I walked into it expecting to find the regular beach reading stuff you find at most beach side bookstores. Then I spotted "Tank Tactics: from Normandy to Lorraine" (What the hell? I had to drive all the way down to Washington DC to get my copy of that book!). There was more: this store had no less than seven books from Stackpole Military History series. Some of them I had already, others I couldn't get without alerting the book-addiction rehab officers waiting for me at the beach (AKA wife & kids :) ). So, I settled for "Goodwood: The British Offensive in Normandy, July 1944" and a copy of the Washington Post as a wrap to get it ready for a surreptitious infiltration into the beach tote.

Quite a beach-side catch.

Cheers,

Advancing Through Hilly Terrain (Tank Tactics)

This entry is a continuation from a previous one that dealt with some of the problems of cresting hills while moving to contact or conducting reconnaissance. In that previous blog entry, an M3 Bradley CFV/M1 Abrams MBT hunter/killer team was moving north and had a hill between them and enemy-held terrain. I'm using Steel Beasts ProPE for this write up.

If cresting hills is not a good idea, what is one to do then?

As one of the faithful readers of this blog (thank you Alan for visiting!) commented in the previous entry, the key is moving like the flow of water. Move around hills, not through them. There are many variations of how to do this and I'm going to write only about the one I'm most familiar with.

Please see a graphical representation in the next figure.

• Of all the members of the hunter/killer team, I've chosen the main battle tank to move and watch ahead. It's always better to make contact with the enemy with the most survivable platform. You may be wondering where all the buzz about the M3 CFVs acting as hunters went, but remember that this situation the hunter/killer team has a moderately small area to cover and is moving ahead as a team instead of separating themselves into different roles
  
• Below the hill, the tank moves following a contour line of the hill, preferably the lowest one. In the figure below the movement path of the tank is represented by the big blue arrow. The small blue arrows fanning out the big blue arrow represent the orientation of the turret.
• The two M3 CFVs provide over watch while the tank moves. They cover the terrain in front of the tank's axis of movement and the right flank. At this stage of the drill, the two M3 CFVs are represented in the figure by big blue arrowheads. The small blue arrows fanning out from the blue arrowheads represent turrets orientations
• As the tank moves across the countour line, successive sections of enemy-held terrain can be scanned with the tank's TIS. The first terrain sections to be visible will be the ones around the "C" label in the figure, then the ones the "B" label
• If enemy units were located at "A", "B" and "C", the tank would make contact with each, one at a time. Compare this to cresting the hill and making contact with all enemy units simultaneously
  
• Once the contour line around the hill changes direction, so does the the direction of movement of the tank. The tank re-orients along new direction of the contour line, stops at the tip of the big blue arrow and waits for the M3 CFVs to occupy new overwatch positions (red arrowheads in the figure)
• The tank now moves again along the contour line (big red arrow in the figure), scanning the western side of the terrain labelled "B" and eventually the terrain labelled "A"

"Tank Rush", the US Cavalry version. Click the image for an expanded view.

There is catch to this. If contact with the enemy is made the tank will be showing not its front but its left hull side to the enemy. Always keep in mind that the tank's best armor is located in its front. So be ready to quickly pull back into cover when contact is made (see figure below). This will allow you to re-orient behind the cover of the hill and then engage the enemy from a hull-down position.

It's better to be nagged about a damaged gearbox than to be awarded a posthumous Purple Heart. Click the image for an expanded view.

Cheers,

DCS Black Shark Controls Lockup? Try this.

The latest patch for DCS Black Shark has implemented a new and default trimmer implementation. It works like this: once you hit the trimmer button, any input from your joystick and rudder pedals will be ignored until you center them. Most of the times this new trimmer implementation works like a charm, but if you fail to center your joystick and rudder any further input from them will be ignored (controls lockup, yikes!).

If your joystick and rudder pedals are not properly calibrated/centered, these lockups will happen when you least want them. Joysticks and pedals generating a moderate amount of "noise" will also produce these lockups.

To avoid these lockups, I suggest you go into the game's option suite, controls tab, axis commands and click on the "tune axis" option. Once in the axis tune panel, provide a small amount of "dead zone" to the axis of your controllers. The amount of "dead zone" depends on how noisy your controls are.



Cheers,

Where's All That Nagging Coming From: the Black Shark's ADF

I'm compulsively trying to figure out instrument landings in DCS Black Shark.

This entry, though, is about one capability of the Black Shark that I bumped into while experimenting with the instruments. After some manual reading, I found out that this feature is actually documented there (warning, this is not a discovery of any sort!). Flipping switches and then go to read the manual to understand what the hell just happened is not the optimal way to learn, but alas the manual's style will never engage me in a cover-to-cover reading madness.

Anyway, here is the thing. The Black Shark has an electronic system to find the direction of radio transmissions. It's called the "ARK-22 ADF" (ADF stands for automatic direction finder). The ARK-22 ADF controls the Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI) needle on the Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI), pointing it in the direction of the transmitting signal. The ARK-22 ADF is vital to point the pilot towards airport radio beacons that transmit a radio signal with all the information needed for instrument landings.

It turns out that the ARK-22 ADF can be used to find the direction of incoming regular radio transmissions. Who ever talks to you by radio, you can see in the HSI where the transmission came from.

Talking with the guys at the FARP. The red caret (actually named RMI-2) at the HSI (horizontal situation indicator) wheel (right panel, ABRIS screen) shows where the transmission came from. Click the image for a better view.

Another example. This time my wingman is answering my request to change formation. Note how the red caret in the HSI wheel (right panel) shows the direction from which the wingman is transmitting. Click the image for a better view.

Not bad for an helicopter that doesn't have a radar warning receiver! ;)

Cheers,

Thou Shalt Not Crest ... (Tank Tactics)

Yes, the title of this entry was a bit overboard. There are no ten commandments for tank tactics. There are not even fixed rules in tactics. The tactical level of war is full of paradoxes and contradictions. You are told to advance and attack without pause but if you do it you expose your flanks. You protect your flanks but you divert forces from your main attack force, weakening your advance. C’est la guerre! As Robert Leonhard once wrote in “Fighting by Minutes”, waging war will require you to “sit and walk at the same time”.

One of the oldest adages in war is “always hold the high ground”. The high ground gives you a vantage point from which to see and shoot the enemy. This blog entry is a friendly reminder that carelessly stepping into the high ground also gives the enemy an opportunity to see and shoot you.

The simulation I’m using for this entry is Steel Beasts ProPE.

A US Cavalry M1 Abrams MBT/M3 Bradley CFV “hunter/killer” team is on the base of a hill. Enemy is likely to be on the other side.

Map showing the hunter/killer team (pink icon in the center) and the line of sight (red/white areas) from their position. At this point the team is in the base of the hill and the line of sight is good to the flanks and to the rear. Since no enemy forces are at the team’s flanks or rear, there is no danger so far.

The hunter/killer cresting the hill. Given the small size of the team and the unknown strength of enemy forces ahead, this wonderful view of the valley is quite dangerous. The reason for this is explained in the caption of the next figure.

Map showing the hunter/killer team (pink icon in the center) and the line of sight (red/white areas) from the crest of the hill. Note how the team can see more terrain than before (good), yet it can also be seen from more enemy-held territory (bad). If weak enemy forces are encountered, the team may survive by firing back. But if equal or superior enemy forces are encountered ... You get the idea.

The crest of hills sometimes make great battle positions. But moving through them while on the march/attack/etc, or stepping on them while on reconnaissance is most of the times not advisable.

In the next installment: what to do instead of cresting.

Cheers,

Steel Beasts ProPE to be updated today!

The release of a new patch for Steel Beasts ProPE is imminent according to this post by Ssnake at the official Steel Beasts forum.

This patch will take the simulation to version v2.483.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: The patch has been released! Info and link courtesy of Alan Giasson (see comments below). Thanks again, Alan.