DCS World Mission Planning! – Your Guide to Success!
DCS World Mission Planning is a crucial part of creating realistic situations and helping you and your friends fight together online and be successful. Watching many of the current Youtubers flying in DCS World is very entertaining but frustrating as well. I get it that these amazingly entertaining DCS World pilots are actually quite good at what they do one on one but its rare to see more than one aircraft flying combat missions other than 1v1 missions.
Realistic Concepts for DCS World Missions!
When it comes to military concepts I speak with some basic background having been in the Air Force. I spent 23 years in a military environment working on a myriad of fighter jets and a military aircraft enthusiast.
Military aircraft never fly in singles aircraft missions, they always have at lease a wingman. In the bigger scheme of military combat operations generally combines a range of aircraft doing multiple roles. Aircraft will be part of a defensive package for the following strike aircraft plus electronic warfare with anti radar capabilities and more are all included in a realistic mission. This concept seems to be very foreign to people in general and is why I am writing this piece hopefully to get you understanding where I’m coming from.
DCS World Aircraft Formations.
DCS World Mission planning should take you down the path of getting your friends together to fly formations together in you online missions. When you fly in formations you are in a position to support each other and there for should help you to survive longer against the many singleton hunter which seems to be the most common players you find daily.
The diagram above give an idea of the complexities of multiple supportive aircraft groups in a cooperative strike package. This may be of some guidance in your planning in DCS world Missions. The first formation you need is simply a wingman and understand the roles of lead and wingman. This is not as I see often in movies and online DCS World gameplay two players that fly together until enemies are spotted then everyone shoots off to be the next ACE.
DCS World Mission Planning – Wingman Formation
DCS World combat flying is best done by having a wingman by your side. The job of a wingman is to not prosecute a target unless the lead commands it! The wingman is to remain on the leads wing at all times no matter what the lead is doing. A great wingman will be there regardless of what the leader does and this takes practice and communication.
The Wingman is the second pair of eyes looking for threats and targets while the leader prosecutes a target, plans navigation and manages the whole mission. The air co-operatively search the sky with their respective radars.
Radar searching is required by both the lead and wingman where one can search only a specific amount of airspace at a time. Between the two pilots one may search high and the other low in an expected piece of sky where targets may be expected. This is where an AWACS aircraft (Airborne Warning and Control System. In co-operation with a great AWACS you can prosecute targets so having a wingman and a friend operating the AWACS position on the F10 map is invaluable to killing more targets than your friends.
DCS World Formations!
There are a number of standard formations you can use with your friends if your going to fly in a group. These all allow you to cover each others Six O’clock and mutually attack targets.
The Flight Leader is the overall leader of the section of 4 aircraft. His wingman is on his left 45 behind. The Element leader is the number two and his wingman is at the rear 45 to the right. This ensures there are six sets of eyes concentrating on flying with the leader as he manages the navigation and mission planning.
In this popular formation everyone has the opportunity to check behind for attackers. A note here is that yes you should have your eyes out of the cockpit all the time.
DCS World Fighter Spread Formation
The fighter spread formation is one of the most popular formations which has a number of advantages with mutual defense and offence.
The pair fly approximately 1-1.2 Nm apart keeping them in visual sight of each other with a height difference of 1000 ft vertically is often used.
This gives mutual support with the opportunity of one aircraft to turn if attacked to drag the enemy aircraft into a position where the wingman can prosecute an attack on the enemy aircraft.
The defending fighter turns toward the wingman when attacked turning approximately 180 degrees allowing the second fighter who also turns in towards the leader which will put him on the enemy aircrafts six for an attack.
DCS World Mission Planning – AWACS (Airborne Warning & Control System)
The AWACS in an integral part of modern air warfare for both Air Force as well as navy. Both services deploy them to scan extremely large patches of sky looking for enemy contacts as well as friendly contact to commit to attack targets as well as manage the whole in theatre mission plan.
The F10 Map will display everything on the map from aircraft both friendly and enemy. This will enable your non flying friend when flying missions to cover you with a gods eye view. This will enable your team to be directed to intercept targets from more advantages angles and allow you to keep your RADAR off and not warn the target you are coming. Sneak up behind enemies and fire heat seeking missiles without the use of a radar lock.
DCS World AWACS Controlling.
The AWACS controller is a very important job and knowing a few basics is essential. The ability to direct your friends requires a knowledge of concepts like bullseye. Bullseye is a location randomly set by the team. All directions and distances are made with reference to this secret point on the map. This ensures your communications if overheard cannot give your position away.
The AWACS controller will five you a bearing and a distance from this point which can be displayed on your navigation equipment in your aircraft. This will make your job a little easier to be directed.
Your AWACS controller can guide you to targets by BRAA calls which is Bearing Range Altitude and Aspect. You may get a BRAA call from an AWACS something like :
AWACS CALL: BRAA 180 degrees, 25 Nautical miles (Away), Angles 25 (2500 Ft) 450 knots.
In a bearing of 180 the target is behind you, 25 nm away at 25000 ft at 450 knots.
Defence in Depth Concept.
Defense in Depth is a concept we should all understand in DCS World if we are to make our flights and missions more realistic. When creating missions in the mission editor or flying online you will likely run into defenses that have overlapping ranges. The first system may have a range from 0-100 Nm then there may be a second missile system that can engage you from 0-75 km.
There is an area of overlap created here. This can continue right into the target area with shorter range missiles then large anti aircraft guns down to more mobile and smaller caliber weapons.
DCS World Defense in Dept. Air to Air / Surface to Air Deployment.
The Idea of overlapping weapons systems goes back to the missile ages with the first artillery followed by archers firing arrows down to soldiers with spears then the troops with swords.
DCS World will allow you to plan both your air defenses by combining bombers which are protected by fighters accompanied by Growler aircraft for SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) aircraft which all compliment the overall package. These are overlooked by AWACS aircraft to look at the whole in theatre picture. This is how you should plan and prepare your missions.
DCS World Start Planning Realistic Missions.
Planning your missions in the DCS World Mission editor will allow you nearly infinite control of your strike package makeup including weapons configurations and the waypoints the flights will take. It is also possible to set up trigger points for enemies so they don’t prosecute an attack once you pass a given point.
The circles you I see in the diagram are trigger points that will initiate an action like missile launches as well as guns and even enemy or defensive fighters. The options for creating both simple and very complex missions for you and your DCS World Friend.
This post should give you an idea of what defense in depth is all about. Its all mutual support no matter if your a soldier on the ground, ship or aircraft. Planning your missions in DCS World with this concept in mind will make you more effective fighter no matter if you choose to be a tank commander in DCS World Combined Arms or a F-18 Fighter pilot attacking a strategic target.
Author
Brendon McAliece (Aka Gunnie) is a military veteran with 23 years working on Jet Fighters, their weapons systems and ejection seat/module systems as well as munitions and R&D. Involved with flight simulation since the 1980s, he has flown all the major flight simulators over the years.
He is an Australian expat who has lived in Malaysia, UK, Saudi Arabia and more recently Thailand. He is a multi-lingual blogger who loves to share his life experiences here on LetsFlyVFR.com and DreamingGuitar.com, with his lifestyle and Travel experiences Blog plus his Dreaming Coffee website.
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