The Ultimate DCS World AIR COMBAT – Guide All you need to SURVIVE!
DCS World Air Combat Guide.
This DCS World air combat guide is for the absolute beginner who wants to take to the virtual skies. Air combat needs to be broken down into a multitude of smaller parts so you can understand it as a whole. This is what I will do here for you in this tutorial. Every part of this guide will help you understand the complexities of BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) as well as BVE (Beyond Visual Engagements) where you cannot visually see an enemy.
- What is Air Combat
- Terminology in the aircraft
- Terminology of the Fight
- What is BFM
- What is BVR Combat
- Instantaneous Turn Performance
- Weapons Types General Guide
- RWR What it Can and Cannot do!
- Counter measures – Chaff & Flares
- The F Pole Defense
- Notching to Survive
- Sustained Turn Performance
- One Circle & Two Circle fights
- Long Range Kills – Speed Wins
- Short Range Kills – Nose Authority
- No Magic Maneuvers to Win
- Create and solve fight Geometry
- The Lift Line is Your Friend
- It’s a learning Marathon not a Sprint
- Practicing Is The Key – Mission Editor
- PvP & PvE Multiplayer Servers – Epic
- Your Going To Die A lot – It’s OK!
What is Air Combat
DCS World air combat is simply the killing of your opponent by knowing both your aircraft and weapons performance better than your opponent. It’s no different to driving a race car. Some cars are good in the straights, others corner amazingly well. Then there is the all rounder that tries to do it all but does not excellent either. What are you in? What is your opponent in? Knowing this before the fight starts will help you plan your engagements and make you the victor.
Terminology In The Aircraft
Terminology can be hard to grasp when your new to DCS World air combat so when you hear other talking about things like boresight, on their six or notching the SAM. It’s a new language you need to know. Let’s look at some general terms you will hear.
- Bogie – Unidentified Target
- Bandit – Known Enemy
- Wingman – Your Assistant
- Lead – The leading Aircraft
- IR – Infra Red (Missile)
- FOX – Missile Launch Call
- FOX 1 – Needs Radar Lock to Kill
- FOX 3 – Fire and Forget Missile
- Heater – IR Missile Like the AIM-9
- IRST – Infra Red Search & Track System
- HMTS – Helmet Mounted Tracking System
- Boresight – A Cone in front of your aircraft.
- Off Boresight – A wider area in front of your aircraft.
- High Aspect – Nose to Nose
- Low Aspect – Nose to Tail
- One & Two Circle Flow – A/A Geometry
Terminology of the Fight
There is a lot of new language with flying fighters. You will need to know If your in an offensive or Defensive position. The aspect of the fight changes depending on your orientation to the other aircraft.
ASPECT
If you are nose to nose then you in a high aspect situation. If your in a low aspect position you will behind the behind the enemy aircraft chasing it.
3-9 Line
The Three – Nine line is an important term referring to the line drawn across your wings if the front of the aircraft is 12 O’clock and your tail is your 6 O’clock. We will discuss why this is important soon.
Jamming the WEZ or the weapons employment zone is the area tour opponent can kill you with missiles or guns. Just keeping the other fight to close to you to fire a missile. A good tactic if you are.evenly matched.
WEZ
This WEZ IS a distance close to ALL aircraft where missiles are not yet armed or will not be able to turn to kill you. The WEZ. Staying close to your enemy limits their ability to launch missiles but guns are still a threat. A tactic used by pilots to work into an advantageous position.
ONE Circle & TWO Circle Fights
One Circle Vs Two Circle Flows are common in DCS World air combat and its about the most important concept you MUST understand! In a dogfight knowing this will allow you to understand the geometry of the fight and react accordingly. Its the answer to the question “What should I do First?” in a DCS World air combat dogfight no matter if its Player vs Player or Player Vs Environment dogfighting.
DCS World Air Combat – One Circle.
If two aircraft fly Nose to nose they trace a single circle in the air and is known as a ONE CIRCLE flow.
The one circle fighter has amazing nose authority and can make the initial turn incredibly fast. It gets nose on and kills first if allowed to control the fight. It is an RADIUS fighter using its energy to make high AoA turns to kill the opponent. It is the fighter that can turn in the smallest Circle area.
DCS World Air Combat Two Circle.
When two aircraft one chasing the other ie. nose to tail they trace two circles in the air. What’s important about this fight is that the aircraft with the fastest TURN RATE will win if flown correctly. It requires good speed discipline and patience but the Two Circle fighter will win this engagement. The rate fighter gets around the circle fastest.
BFM BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS
Basic Fighter Manoeuvres are simply the turns, rolls, loops and climbs you use to solve BFM problems to get a kill. BFM has no magic play book or definitive do this when that happens to achieve a kill.
BFM is also about knowing your aircraft and what are it’s best qualities. Is it a Radius (One Circle) fighter or a RATE (Two Circle) fighter.
Once Circle fighter are the F-18 and.Mirage which have excellent nose authority even at very low speeds.
Two Circle fighters are the F-16 Viper which is the king of two circle combat.
Knowing this will determine what you do to enter the fight geometry you want.
When you Merge (pass at close range) you will know which way to turn to create the fight you desire. Is it always possible? No it’s not! BFM is about solving Geometry and moving your aircraft in such a way you can move into a kill position or defend from one.
Your opponent may deny you your fight by changing direction but at the right time you can also reverse your turn and take control. Timing is so important when changing direction. Do it at the wrong time and you will fly through the opponents HUD and kill you.
In passing a fighter you can lead turn the way that suits you but you must watch the opponent. If you can’t see it you can safely assume it’s behind you. Change direction and react to the situation. Be proactive and reactive.
REMAIN TALLY – Remain Visual.
The first rule of DCS World air combat BFM is to stay tally. That is to keep the opponent in sight at all times. Seems simple but in a rolling turning fight this can be a challenge. So importantly if you lose sight you cannot react to their next move. Be prepared to get use to flying and looking behind you. It’s a challenge in VR but on a screen not so hard on the knock.
BVR Beyond Visual Range
BVR Combat is a different beast from BFM. Combat is often many miles apart. Some of the newest missiles have ranges well over 100 miles and even the Phoenix Aim-54 had a range of over 80 miles. Launching missiles at long range at an opponent depends on both the energy the missile has at launch from its motor and the launch aircraft’s launch speed and altitude. Altitude plays a large point in performance because the thin air at higher altitude will allow the missile to fly much further.
The thinner air provides much less friction allowing it to fly further. Consider the difference between walking on a path to walking in sand to walking in water. It is the same concept. Seal level is water, 20,000ft is sand and 30,000 ft and higher is air. I hope this explains it for you. Flying your aircraft fast and high can change your AIM-120 launch effectively range from 15 miles to 50 miles at launch. Yes it means an incredible performance boost. If you want long range kills the F-16 with its powerful engine and high altitude is again probably the king of BVR engagements in DCS World.
RADAR & IR Detection
Your RWR (radar warning receiver) shows you radar threats both air and ground. We will discuss the air to air problems for now. Radars emit energy like a torch beam. When light reflects off an object like a torch it is visible to the aircraft. The RWR detects the radar energy and tells you someone has looked at or has locked onto you. Radar warnings will be obvious when the aircraft and or missile locks on to you. There is a but though to this statement.
Modern aircraft and misses like the Amram-120 use a mode called track while scan (TWS) mode that does not show up as locking on you. This is where some guess work by you has to take place in estimating a launch probability. Their range, height and speed will help to heighten your danger level. If you lock onto the the attacking aircraft you will have an idea of its likely launch activity. If you notice it suddenly change direction this could mean a launch and it’s defending a possible launch from you. If you do not react the last you hear from your RWR will be the terminal lock of the missile.
There are some IR long range and short range missiles. The Sidewinder or AA-11 Archer are examples. IR missiles do not normally give you a warning in DCS but many real world aircraft have detectors for IR launches. The F-111 did when I worked on it.
DEFENDING A MISSILE LAUNCH
Defending a missile launch is made easy by some of the good YouTube pilots. The process is simple and seems effective. Return the launch or launch first.
Dive to either side till the locked target is at the edge of your radar lock causing the missile to lead out in front of you even more to intercept you. By waiting 10 seconds then reversing the missile simply does not have the energy to change direction and reach a new intercept point ahead of you. Its effective and if you keep your lock your in a position to actively respond! If required you can also turn so you are 90 degrees to the radar no matter if its an aircraft, SAM or missile radar and it will normally lose lock. Doppler radars measure the change in distance toward or away from them, If you put the tracking radar on your wing tip and the lock indication will disappear quickly.
Chaff & Flares Countermeasures.
Chaff and Flares have been part of the military aircraft arsenal since missiles became a weapon. Countermeasures like flares and chaff are effective in deciding missiles but not on their own. The pilot has to be ready to use them. Simply pushing out flares and chaff hoping to avoid a missile isn’t very effective.
Long Range missiles the use of chaff is more effective if you dump chaff and put the attacking aircraft on your 3 or 9 o’clock. Radars depend on your closure rate to see you. The Doppler effect so if you stop moving relevant to the aircraft tracking you they will lose lock on you. Simply put turn so they are in line with either wing plus dispense chaff should do a good job of defeating a missile.
Flares is a bit more hectic because today’s heat seeking missiles can see the whole plane from the hot engines to the heat of the air on the wings. They are very good. If you see an aircraft in a position behind you looking like it will fire a missile then launch flares plus reduce power. Make sure the afterburner is not the hottest thing front of the missilen. Make the flares the hottest target.
Turn hard towards the attacking aircraft. There is no guarantee in DCS but it will give you a better chance if you pre flare. Flare before the missile is launched. Once it’s in the air it has you looked and it’s harder to defeat it.
The F Pole Maneuver (1v1)
The F Pole maneuver is a defensive maneuver to defeat missiles launched at you. This is different from the Notch where you fly at 90 degrees to the attacking aircraft. I the F Pole maneuver once you have a launch indication or you suspect a missile has been launched you lock the enemy aircraft (1) and turn 45 degrees to either side. Maintain your radar-lock of the enemy aircraft. You fly this path for about 10 seconds.
The launched aircrafts missile is attempting to intercept you on your current heading. Now make a second turn back toward the attacking aircraft and launch a missile at them. Now fly at 45 degrees in the other direction. The missile tracking you will run out of energy trying to intercept you. Your missiles should intercept and kill the fighter.
F Pole Multiple Aircraft.
If attacked my multiple aircraft the F Pole takes a different form. You must have the aircraft locked. When you get a launch indication then firstly fly 45 degrees away from the attacking aircraft. Keep it locked! In about 10 seconds the missile tracking you has established a lead path to intercept you. Now turn back toward the attacking aircraft and launch your missile(s). You should have all the aircraft locked in TWS (track while scan). As you face them launch but this time because there may be more missiles in the air continue your turn and fly away as fast as possible. Full burner and decent so any missiles hit the denser air. Flare and Chaff as well. There are some long range Russian IR missiles hence the flares. You have to anticipate the threat.
Notching To Survive!
Notching I have already mentioned but let’s review what it is and what it does. We have already noted that Doppler radars track you by your closure rate. To enter the notch as its called you fly at 90 degrees to the tracking aircraft. Done correctly you will simply disappear like magic or at least give them an intermittent track. You can use your RWR to help you. Make a left or right turn so the aircraft symbol is on your 3 or 9 o’clock line. You should be in the notch at this point and not visible to that aircraft. Others that are not 90 degrees to you may still see you.
Corner Speed – Perfect Speed.
The corner speed for aircraft is critical to sustain energy and maximum turn performance. This is relevant to both one and two circle fighters. It’s the speed at which the fighter can turn the fastest. All aircraft their own corner speed. There are also two types. Sustained corner speed where the aircraft can maintain its maximum performance turn and not lose speed.
Instantaneous Turn.
Instantaneous Turn rate speed is the speed the aircraft can make it’s greatest turn but cannot sustain it. It will bleed its speed rapidly. Entering a merge at your instantaneous corner speed pulling hard till you reach your sustained corner speed seems the best tactic. It is harder to do than it seems when your looking at your opponent and flying. This is where helmet mounted displays can help keeping all your flight data available no matter where you look but you have to be conscious of it when turning.
Determining Your Corner Speed.
Corner speeds can be found in EM Energy Management Diagrams. These show any aircraft’s performance at a given speed and configuration. This speed I understand remains the same in Mach number And this is likely the best reference. Mach number remains constant as height changes. As you climb air thins and Mach number drops so you need to be faster to maintain the same Mach speed and performance turn. It will ensure your wings have consistent bite on the air to perform so remembering your Mach speed as opposed to a knots speed may well be more accurate.
There is no Magic Technique.
There is no magic one technique in air combat. Flying your corner speed as much as possible will certainly help but your opponent won’t just fly around to let you get on their six and kill them. They will redefine the fight by climbing and trying to fly down behind I you. They will barrel role and swap from side to side trying to force you out in front. You may even see a cobra from a Su but you will kill them if they do. Be prepared to get shot down regularly when your new! We all get shot down a frustrating amount of times till one day a light come on in your head and you finally understand.
Practice Practice.
I highly recommend you fly lots of different 1v1 fights with all the AI aircraft at varying skill levels. Once you are competent here head to the Dogfight servers and try your hand. Learn about multiplayer here. Good luck and enjoy what is an amazing experience. The people are great and you will run into newbies and then someone who is really got their game plane and you will die. A lot of up and down emotions but at the end of the day it’s entertainment. I hope you found this quick DCS world combat guide for absolute beginners helpful! Get DCS COMBAT SURVIVAL GUIDE HERE!
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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