More information about the event in the dedicated page.
This discussion is an attempt to clarify a couple of points about the upcoming F-14B(U) and, by doing so, hopefully help players understand what such a module brings to the air-to-air table.
My thesis is rather simple: the F-14B(U) has a surprisingly long list of features aimed at improving and streamlining the air-to-air workflow. However, the radar is the 1960s AWG-9. This kit is vastly outdated when compared to its early-2000s peers. Ergo, players must be conscious of its limitations and use the same techniques they applied for the F-14A and B to be successful.
To prove my point, I will start by providing a brief historical and geopolitical overview, then a broad look at some new features and, lastly, a recap of some techniques and features dating back to 2019.
Long Story Very, Very Short
Let’s start from a simple fact: the end of the Cold War brought dramatic effects to society, politics, and more. From the military perspective and the Tomcat in particular, it meant that, as the budget shrank, the F-14’s dusk approached. Consequently, further upgrades of the Tomcat were cancelled. There’s more: the process for the adoption of the AIM-120 AMRAAM started and underwent some preliminary tests, but the already reduced budget was reallocated to the LANTIRN pod integration instead. Even worse, the AIM-152, successor of the AIM-54 Phoenix, was cancelled at the beginning of the 1990s. Considering that the AIM-54C was deemed obsolete already in the mid-1980s, this was a clear signal that times were changing fast. The hordes of Soviet bombers were not the primary threat any more.
A fellow tester pointed out that the 2000s Tomcats were still supposed to face MiG-29s and Su-27, to which I replied: OK, but who had them? After the 11/09/2001 events, there were even rumours of Russia wanting either to join or to tightly collaborate with NATO. There were de facto no other nations capable of constituting a concrete aerial threat.
At that point in history, the F-14’s superb air-to-air characteristics and weapons still made it a capable adversary, but its main role shifted and changed, and the platform had to adapt. This does not mean that the F-14 was now only an attack aircraft; otherwise, if you allow me a hyperbole, they would have been fielded with AIM-9s only, of course. The upgrades of the B-Upgrade show a clear path towards air-to-ground missions. It makes sense in that particular context. However, this fact can become relatively problematic when we move back to DCS, as the Cold War in most servers never ended.
The F-14B Upgrade
The F-14B(U) is a capable air-to-ground platform. It offers the superb performance of the F-14B, along with vastly superior navigation kit and precise bombing capability.
Air-to-air-wise, as I mentioned earlier, it is both new and old at the same time. To better convey what I mean, I will use an IT parallel: the “backend” of the F-14B(U) is still the same; the “frontend” is almost entirely new. In simpler words, the user interface is vastly improved, more modern and easy to work with, but the stuff under the hood is fundamentally unchanged.
New Shiny Things
The recent video about the VDIG(R) shows several such improvements. Now, the pilot has access to numerous parameters that were always available, but were harder to grasp at a glance due to the analogue avionics and the necessity of relying on the Radar Intercept Officer to build Situational Awareness.
For example, parameters such as VC, range, Antenna Train Angle, and altitude were usually communicated by the RIO or displayed on the TID repeater. Now, the pilot just has to look straight ahead. This makes the pilot’s life vastly simpler, and positive effects cascade on the RIO as well.
Other additions such as the shoot, notch, and F-pole cues were, and here I speak out of experience, typically eyeballed by the Radar Intercept Officer as a function of the flight parameters of the Tomcat and the target. Nothing particularly difficult, but they stacked on the already considerable workload. Once again, this kind of feature makes the life of both crew members much easier.
Speaking of workflow, the adoption of the GPS is another clear example in such a direction. The Radar Intercept Officer still has to monitor the avionics, of course, but operations such as manual INS Fix updates and fiddling with manual or computed Magnetic Variation are not as preponderant any more.
As the mentioned video showed, the information has always been there, albeit not in such an intuitive way compared to the improvements deployed 30 years later. Most of them, that is. Details such as the bullseye references had to be approximated via NAVGRID or a spider card, for example. There goes another layer that stacked on the already important workflow.
The other side of the coin, and this is what this discussion is about, is that the limitations affecting the combo AWG-9 / AIM-54 Phoenix are still very much present.
Smashing Bugs
On top of the many new features, an absurd number of bugs have been resolved, and improvements applied. Many touched the radar, both in terms of performance in-game and in terms of simulation performance.
An example affecting everyone is the long-standing Pulse Gain bug that allowed RIOs to remove the clutter and visualise only targets, even when looking down.
Some Good Old Stuff
Let’s have a look at a couple of old concepts that were applicable before, and still are. They originate from the days when there was no “how-to” documentation, and should reinforce the point I am trying to make. This is basically DCS RIO 101.
- In primis, radar detection ranges are defined. Ordered by range, we find:
- AGC trace signal;
- PDSRCH return;
- Ability to STT a return and FM ranging.
The last point can differ depending on the target. So, by checking when each step is triggered, you can generally tell what type of target you are facing and the range. The altitude is approximated by correlating the EL strobe.
With a bit of experience, you can also eyeball and have a broad idea of target aspect, speed, direction of pass, heading crossing angle, et cetera.
For example, an F-15C appears as a minor AGC disturbance at circa 150nm. At 115nm, the brick appears on the DDD in PDSRCH, but it cannot be locked yet. Meanwhile, nothing is shown yet in RWS and TWS. At 90nm, the FM ranging kicks in and F-15 can be locked in PDSTT and shows up in RWS and TWS. By crossing these details plus the RWR, the IFF, and observing the behaviour over time, the RIO can really generate valuable Situational Awareness at mind-blowing ranges. -
Next, there is probability of detection. Or, better put, the lack of it. Ergo, a RIO can fully open the radar when appropriate, without having to worry about the lengthy scan time, since nothing within the scanned range is missed. Assuming terrain masking and radar blind zones are not exploited, that is.
The other side of the coin is that the maximum detection range is reduced. Sporadic returns and signals should be observable beyond the already incredible detection range of the AWG-9. -
The ways to handle the Main lobe clutter and zero-Doppler filters are pretty much the same. The DDD does the usual great job showing both of them, so handling them is really trivial unless you are an ab initio player.
In particular, the notch filter is ±133 kts, and the ZD filter is ±100 kts. Here we see the age of the AWG-9: modern mechanical radars’ notch gate is usually much smaller than 266 kts. -
The Tactical Information Display has been replaced by its younger brother, the PTID. Nevertheless, the fundamental Aircraft Stabilised mode is still there, allowing the RIO to build a picture of the airspace in a single glance.
The vectors still represent the relative geometry, and are drawn by executing a simple subtraction of the Euclidean vectors. In particular:- A vector pointing towards the centre, where the Tomcat symbol is, indicates Collision Course;
- A vector pointing straight down indicates zero-Cut or 180HCA or DTG. Ergo, the Tomcat is flying towards the target’s reciprocal heading;
- The vector length represents VC.
Damn, I remember when the F-14 was released. It took me ages to figure out how these vectors worked!
What is the B(U) about
So, given what I said so far, is the B(U) just a new HUD? The answer is a decisive no. Although the source of information is the same, the way it is handled is entirely new.
The point is: if you were a good Pilot and RIO before, the new tools will act as a force-multiplier, streamlining the flow, better presenting information, thus solidifying your situational awareness and cooperation with other assets. If you struggled before, they won’t help you or, perhaps, you will take advantage of only a fraction of what the new avionics provides. I recommend putting effort into understanding your tools. It’s not hard these days any more. When the F-14B was released in 2019, there was no in-depth documentation about how to do things in the F-14, not to mention air-to-air procedures such as Timelines and geometry. Now there is plenty.
I hope you have found this discussion useful. As always, if you have questions, feel free to ask.
Leave comments and feedback in the Discussion Forum thread.
You must be logged in to post a comment.