- Yes
- No
- MAWS uses the periodic countermeasure release settings
- MAWS has its own customisable release setting
- A secret third thing
- I voted no
At present, the Missile Approach Warning Systems in-game can have countermeasure slaving enabled, in which case they use the below release pattern:
Spoiler
When both flares and chaff are selected as countermeasures, the MAWS will release 32 countermeasures over the course of 4 seconds (which in my experience is the typical release time).
While some aircraft can afford this, others are more limited and as a result 2 MAWS alerts can deplete their entire countermeasure stores. However, over a longer match even aircraft with a relatively high number of countermeasures can also find themselves running out, and with a large number of missiles launched on both sides it might not even take that long.
Most people (that I’m aware of) simply disable slaving and use the MAWS alert to help with awareness, dropping countermeasures themselves as they feel is needed.
I propose that the MAWS slaving should be customisable, allowing people to set patterns that work best for them and the aircraft they use.
One option is for the MAWS to use the periodic countermeasure release settings we already have in-game. This wouldn’t require any new UI elements, as the parameters can already be set in the spawn screen. This would require the player to tweak the settings each time they changed aircraft which might not be perfectly convenient (I personally would lean towards suggesting the addition of player-made presets to help streamline the process).
Another option is for each MAWS to have its own customisable release settings. This would “save” the pattern, and for planes that share a system (such as the Typhoon) the pattern would be shared across the relevant aircraft. This would allow for release patterns that work best for each specific aircraft (for example, the high CM count on the Harrier GR.7 would allow for a larger density to be released, while the Typhoon’s relatively smaller count can release more sparingly). The downside here would be the potential UI clutter, either requiring space in the spawn menu or the options menu.
I welcome alternative ideas for the implementation as well, these two are the ones that come to mind for me and I’d be happy to hear more input on how the feature could realistically function.
In summary, allowing the players to choose the release pattern for CMs slaved to the MAWS system would turn the feature from mostly being an inconvenience to being an attractive aspect of aircraft that carry such systems.
Thank you for your consideration.
