Looking to collect some information on the issues with SARH missiles. This seems to have been an issue going on for about 7 months (from the history I could see on the forums). I am a US player, so the missiles I have encountered issues with are the AIM-7 family (AIM-7F and AIM-7M to be specific).
The issues which I personally have experienced are:
missiles veering drastically off course.
Performing 180 degree turn in flight (the most extreme case I have seen - possibly 1 off event due to latency or other randomness).
Performing 90 degree turns in flight (most common issue I have seen).
Performing a long course correction opposite the intended target.
Exploding immediately off the rails (before an established failure of trajectory can reasonably be determined / unsafe range from aircraft).
Missiles randomly taking on the traits of IR missiles with or without lock. This includes hitting enemy or friendly jets that are not locked.
As these are radar guided missiles, the expectation is that a lock on target needs to be established and maintained. Any instance of the missile making these wild course corrections without lock cannot be included in the discussion (with the exception of a random issue were these missiles take on the characteristic of IR missiles). It is also expected that things like chaff, or evasion will cause misses - instances where this is possible should not be included. The major complaint I have have with this is related primarily to instances where a miss should theoretically not be possible, such as head-on engagements within 10-15km and no evasive actions taken.
I am looking for any videos, images, or instances you have experienced with the SARH missiles. Is this primarily the AIM-7, or are other missiles affected by this? I’d like to put something together to make a solid bug report, but I also wanted to see if this is affecting as many people as I see mentioning it in game? Any reasons why you believe this may be occurring or adjustments to usage that has resolved this for you (maybe it really is just bad usage and therefore requires no bug report haha).
The first things I wanted to add are that ACM && SRC (together and apart) seem to have these issues less than PD modes. Obviously a pilot making corrections in direction will cause some issues with PD modes as these are based on velocities. That being said, they don’t explain all the issues and it shouldn’t be as extreme as some of these issues are! :)
Im no expert air player, but even i know that my aim-7F laumched from F-4S in src pd radar mode shouldnt head towards the ground when the only target i am iluminating is 23km in front of me, going directly towards me and at 6km altitude.
Im currently occupied with the event, but after 19th of february i could help you out and provide as much evidence as i can.
That does bring up another good point in this discussion. We should definitely not be including low level engagement. We do know that utilizing terrain can prevent radar from retaining locks (as it should). We want to make sure that any incidents are at altitude and no obstacles that would reduce aircraft visibility or prevent a missile from reaching target are causing this.
This is unfortunately just you not understanding how radar missiles work. They do not go after what you lock. They go after what they perceive as the target.
When they are no longer receiving a signal from the aircraft they are slaved to, they are supposed to detonate. They are not supposed to find a new target. That’s the issue here. When I can witness these missiles obtain a new target, and follow them - there is an issue. With an IR missile, that’s expected. They look for heat and they follow heat.
As someone fairly new to the F-15, I do think that it should have been raised. What I am capable of doing in it is pretty insane. It’s a very powerful aircraft and run correctly it swats the 12.7 F-16 out of the sky even still.
You are right, no HMD does suck. The radar set is still pretty capable without it. It’s not designed to be a close range dogfighter like the F-16 however, so HMD isn’t the biggest concern.
Radar missiles like the topic is about, is a big concern.
The main one is, you can get a dowtier to 11.3 and see absolute zero treaths at your level, thus screwing with anyone that dares to be the unlucky 11.3 on your path.
This is also my experience, and it is a major concern of mine. I’ve spent a few dozen hours researching and learning the radar sets. It’s pretty perplexing to see them not perform as intended.
As an F-4S player, which I don’t think is equal to the other primary 11.3 (MiG-23). I really feel bad when I go into a match with an F-15. I know very well that my capabilities outmatch ANYTHING in 11.3. It’s also pretty easy for me to rack up 5 kills before the match ends.
Have you tried widening the radar scope? I do find the default radar settings a bit off. I usually switch to the largest view I can get when I am scanning the whole field. I decrease it when I am closer in range.