Q: I've always found identifying targets in LB and LB2 troublesome, basically because of the weapons constraints that will cover the target at longer distances and the only way I found to avoid that is to turn of master arm. So I really wanna know how you and the beta testers feel about this in F-15.

A: You're going at 300 knots, 5000 feet above a potential target. You don't have time to discriminate. That's why the F-15E is not used as a CAS aircraft. Deep strike is the name of the game.

Q: In the jpg I there's some pretty large crossbars on the flir making it seemingly hard to identify a target, and I guess it indicates a Maverick is being fired.

A: Mavericks have their own, individual weapon firing page. And it's hard to use. :-) I usually just cue mavericks off of HRMs.

Q: Are you going through different modes, perhaps during the acquisition process where you have less clutter on the FLIR moving towards more clutter and finaly the actuall designation?

A: FLIR is pretty simple. You can slew the thing, have three levels of magnification, white-hot and black-hot modes, track, and a lase button. Those are the important ones. You fly towards you target, keep the FLIR on max zoom, see some items, zoom in, track, designate, and lase, then drop.

Or you can get the target on the HRM radar, and cue the FLIR off of that, which makes things much easier (most of the time).

Q: Also there has been complaints about lack of full screen FLIR MFD in the Kiowa in LB2. How's that working in F-15.

A: No full screen FLIR. It's not needed. Target ID is not a part of the game. If you're past friendly lines, you better hope its bad. Becauase you don't have time to check. Just like real life.

Q: Is it Possible, or even neccesary to drop bombs on coordinates revealed from AWACS or TACC?

A: Nope. But you can drop bombs based on radar images created from 80nm away. And JSTARS is in there, so he can tell you to go places.

Q: I was wondering how wingmen in the sim will react to specific commands, and how much control we will have over wingmen 3 and 4. For example: If I detect bandits at 30 nm's in a high aspect merge (with a four ship formation), and order a bracket maneuver at 20 nm's, will my wingman follow me, say to port side, while wingmen 3 and 4 then offset to starboard? Or are they all going to bracket to one side, and leave me "alone" on the other side of the bracket?

A: You mean wingmen 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8? :-) Did a mission today in the Iranian campaign. Two groups of incoming bandits, so I told the second flight of 4 to bracket left. I went right with my 4 guys. They followed me. (Of course, then somehow the lead group disappeared off of my radar and I ended up eating a missile along with 2 of my flight mates.) You separately control your wingman, the other element, and the other division, or the flight as a whole.

Q: Another example: If I were initiating a single side offset intercept (2 ship element), will my wingman stay on the outside as I order engage when we come into weapon parameters. As support, he is responsible for "clearing my six," and I don't want him flying out in front of me, or crossing to the inside as we engage the bandits.

A: You can tell your wingmen to cover you, and change the formation. When you give him the engage order though, its time for the missiles to start flying.

Q: Can we give specific orders to "all" wingmen? Could I order wingmen 3 and 4 to bracket left, while my personal wingman and I bracket right? How much control will we have over our escorts? Can I order them to bracket bandits, while the strike element continues on to the target area (if not directly threatened)?

A: Only control you have over escort flights is to tell them to go home. Other than that, they are smart enough to engage anyone that gets close, and they will respond appropriately to the threat. So if you have a two ship group incoming and a four ship escort, probably only two will break off to engage.

Q: 1. Is the AI for radars and SAMs smart enough to stop emitting if you fire a HARM at them (and only do so under such circumstances that the HARM launch would be detectable to the target)??

A: The F-15E does not carry HARMS.

2. If the AI is smart enough to shut down to avoid HARMs, is it also smart enough to operate EW radars in turns so that no single radar stays up long enough to be HARMed?

A: At the higher levels, the AI gets pretty smart in how radars are used. How intact the air defense network is also plays a part. If you've taken out a GCI radar then the entire network is weaker.

3. Is AAA fire modelled as some "generic unaimed AAA" as in SEIII, or are there several different gun types with their accuracy, fire control, dispersion etc. accurately modelled?

A: We have 23, 37, 57, 85, and 100mm weapons, each with their own effects.

4. How about the accuracy f AAA fire, I suppose the modelling isn't so detailed that optical AAA would start inaccurately and get closer with every burst as the AI gunners adjust their fire?

A: Actually yes, if you fly a predicitable flight path the AI's will adjust their fire to hit you. There are also some AAA site that use barrage firing, where they just try to fill a given area of sky with shells.

5. This was asked in the usenet but I didn't find a good answer in the thread: are white clouds modelled as IR targets for IR-homing missiles? (If not, then at least as obstructions maybe?)

A: Targets,no. Obstructions, yes. The sensitivity and accuracy of IR weapons is affected by cloud cover.