OneShot
05-29-2005, 08:13 PM
Taken from : SubSim DW Tactics & Tips (http://www.subsim.com/ssr/tip_dangerwaters.html)
P-3C and MH-60 ASW
MH-60: Watch your dipping sonar’s scope (deployed distance) when operating over shallow waters. It could be damaged by hitting the bottom.
MH-60: If you’ve ordered zero speed (hover) and you never seem to get below a certain (very low) speed, you are being affected by wind. Change your heading in 10-degree increments until you get to the desired speed.
Both: When deploying sonobuoys, you must bear in mind the laws of physics. A sonobuoy launched at high speed and altitude will travel further from the launch point than one that was launched from slower speed and lower altitude. This must be taken into account when planning and deploying a buoy field.
These same physics principles apply to any object that you drop from an aircraft, like mines and torpedoes.
Both: The maximum range on each gram display at the acoustics station is 12,000 yards or 6nm. As a practical matter, most buoys will not detect the quietest modern subs at that range. Therefore, you'll want to lay your "buoy field" with less spacing between buoys than 12nm (twice the radius of a buoy's theoretical maximum detection range); 9nm should be the maximum separation between your buoys (less would be better, but you only have so many buoys per flight before you'd have to land and reload), and still might not even detect a submerged Kilo with that sort of overlap. However, it will give you the best chance of detecting your target.
Your Nav Map drawing tools are very helpful in planning a buoy field. Place position markers and measure 9nm or less between each one; you will be able to see these markers at the ATO and TACCO stations, and can place your buoy drop waypoints close to those markers.
Both: If you are playing a single-player scenario, you can fly all day over a target submarine and not worry about SAMs from the sub; the AI subs do not have SAMs in their loadout. If, however, you are playing a multiplayer scenario, and you have some information as to the location of the enemy sub (range/bearing or bearing only), you will want to make an effort to stay out of the enemy sub’s SAM range (3.5nm). Sneaky sub drivers (and those who care nothing for realism) might try to bait you into flying down their bearing by surfacing briefly and running the radar. Do NOT fall for this unrealistic tactic. Instead, try "skirting" the bearing and dropping buoys on either side of the bearing line.
Both: The Mk 46 and Mk 50 torpedoes have sufficient range for you to launch them from a "standoff" range that will keep you out of the sub’s SAM range. Don’t get cocky.
P-3C and MH-60 Strike and ASuW
Both: In order to launch Hellfire or AGM-65 Maverick missiles, you must be "pointed" at the target.
MH-60: When conducting strikes in an area protected by SAM sites, you must first determine the location of the SAM site(s) so that you can avoid them. If you’re flying the MH-60, you will hover in two different spots, observing the ESM bearing of the SAM site’s radar emission each time. Place a line of position marks along the ESM bearing. Where the two lines of chart marks intersect is the location of the SAM site; each site has an effective radius of approximately 3.5nm.
P-3C and MH-60 ASW
MH-60: Watch your dipping sonar’s scope (deployed distance) when operating over shallow waters. It could be damaged by hitting the bottom.
MH-60: If you’ve ordered zero speed (hover) and you never seem to get below a certain (very low) speed, you are being affected by wind. Change your heading in 10-degree increments until you get to the desired speed.
Both: When deploying sonobuoys, you must bear in mind the laws of physics. A sonobuoy launched at high speed and altitude will travel further from the launch point than one that was launched from slower speed and lower altitude. This must be taken into account when planning and deploying a buoy field.
These same physics principles apply to any object that you drop from an aircraft, like mines and torpedoes.
Both: The maximum range on each gram display at the acoustics station is 12,000 yards or 6nm. As a practical matter, most buoys will not detect the quietest modern subs at that range. Therefore, you'll want to lay your "buoy field" with less spacing between buoys than 12nm (twice the radius of a buoy's theoretical maximum detection range); 9nm should be the maximum separation between your buoys (less would be better, but you only have so many buoys per flight before you'd have to land and reload), and still might not even detect a submerged Kilo with that sort of overlap. However, it will give you the best chance of detecting your target.
Your Nav Map drawing tools are very helpful in planning a buoy field. Place position markers and measure 9nm or less between each one; you will be able to see these markers at the ATO and TACCO stations, and can place your buoy drop waypoints close to those markers.
Both: If you are playing a single-player scenario, you can fly all day over a target submarine and not worry about SAMs from the sub; the AI subs do not have SAMs in their loadout. If, however, you are playing a multiplayer scenario, and you have some information as to the location of the enemy sub (range/bearing or bearing only), you will want to make an effort to stay out of the enemy sub’s SAM range (3.5nm). Sneaky sub drivers (and those who care nothing for realism) might try to bait you into flying down their bearing by surfacing briefly and running the radar. Do NOT fall for this unrealistic tactic. Instead, try "skirting" the bearing and dropping buoys on either side of the bearing line.
Both: The Mk 46 and Mk 50 torpedoes have sufficient range for you to launch them from a "standoff" range that will keep you out of the sub’s SAM range. Don’t get cocky.
P-3C and MH-60 Strike and ASuW
Both: In order to launch Hellfire or AGM-65 Maverick missiles, you must be "pointed" at the target.
MH-60: When conducting strikes in an area protected by SAM sites, you must first determine the location of the SAM site(s) so that you can avoid them. If you’re flying the MH-60, you will hover in two different spots, observing the ESM bearing of the SAM site’s radar emission each time. Place a line of position marks along the ESM bearing. Where the two lines of chart marks intersect is the location of the SAM site; each site has an effective radius of approximately 3.5nm.