SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

I was just wondering if this kind of feature that seems rather common could be somehow implemented, now that we will have warheads potentially doing damage farther than the very hex where they explode. I understand very well that small sam wh like Mistral, SAM-7, Stinger and such have to score a hit or a very very near miss to damage their target. I don't think this remains true when you shoot area sam like SAM-12 where the WH weighs-in at 150kgs.
Any comments welcome.

Great job anyway.

Rgds.

Re: SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

Have you any figures about the damaging range of such warheads? AFAIK most SAM warheads use less the blast effect than the penetration of splinters and pre-formed rods, but I agree that the most weight you have, the most penetrators you're likely to get, and with the most KE.

Of course the sheer damage of the thing is counted in the HEK rating (and HEpen), but if you think that it's still to easy to escape these, I guess you could increment the accuracy rating to account for the larger destruction radius (and therefore the lower chance to escape the blast).

Remind though that when a missile misses, it is rarely by even 50m, given the huge speeds of both missile and target and the manoeuvring of both.

Re: SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

Heres a link for SA-12 Gladiator/Giant

http://warfare.ru/?catid=264&linkid=1696

Note it is in the same class as MIM 104 Patriot [Reams have been written on its (in)accuracy and (in)effectivenss!].

Surely the only need for a blast radius is against a formation of aircraft, which WinSPMBT doesnt allow, or a flock of helos (probably below the minimum targeting altitude).

Very few "missiles" rely on an impact fuze, though they usually have one for a lucky hit. The prox fuze is what gives them some chance.

The laser guided Starstreak HVM has 3 APHE sub-munition darts capable of penetrating armour and as such is one of the few "hitiles" actually designed as such. It has been tested in a secondary air-to-ground role as the darts can theoretically penetrate over 1000mm of RHA at 6km.

The current AAA and SAM seems lethal enough to me, but I'm an ex-pilot so I'm probably twitchy about flak!

Weeble

Re: SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

Whoops! forgot to add the link for the new Starstreak THOR combined SAM/SS mount on a Pinzgauer 6x6.

http://www.thalesgroup.co.uk/thales_...veils-thor.cfm

Sorry http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif

Re: SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

Plasmakrab, I've no precise figures and I don't want to open the kind of discussion we've seen before on armor thickness to the mm ;=)
I was just wondering if this kind of feature was somehow representable given the limitations of the game engine.
Besides, I find it hard to have an attack plane "escaping" 5 or 6 SAMs in a row on a single attack run. Either we've only got top of the notch pilots up there, or SAM accuracy needs a serious tweaking.
Any new comments, guys?
Thanks.

Re: SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

Kikka, you have to consider the "time flow" of the game before you start complaining about "an attack plane "escaping" 5 or 6 SAMs in a row on a single attack run". I.e. the game is turn-based, which means that the SAMs that appear in a row during the game may not do so IRL, for instance they may have been fired all at once and therefore the targetted aircraft can shed several of them at once in the same manoeuver.

I have no precise idea of how easily a plane can outmanoeuver (or outsmart) missiles, but if you have the occasion, look at how easily the basic OP aircrafts and transport planes are downed by missiles.
That should hint at just how agile the attack planes are considered to be, and there again, it is not because they are pictured as flying headlong while under fire that they don't actually swing out of their trajectory to escape missiles.

Of course you can do more accurate missiles, the most recent ones are already pretty good, and as the accuracy grows the cost rises reassuringly quickly.

To my mind the only way to picture these heavy SAMs as being able to hit planes as a distance is to raise their accuracy. After all, the accuracy rating just gives you, so to speak, the chance that something will be hitting the target. Splinters count too, just like for artillery shells. Then imagine that, instead of having to find an intersection between the plane and the missile, both on their trajectory, you must collide the target plane with a 10m-radius sphere centered on your missile.
Is that explanation clear enough or should I go back to school to learn how to expose wriggly thoughts? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: SAMs\' proximity fuses
 

One of the reasons why some guided weapons miss so much is the avoidance maneuver of the target.

I belive that the avoidance routines are being revised downwards in the new version. Making both AAA fire and Aircraft more deadly.