Aircraft ASW Patrol

[Krasny]

when i set a patrol with a/c with ASW loadout, eg. orions, they just seem to loiter on the patol spot and don't drop sonarbuoys

how do i get a/c to search for subs using the patrol order and use buoys?

[CV32]

ORIGINAL: Krasny
when i set a patrol with a/c with ASW loadout, eg. orions, they just seem to loiter on the patol spot and don't drop sonarbuoys
how do i get a/c to search for subs using the patrol order and use buoys?

This is one of the principal limitations of the Long Range Patrol missions, especially in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) context. Unlike inside a Formation Patrol, your aircraft won't actively search an area, dropping sonobuoys as he goes, or in the case of a helicopter, deploying his dipping sonar. You will unfortunately have to manually plot a course for your ASW aircraft and manually drop sonobuoys by tapping the "." (period) key.

This issue is high on the priority wish list for things we want to improve.

Tip: Plot a course that creates a pattern of passes over the area, dropping 'barrier' lines of sonobuoys. Also, If your aircraft has magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) gear, you may be lucky enough to fly right over the suspected enemy sub.

[Awac835]

i must admit this had me puzzled to. But its good its being looked at.

[mack2]

Is the way ASW planes try to find a contact being improved? Right now they just go in a "X" pattern from the corners of the area of uncertainty of a contact and just keep doing it.

They should probably drop sonobouys in the x pattern, then move to drop them around the border so they are fully bracketing the area of the contact. Or go in a roughly zig-zag fashion until the area is covered by buoys.

[CV32]

ORIGINAL: mack2
Is the way ASW planes try to find a contact being improved? Right now they just go in a "X" pattern from the corners of the area of uncertainty of a contact and just keep doing it.
They should probably drop sonobouys in the x pattern, then move to drop them around the border so they are fully bracketing the area of the contact. Or go in a roughly zig-zag fashion until the area is covered by buoys.

We've dabbled a bit in types of search patterns, and I'm sure that will be an element of the eventual (insert optimism here) fix to the long range ASW patrols.

However, I don't see any real problem with the current X search pattern employed when you're prosecuting an area of uncertainty. By the time an aircraft attempted to cover all the 'borders', the borders would have grown past the line of sonobuoy barriers.

[joey]

I, too, was confused about why a/c would not drop sonobouys. I also could not understand why standoff a/c fire their ordance and still continue on just to be shot down instead of turning around. I hope a future patch can fix these items. Overall, I would give HCE an excellent!

[Krasny]

it is kind of mysterious how this situation persisted over so many iterations of harpoon

it would be an easy thing to program in windows:

1. put a little check box in the course window labled look for subs

2. the a/c drops buoys when the box is checked every so often