Questions about escorts and strike missions.

[jg325]

I am playing the red war scenario from chains of war, and I have noticed that some of the aircraft on the main strike mission are carrying AAWs, will they use them against enemy fighters?
And some of my escort craft have AGWs, will they strike at targets from the strike list or will they return to base with the munitions?
And finally, is there any way to have new targets added to the target list as they appear or do I have to do it manually?

[PN79]

Yes, the aircrafts on strike missions with AAWs are using them if they are in position to do it. But they do not search for enemy aircrafts.

The escort aircrafts can use AGWs but in this case is important setting in Doctrine & ROE. If it is set accordingly they can active search for ground targets and engage them.

With the last question I think that this has to be done manually.

[LMychajluk]

Interesting comment re: the Escort ROE. Often I assign HARM aircraft to Escort. Now I'll have to ensure that the Doctrine/ROE of the mission allow for them to use the AGM missles. I also notice that the Escort doctrine usually has Radar Emmissions set to Active, which I usually disable for more of a stealth strike.

One issue I have w/ the Escorts, though, is just getting them to fly ahead of the strike package. Often, they'll be behind it, so the strike package takes the brunt of any interceptors. How are you guys handling this? Are you manually launching the Escorts first?

[DWReese]

Well,

If they are carrying HARMs and such, then it might be advisable to have Active emissions because it alerts the enemy to turn on their radars so that you can shoot at them.

As far as flying WITH (or behind) the strike package, I think that the idea is that they will be able to shoot from as far away as possible in an effort to avoid contact with the enemy. Do remember that planes flying as Escorts can be armed with HARMs or they can be Fighters, or they can even be OECM a/c. You can even start them from different bases and the Escorts will try to catch up (if behind) to the Strikers. Could it be better? Yes. Are there times that you would prefer that they be out in front? Absolutely. But, for now, we deal with what we have. To me, they work well enough.

One thing that I would like to see (even if it likely doesn't make sense) is for the Escorts to stick around WITH the Strikers after the Escorts have fired off all of the ordinance. I know that they are merely targets at that point, but it does seem like they should "stay with their date" instead of just leaving the area. <g>

Doug

[LMychajluk]

...

With the last question I think that this has to be done manually.

For the OP - I was just re-reading this thread and wanted to add that, though targets won't technically be added to the list, there is a check-box next to the Target List in the Mission Planner that says something like 'Allow Targets not in List'. If this is checked off, the strike package will fire on other targets in the area. It seems to me like the priority is given to the listed targets, and then other targets are hit if the attackers have ordinance leftover, but I haven't experimented or paid that much attention to exactly what the priority is, so I could be wrong. I usually have the strike mission concentrate on the targets in the list, then add to it manually when I want.