[Resolved] 1121.5- RIM 161E weird intercept path

[bostjan]

Ship to the north (DDG 124) fires RIM161E missiles trying to intercept Dong Fengs. After 2 minutes of flight RIMs go vertical (looks like they have stopped in top view) then make a sharp right 120° turn and start to chase Dong Fengs. Weird isn`t it?

[bostjan]

Attached is the test scenario:

[DWReese]

In the last couple of updates that made a trajectory path change that I believe is pretty realistic, actually. These missiles are designed to intercept ballistic missiles which mean they are well above the ceiling of most missiles. Therefore, the normal flight path for them appear to initially be straight up, and then they make a turn, just as you described. I actually think that it is quite clever on the part of the programmers.

In short, I believe that they are working exactly as they should. Did they still shoot down the incoming missiles? Again, they are designed to attack with a deck (bottom altitude of 100 kilometers (330,000 feet). There are many versions of the Dong Feng, and I don't know which you are talking about. But, if they RIM-161's aren't attacking, then it might be that the Dong Feng is likely beneath the deck. But, if they are destroying the Dong Fengs, then everything is good.

[fire-fox]

DWreese DD 21D (CSS 5 mod 4) per the screen shot

[bostjan]

ORIGINAL: DWReese

In the last couple of updates that made a trajectory path change that I believe is pretty realistic, actually. These missiles are designed to intercept ballistic missiles which mean they are well above the ceiling of most missiles. Therefore, the normal flight path for them appear to initially be straight up, and then they make a turn, just as you described. I actually think that it is quite clever on the part of the programmers.

In short, I believe that they are working exactly as they should. Did they still shoot down the incoming missiles? Again, they are designed to attack with a deck (bottom altitude of 100 kilometers (330,000 feet). There are many versions of the Dong Feng, and I don't know which you are talking about. But, if they RIM-161's aren't attacking, then it might be that the Dong Feng is likely beneath the deck. But, if they are destroying the Dong Fengs, then everything is good.

Did they still shoot down the incoming missiles?

8 out of 8 RIMs missed. (scenario is available for watching in the post above)

[laro]

Very low hit ratio (either no interception or 1 interception per 16 missiles shot) is similar to what I am experiencing with Aegis Ashore here:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4746813

[DWReese]

I have tested this type of situation shooting the SSM AT the target ship carrying the -161s. All of the SSMs were easily shot down, so I know that they work.

When I tried your scenario, the situation is different. The shooter is located in between the launcher and the target. The calculation initially looks for the target to the Southeast, then has to adjust to move South, and then chases the SSMs to the Southwest. That's a lot of calculations. All of my -161s missed, even though they caught up to the targets. I just think that there were too many moving parts to your situation.

If you play the Korean Missile Crisis (good scenario, BTW), you can manually force the launch of the No Dongs and then watch the US shoot at them. That's pretty fun to see. I launched them at Japan as well, and watched that one, too. Again, they worked.

So, it's likely the multiple calculations that cause the problem.

I'll continue to test your scenario.

[bostjan]

Feedback for the new CMO version:
1. The scenario tested with b1121.6- no change in either flight path nor in 0 hit ratio for the RIMs
2. With the sceneario upgraded to the new database v481a: RIMs fly the same intercept path but with good hit ratio- OK /u]

[laro]

Great! I will upgrade my scenario to the latest DB and see if it works.

[Rory Noonan]

Thanks for the report!

0013632

[laro]

When updated to the latest DB the interception ratio increased (though I am suspecting this was not required in my case as I observed some improvement without doing so just by updating CMO) but still seems to be quite low (instead of 0/1 per 16 missiles shot currently 2/3 out of 16 score kills). There are 8 Iskanders coming (in 2 groups of 4).

[laro]

I tested it a bit more and was able to destroy 7 out of 8 missiles with 16 RIM-161Es shot so not bad. But still in many cases hit ratio is low (like 1 out of 8 intercepted). Maybe somebody who has more experience with intercepting ballistic missiles (especially short range ballistic missiles) have a look and say if this is working as intended?