AAW in patrol area - attack throtle -

[flex0r]

Hi folks,

What is the standard for the "attack throtle" in a AAW patrol area?
Take a F/A18 for example, it gets to the patrol area on cruise speed, but once it starts patroling what is a good engagement setting? If it engages the target on afterburner it quickly goes low on fuel and abandon mission to go refuel. If the speed is set to cruise, I believe is to slow for engagements and will not be efficient/get shot down.

What settings should be used for attack throtle?

[thewood1]

Not sure there is any formal standard because its so dependent on a lot of things. But I set it for military. Its a compromise and sometimes its too slow and sometimes its too fuel wasteful. But it works 80% of the time.

[rvseydlitz]

As mentioned there isn't a standard. A lot of variables are in play.
For mine...my patrols usually sit a couple hundred nm from whatever they are defending, along the threat axis.
In that case usually for a patrol, the enemy comes to me and my guys can loiter and fire off BVR missiles without needing to accelerate to chase planes that are coming to them.

Generally also fuel is less concern once you are engaging because after firing they will return home anyway in the setting I use most often.