Feature Request - Advanced Cruise Missile Planner
This is an idea for extending the ability of ships launching cruise missiles, so as to allow timed strikes (e.g. simultaneous). Additionally, this approach could also be a useful baby step for the Advanced Strike Planner, so maybe it should be moved to that thread.
At present (v1.14) I can launch cruise missiles at a static target, via the Attack Menu/Dialog, and set the course by defining a bunch of waypoints. The missiles launch more or less immediately.
As the total course length and missile speed are known, then the time of flight should be known. If this could be displayed to the player, then they could time the launch so as to achieve a desired Weapon Time Over Target (WTOT). To facilitate this, the desired path could be treated like a mission (i.e. a persistent entity), with a "Launch" button to enact.
If the ship is stationary, the player just times the launch so that the flight time matches the desired WTOT. The complication here is that the launching ship is probably moving, so the distance from the ship to first waypoint is constantly changing. Hence a "Recalculate" button could also feature, to allow for this variable first leg. The total flight time is this first leg plus the (now constant) sum of other legs.
Now - all this is based on the player clicking launch at the right time - but as CMANO is on a computer, why not let it do the work? If a WTOT can be set and the ship's course/speed are known, then the launch point can be calculated.
The tricky bit is the variable first leg, but this is very similar to an intercept calculation. Imagine (at a given time) that a missile at A is trying to intercept a moving ship at B - the intercept point will be C. All straight lines. If the missile speed is 30x the ship speed, then the path length A-C is 30x the path length B-C.
Now reverse the missile direction; the ship travels from B to C, then launches the missile towards A - the first leg. The path lengths and travel times are the same in both cases. Hence it becomes relatively simple geometry to determine the position of launch point C. Well, I say simple - if spherical geometry is used and the paths are great circle segments, then a little more calculation is required
Anyway, if you can solve the "first leg" problem, the rest is much easier.
If this can be implemented, then the player would create the missile course & WTOT "mission" in advance, and the ship automatically launches the missiles when at the calculated launch point.
Now it's easy to see where this can lead; multiple missile missions could be created and different targets hit simultaneously, including being launched from different ships. Or targets could be hit sequentially, e.g. destroying radars & SAMs to make life easier for following missiles.
There are caveats, of course; if the player alters the ship course/speed, then the launch point must be recalculated. If the ship is following a course with waypoints, then these must be taken into account; if a missile mission is defined while the ship is on a "zig", the launch may be during a later "zag". There'd need to be a check that the launch point isn't outside the missile range, for edge cases. Etc...
If you can do it for ships, then potentially it could be done for aircraft as well, though there'd doubtless be many more issues and caveats. In essence, you'd treat cruise missiles like aircraft, because of their long waypoint-based courses.
Waypoints could be edited and times synchronised, e.g. an aircraft flies a predetermined course to launch point, and then missiles fly another predetermined course to target. Threats and no-overfly zones could be avoided. Variable "first leg" calculations could be re-used for "last leg", in the case of moving targets. Hence it might be a useful step towards the eventual ASP.
anywhere in the world 