Matrix Games Forums

I designed a simple scenario where a small russian invasion force is going to Tromso.
In the TF there are two AK and two Udaloy DD class for ASW.
For the Blue side there is a UK Swiftsure SSN.

I play the russians, EMCOM passive. The fact is that the SS launches to the transports a salvo of UGM-84B Harpoon and it always sinks the transport targeted, ruining the mission (I see the missiles only in the "hits" animation). Should not I have a ESM alert when these missiles come active so I can turn on the radars and AAW defences? I never had a ESM alert, never a visual sight too.
PS: Tromso base is not active on map, so it don't radiate my TF.

I'm playing with the EC2003 Battle for the GIUK GAP battleset.

In real life they radiate, yes.  In the HC game they do not provide a signal that can be detected by ESM.  Given the Harpoon's speed and making a very rough guess of 10nm radar activation distance the missile will take about 80 seconds to traverse that distance.  ESM is checked every 30 seconds so you would indeed be missing two opportunities to get an ESM sniff of the incoming missiles. 

I won't go so far as to say it is a bug since I imagine this was a deliberate design decision back in the day.  I will highly suggest you create a wishlist at http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showforum=35 since this is a good candidate for an ESM model re-write that will hopefully happen someday down the road (it would benefit from many improvements including yours, stealthy platforms, separated frequency bands, generational capabilities,...).