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ORIGINAL: ncc1701e

The problem is that they never spot the enemy even after 10 minutes.

The US squad behind them can still see the enemy without any problem.

The other oddity, is that if one has an inf unit that has ID'd an enemy unit, and one moves an FO or an M1 literally on top of the inf unit, the FO or tank STILL will not spot the enemy even after sitting there on top of the inf for several minutes. There is no communication apparently.

First, the misunderstandings about how spotting works:

When a unit shares a positive contact, it generates a possible contact marker for units in C2 or proximity (including tanks) following a variable amount of time, regardless of whether or not the receiving unit has any chance of spotting the target itself (i.e. a unit in comms / proximity but with LoS completely blocked will still gain the possible contact marker). If the unit has LoS to the location and has the means to see the given contact under the current conditions, this possible contact marker will increase the chances of the receiving unit gaining a positive contact for itself. But this is most important: the unit must still spot the contact itself with its own sensors.

All spotting has a highly variable "human factor" applied that can lead to significantly different outcomes in the same circumstances. Anecdotes comparing times to spot are useless for drawing comparative conclusions about spotting beyond possible / not possible. I don't care if 3 times in a row X spotted Z one minute sooner than Y, that does not mean X is better at spotting Z than Y. Now repeat this 100 times carefully controlling all other factors and perhaps we can talk about quantitative differences in spotting ability. (Does this suck? Why yes, from experience it really does.)

Second, what Erwin is encountering in George's scenario:

The US Mech Inf squad has access to 3x thermal small arms sights: 1 on each M249 and 1 on the Marksman's rifle. A split off scout team from a full squad includes one M249 gunner, so it too has a thermal optic. Here is what's a bit weird: the model switch showing these actually on the weapons is tied to a hard day / night time that does not vary based on conditions, but the thermal optics are still considered to be in use when they provide an advantage over day optics. In this case, they seem to be allowing units with thermal optics to see further into the morning haze. Of the infantry units discussed in the scenario, only units with Javelin CLUs also have access to thermal optics. The units without thermals lose LoS at 1668m (at scenario start on my test map using the same date, time and conditions as George MC's map), so if a unit with thermals has shared a possible contact beyond this range with a unit without thermals, it will remain a possible contact for the receiving unit with no chance of becoming a positive contact unless conditions change or the unit alters its spotting equation (moves, acquires a new sensor).