DCS AV-8B NA Harrier Sidearm SEAD Tutorial

A Quick overview of how to use Sidearms and your defensive sensors in a SEAD role
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/ redkite
Please note since recording, i've learned you do not actually need to enable IR cool unless you've suffered a SMC failure, this detail evaded me when i was cramming in learning the module :)
Threat lights:
SAM - Surface to air missile system 'launch detected'
This is meant to warn a spike/launch but appears on tracking
CW - Continuous wave radar
AI - Air intercept (airborne radar)
AAA - Armored Anti aircraft radar
Radar warning receiver legend:
wiki.hoggit.us/view/RWR
Kneeboard:
www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...
Training mission (DCS 1.5.8):
www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...
Tutorial playlist:
• DCS AV-8B NA Harrier T...
Livery used in video:
www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...

[@Gargoyle11]

Yea Buddy I've watched all youre videos on the harrier, keep them coming. Really helps the community

[@jcbak]

There are no better tutorials anywhere.....thanks so much for doing these.

[@matswane]

You have become the "go-to" person for the AV-8B. Well deserved and thank you!

[@retrofly9]

Best tutorials for the Harrier! Your communication and explanations are great. Keep up the good work.

[@KellyEastwood855]

Your tutorials helped me the MOST for the Harrier! They're not too long, still detailed, only the important information! Thank You for the good job! Cheers!

[@afhostie]

Really appreciate how clear your voice and steps are in the video, way more helpful than the in-game tutorials

[@fishy8888]

Don't know what I'd do without these videos, love your work man.

[@RedKiteRender]

You're welcome!

[@hidayatoceandar5004]

Just bought the Harrier, because of your tutorials I have grasped most of Harrier systems in no time without even read the manual. Thanks alot buddy 👍👍👍👍

[@RedKiteRender]

You're welcome :)

[@TechGaming45]

You like my livery then??? great vids man keep em coming.

[@RedKiteRender]

You made it? Awesome work :)

[@Bers81]

6:20 I can't remember which ingame ttraining it was, but you are told to not switch IR COOL if you have sidearms fitted, as it may damage the seeker

[@sorted0blud]

Loving these videos my man keep them up

[@kevinwoolsey9236]

Superb instructional delivery.

[@scarryharry1]

Redkite..great work and thank you for the tutorials.

[@BuzZoo]

Fantastic vids and love that livery!

[@AkiicToDaHead]

Another great vid RedKite! I would love to have a series from you on getting started and need to know type instructional vids as well!

[@RedKiteRender]

What kind of things would you be interested in?

[@AkiicToDaHead]

Well- for starters - what all can be done with just the starter (free) package- we have 2 planes- the SU and the P51- provide some tips on these- as well as some good content to break our teeth on maybe

[@RedKiteRender]

There is a large free update coming soon with a new version of the free map and a graphics overhaul il try making some intro videos for newcomers around then.

[@jasons9564]

I have been watching all of your vidoes on the AV-8B, and great job so far! I have learned a lot from you. But, as far as I am aware, the rings on the RWR do not show a range, but the greatest threat.

[@RedKiteRender]

They show the threats relative to their own range, so if a system is within the centre rings, they're able to fire on you. That's what i was trying to get across at anyrate, i might of scrambled the words a little.

[@Laserxray]

excellent tutorial

[@wiggles7172]

Nice video dude 👍👍

[@BlackKnight288]

Real News, the IR COOL switch is for the AIM-9 Sidewinder ONLY, not meant for the AGM-122 Sidearm. Found this out a little while ago, as the IR COOL switch can damage the Sidearm sensor

[@tonforr]

Nice livery!

[@fredm.9474]

Nice tutorial

[@Dave_ess]

:((((. The feeling you have when you’ve watched all of redkites tutorials and there are no more to watch...

[@RedKiteRender]

I've covered most of the harrier's current features by this point, there's a few more videos coming though :) been ill the last week, just getting back into making some videos :)

[@Dave_ess]

Just Top Tier work Mate. Really enjoy your stuff.

[@yavok]

Awesome videos, buddy! Have they fixed any of the bugs you've mentioned since releasing this vid?

[@kochj0713]

2Nd that BRIT..... Fantastic video's .... and how to's After your vids, I feel like a very well informed pilot. on this Bird....

[@Kartoffeljoghurt]

had a fly crawling on the top left corner of my screen at the beginning of the video and thought "That helicopter flies a little weird"

[@fredm.9474]

I love the harrier

[@revenger681]

Such a simple aircraft. From startup to all your tutorials. I think this module is great for anyone who uses the basic free aircraft to move onto a full fledged cockpit. It's easier than anything else I've tried so far. Now if only getting used to hovering in place was this easy :p

[@RedKiteRender]

Systems wise far easier than the A-10c i first learned in. Flying it on the other hand a joy in conventional, very tricky with asymmetry and a balancing act for vtol! Certainly will teach you a lot about flying, (unlike the hog who cares not and flys nicely even when half the plane has been shot away)

[@olivialambert4124]

So a little late but to my understanding the middle ring isn't a threat ring an its impossible for threats to be there. It's more to display information such as the RWR being in low altitude priority mode, or being in offset mode, or showing the primary 6 threats only. The next closest ring is the "oh shit" ring as shown in 2:32 of the video, and the most dangerous area for a threat to be.

[@uscstaylor]

Love the Tutorials...Can you please do a tutorial on how to land on the Tawara vessel...Thanks

[@RedKiteRender]

Tarawa video is on it's way :)

[@Gargoyle11]

Also, I would really like to see you make a video going into detail about what we can currently do with the UFC. I know its not fully implimented, but im sure it has a decent amount of functionality we can use right now?

[@RedKiteRender]

Theres not much there, even the timer isnt modeled. The only things we can do are specific to a task and i've already detailed them. Things like manual waypoint/markpoint entry, ins updates and targets of opportunity are not functional.

[@AntoineThisdale]

What ground unit do you recommend using for practice? (any in particular). Ideally something that doesn't shoot back. I've been using S6-buks...

[@RedKiteRender]

The EWR 1L13 Is a good practice target, it's an early warning radar that won't launch missiles at you :)

[@SUP_Bigans]

I don't know why, if I charge 4 SA Vs 4 Sam very close one to the others the first 3 SA start automatically without going toward the locked target...

[@aemvee]

What does the dashed sidearm reticle do (the one you get with mav ungage button)?

[@MILSIM530]

This the only channel to go for the Harrier next please do F-18C please

[@RedKiteRender]

Hey Pedro, i do have a good amount of Hornet content already for you to check out!

[@Soundwave857]

What settings do you use to show the trail of the enemy missile? I play on almost max settings and the only thing i see is a small cloud right after the launch and thats it.

[@tomje7024]

Soundwave I only see a short trail after launch also

[@RedKiteRender]

I'm using DCS 2.2, nothing special on the graphics settings, in fact they're not maxed out as i normally play in vr, 2.2 has come with some new effects, so it's possible that's what's going on, it also depends on the missile the sa-8 is a fairly old sam.

[@LetsplayIndieGamesChannel]

id really need like a video where you tell us the "essential control mapping", to use for joysticks!

[@RedKiteRender]

The cockpit familiarization video goes over controls, i hope that helps.

[@fargo007]

Which version or which ground texture was this demo filmed with? It looks great.

[@RedKiteRender]

I'm flying over normandy on 2.2 for this video

[@rixogtr]

I can't load these rockets anymore. The pod is still available but the AGM 122's are not, is it just me or did they get removed from this module ?

[@WILEY104]

how did you get your rwr audio working?

[@GOAE7777]

Could be wrong, but I do not think the IR cool switch applies to the AGM-122 Sidearm at all and is modeled accurately as such. The IR cool switch cools the IR sensors of a AIM-9 Sidewinder, but the AGM-122 has no IR sensor as it is instead retrofitted with a narrow-band passive radar sensor. IR sensors as far as I know need to be cooled to have a crisp image without static (for an example of image quality without cooling see smartphone pictures at night) and also to possibly prevent overheating, but passive radar sensors shouldn't have such a limitation.

[@RedKiteRender]

Where i got this from is the pocket guide, states that: "Clicking the switch to the IR COOL applies cooling to all sidewinder station that has a sidewinder or sidearm loaded. Clicking the switch to the OFF position deselects IR cooling." pg 76 My actual mistake is that the IR cool is in fact a backup manual cooling mode which doesn't need to be enabled normally, i must of simply missed this detail, though thankfully it doesn't cause any issues. Now... if youtube would allow me to amend the video without having to re-upload that would of been great but the feature was taken away :(

[@conner3206]

I'm running version 2.2 and my RWR doesn't make any sound. Every once in awhile I'll get a new target sound, but it's much more likely for it to be silent. RWR switch is on and I've tried volume max on it as well. I've tried virtually everything including deleting sound files and repairing, but to no avail. If anyone has a fix let me know!

[@RedKiteRender]

Im afraid it's a known bug at the moment, the volume control doesn't actually work yet either, making it easy to miss the sounds. if you check out 1.5.8 you'l see they've added some new rwr symbology to the hud. Ive not tested to see if any other changes to the rwr are made in that build, things are a bit scattered in the build up to the 2.5 merge

[@brianheine8923]

Can you use the sidearm against ships sam units?

[@RedKiteRender]

It'l work on any naval radars yes, but, unless the radar is exposed it probably won't do much damage as it's a very small warhead. So i wouldn't expect great results.

[@hartzaden]

SO, question, will the sidearm go after a emmitting plane like a awacs

[@RedKiteRender]

No, it'l only track ground radars.

[@9duckman9]

Any idea why I am not getting radar contacts in custom missions? I have a mission with SAMs and AA guns.

[@RedKiteRender]

First check you've got the rwr turned on, second, make sure the systems you placed actually use a radar.

[@9duckman9]

Thanks. It seems the AA batteries were the problem. Tried the SEAD mission and they showed up.

[@juniorslothsix5562]

Could I use this on an enemy aircraft if the enemy aircraft is using rader

[@petar.banovac]

In theory you could - providing that the airborne radar has been stored into the missile's emitter database. But the problem is - what if the airborne radar hasn't locked you up, for eg it stayed in TWS or RWS mode? The ARM missile would have to find its target solely based on periodic radar sweeps detected by onboard seeker. That's not so much of a problem with ground radars , as they generally stay put. But the airplane moves around and since the radar sweep triggers the missile's seeker only once in say, a few seconds, than the chances are that the ARM missile would, well, miss :D.

[@Agridefense]

Have all of these bugs you talked about been fixed?

[@RedKiteRender]

Today on the beta branch a patch has just gone live that should of fixed the problems, it'l be on the stable release next week.

[@mrifixplanes1813]

How is your audio working on the RWR, I don't get anything. any ideas?

[@RedKiteRender]

You've turned the volume up? (rwr power knob) turning hear like in helmet setting helps too. i've heard theres some issues with sounds at the moment, not tested it recently.

[@mrifixplanes1813]

Yeah, tried just set to on, on and then volume all the way up, having hear in helmet on and off, no mods other than some custom toggle switch assignments but I've tried a fresh install of the module without them. I don't get how some people get audio and others don't. Thanks for replying anyway.

[@RedKiteRender]

That's a shame, i recall the RWR always beeing very quiet in the past, but i've not actually been locked up by a radar recently, owing to good barcap flights ahead of my own and low threat targets. I'l have a poke around see if i can figure anything out. Sorry for the late reply comment replies get lost in my inbox, since they dont go to the top, only shown in most recent notifications.

[@GreyMaulkin]

At 7:00 you said the selector does not work on the MFD's but I use them all the time....at least in v1.5.*

[@RedKiteRender]

It's failing to de-select the sidearm at present and sometimes bugs out, it can be used to select initially but it seems to have a few bugs, least in 2.2.

[@timoboekenoogen4074]

Are any of these bugs still around?

[@danicablack6924]

The tone for tracking an emission with the sead issue seems to still be here, or it is on mine anyhow. So you still have to flick it off and back on again.

[@IceCreamMatt15]

Is this the Normandy map?

[@RedKiteRender]

Yes, normandy on dcs 2.2

[@alpine7313]

Sidearm just sounds like a sidewinder that’s really low on batteries

[@cs512tr]

Anyone still fly this?

[@RedKiteRender]

Yeah, plenty of people still fly it, and it's just had a good update to it's CCIP system, which i just covered ;)

[@S3NTRY]

IR COOL seems a bit odd for a radar emission seeker head.

[@RedKiteRender]

It's an oddity of being designed from the aim-9 sidewinder, its not switching on an ir cooler, but rather simply enabling the cooler on the sidearm, they use the same logic to make it compatible.

[@czesiek77PL]

Looks like not much systems implemented...

[@RedKiteRender]

Yep, that's the nature of early access, the aircraft is perfectly usable in a combat role, just lacks some advanced and quality of life feature (like the autopilot and manual ins nav points) I'l be doing more videos as features are added.

[@WanderfalkeAT]

Thanks for the Explanation but:What a useless Missile - Take a Maverick anytime over it! Yes you have to search it with your IR Camera in the Nose - But it gives you more chance to engage the SAM earlyer. But the big Advantage is that you can mount the Sidearm instead of Sidewinders, which gives you 4 Mavs and 2 Sidearm Maximum! When you attack a Convoy that has a SAM or AAA in it you will identify the SAM in your Camera farther than the Sidearm's Maximum Range. And a IR Mav does not lose the Lock when the RADAR switches off. Even a AGM-45 Shrike from the Vietnam Era would have been better. Helicopters however may have a real good use for the Sidearm.That is why the AH-1 is capable to carry them and can be used as a SEAD Chopper.

[@RedKiteRender]

It's a self defence missile, wasn't produced in great numbers, designed to be used when suddenly attacked by a radar, like if one was sitting in wait and suddenly turned on when you're over it. it'd be foolish to try and use it to attack a sam site in real life, but a good laugh in dcs.

[@WanderfalkeAT]

Same stupid idea like to send A4 with Shrikes against Fan Song RADAR Sites :) Must have been the Brainchild of the same Guy telling the Military that Guns are no longer needed in Air to Air Engagements. However having a Sidearm in a Cobra makes Sense for me, especially in Escort Duty.