SEA Radar Mode & AGM-84D Harpoon Tutorial | DCS F/A-18C Hornet

[@RTSchramm]

You can set the Harpoon to turn on it's seeker after a specified distance and also self destruct at a specified distance. So using the radar you can get the distance to the ship and program the harpoon to self destruct after 5 nm after the target. By specifying the distance to turn on the seeker, you can have the harpoon fly through or over a friendly convoy then and then turn on its seeker to attack the enemy ships behind them.

[@jonathanriley7147]

That's damn good to know!

[@StealthySpace7]

It should be noted when using R/BL the Seek option is not in reference to target size, it is talking about distance from target when the Radar will begin Seeking. SML: 5.4 NM MED: 10.8 NM LRG: 16.2 NM

[@Hairysteed]

"Vampire" means an _enemy_ anti-ship missile. Friendly anti-ship missile is "Bruiser"

[@thebu383]

Ehhhh not quite sir. Vampire is radar track on on a asmd.

[@hphp31416]

well, it hit neutral vessl

[@utley]

friendly fire isnt friendly

[@Hairysteed]

@@utley It is when it's targeting the enemy. "Bruiser" is what you call when you launch an ASM

[@utley]

@@Hairysteed Just went right over your head?

[@fed6096]

Today : Spud commits war crimes in the Gulf

[@Spudspike]

***Correction in the video small, medium and large seeker profiles refer to the range from the selected target in SEA mode the radar of the missile will turn on and attempt to lock a target*** I recommend using lower altitude flight profiles if you want your AGM-84D to seek out smaller targets, and definitely be careful where you fire these things, they dont usually end up where you intend them to go! No need to cause a digital international incident!

[@javiermaurenziespindola1041]

The ship SS Atlantic Conveyor was requisitioned by the royal navy and reconditioned to function as an aircraft carrier and base for the Sea Harriers, in addition to transporting war material, so its sinking was not an incident as stated in its introduction but was a military target. sunk in war zone. Do your best research before giving wrong information.

[@Mitissa515]

Maybe I missed it or I'm just doing things the old-way. But I've locked onto ships with the tracking pod and fired but I get a near-0% hit-rate if I don't type in the specifics (Bearing, range to turn on seeker, range to destruct). Did you do something to send the data from the pod to the Harpoon or is the manual programming just obsolete and I haven't caught up yet

[@torarne7796]

@@javiermaurenziespindola1041 Of course it was a legitimate target, but I think Spudknocker used it as an example of missiles going for a non-intended target.

[@FD1CE]

I think the way we can stop the digital international crisis is to set the missile to self-destruct in a certain range after passing the actual target :)

[@handsomechocolatebar276]

me an arma player: maliciously laughs

[@oldmanfunky4909]

Spudknocker, the Admiral would like to see you in his office.

[@cebrady]

Now that I'm finally intelligent in the F-18 (read: an infant) in this game, thank you for a slew of these videos. This is the deep work that's making me finally make it. Cheers!

[@wardenteegs6148]

Learning the F/A-18 C right now and your videos are the best. Thanks for explaining how everything works and such. There is alot to learn on this beast!

[@Jakey_76]

“Most dangerous weapon of any arsenal out of all aircraft in DCS” *laughs in MiG-21 Nuke*

[@Spudspike]

Jake Sheridan well, that goes without saying haha

[@DJones476]

@@Spudspike Hey, Spud, don't you mean "like firing a _mad dog_ AMRAAM"? You said "pit bull". Cheers, Buddy!

[@hvymtal8566]

@@DJones476 No, Pit Bull AMRAAMs are just as dangerous to friendly aircraft as maddog :)

[@DJones476]

@@hvymtal8566 Yipes!

[@DJones476]

@Gibson Lionel I give a damn. I think it's funny as hell!!!

[@handsomechocolatebar276]

Quality tutorials as always

[@Spudspike]

HandsomeChocolateBar thank you!

[@Kraken9911]

Warcrime tutorial

[@handsomechocolatebar276]

@@Kraken9911 did i stutter

[@satanicdude]

As a non-native english speaker, this is probably the best example to explain the difference between "accurate" and "precise"

[@eddievhfan1984]

I will admit, I would figure that if you had a target locked in SEA mode, the fire control system would be smart enough to program in an initial heading to turn to, based on range/speed/aspect of the target. Or otherwise give HUD symbology for course-to-steer before firing. Maybe it's an IRL feature no one thought to implement yet?

[@kaibrown3414]

Thanks, cant wait to use this soon!

[@martinklaus2203]

Great video Spud. I did similar testing yesterday after I signed up for your Sunday Mission. I had pretty good luck with hitting the targets when I put in the bearing on the ufc, and for added safety, putting the self destruct a few miles further than launch distance. Looking forward to Sunday's mission.

[@SsgtHolland]

The most dangerous thing is not an anti-ship cruise missile. It is an anti-ship cruise missile launched by a French guy.

[@5113130]

You do significantly more damage against warships if you use pop vs skim. Also in my experience, the lower the flight profile, the better chance of hitting what you’re trying to hit.

[@captainnutsack8151]

Is this a tutorial or a history lesson on anti-ship missile incidents? Goodness

[@theperpetual8348]

I believe small/med/large seek mode has more to do with the seeker's scan angle. Smaller angle used for less probability of wrong target, large used if you're less confident in target position

[@theperpetual8348]

Also: -the call for releasing an ASM is "Bruiser". Vampire is a generic term for an incoming weapon. That is, you'd shout vampire if you're on the ship being shot at. -when using harpoons it's a good idea to give each missile some space, so they don't blow each other up or get intercepted together. It depends on ownship speed, but counting to 10 between shots has served me well.

[@hphp31416]

so scan angle was small enough to not see grisha at all as it flew past it

[@theperpetual8348]

@@hphp31416 it's possible. Moving targets can cause trouble in that regard, particularly if the weapon is released from father away. I do agree with spud in his core message of weapon safety being paramount.

[@DRUBZTheBlazeOfArt]

The actual tutorial starts at 4:20 nice

[@Aeronaut1975]

"Vampire" is the call for an an INCOMING ENEMY guided missile. I believe the correct call for a friendly launching a Harpoon would be "Bruiser".

[@godofm3tal1]

Vampire he says. That's for an incoming hostile anti ship missile. Bruiser is the brevity for a friendly outbound ASM

[@new_comment]

really thorough, thanks for the tut.

[@felipexlr50]

Greate video, try to compare this scenario with the viggen rb-15f and the JF-17 C-802 AK

[@NoFear1979]

Seems like small targets = go low, maybe even fly low as well? Medium targets = medium and so on... Worth while testing out it seems...

[@sloppydog4831]

Maybe an alternative would be using SLAM missiles for terminal guidance.

[@hellcat611]

I ran a mission in the gulf yesterday targeting a flotilla of ships with Harpoons. I had equally erratic results. In one case, my Harpoon veered off course toward a friendly aircraft and landed inland in Iran. I’m unsure if it targeted the aircraft or just flew in its direction arbitrarily. Regardless, It never dropped down to sea skimming mode. The second Harpoon worked as advertised and smoked the ship I was targeting. They’re fickle.

[@Spudspike]

John Nelson like I said, it’s like firing a pit bull amraam or an AIM-7 in flood mode into a furball

[@flighttherapybullisticfpv133]

Ya i can definitely see why man-in-the-loop missiles are used for these kinds of missions.. i set up an Iranian fast boat attack in the gulf (based on naval war games a few years back) and it was impossible to get the small boats with the harpoon before they got too close to a friendly. I ended up using gbu's with blufor planes.. with the redfor jf17 i used the c701 missiles and they are the ticket. The C701 is just a chinese yj-7 anti-ahipping missile with an ir/tv seekerhead on it, making it kind of perfect for naval applications... Iran buys a ton of them so.. case in point

[@qiyuxuan9437]

@@flighttherapybullisticfpv133 The C802 AKG with man in the loop is amazing on JF17. Too bad, ai JF17 dosent seems to able to control that missile, and I can only carry 2 of those.

[@flighttherapybullisticfpv133]

@@qiyuxuan9437 Ya, I really like the jf-17 but it is definitely limited in terms of payload.. Im hoping at some point Deka Iron Devs will implement a Block 3 version with all of the racks available via chinese export and the HMD system. China offers racks for the C802 series and the C701 series which makes them much more practical for a small two ship strike

[@DavidVanmeterDutch]

wow. I kept checking for what I was doing wrong because these things seemed to be randomly hitting targets. I used the SEA mode to lock on to a single radar contact using the pen mode and zooming in and with a verification on the FLIR. One missile for each contact in this mission and they would just hit randomly. Not the best weapon for sure.

[@Spudspike]

David Vanmeter well in the right conditions it does it’s job very well! It’s just hard to find those conditions!

[@bridiro]

well if you use it proper it's a fatal weapon, with just one a ship can become a submarine

[@eq1373]

@@bridiro who are we kidding? this weapon is unreliable junk.

[@feralaviation4218]

"We have to be very, very careful when we employ this type of weapon..." That's where you're wrong, bucko.

[@VJS161Fire]

very informative tutorials :) Thanks for your work!

[@TheDickieP]

Epic video as always. I just wanted to say a huge thankyou for sharing your trackir profile with us all. It’s completely changed my enjoyment of DCS as before I even knew about your shared your profile I was quite disheartened by the annoyance of deadzones of the trackir in dcs. Thankyou my msn and stay safe and stay awesome

[@Spudspike]

Thanks man!

[@flighttherapybullisticfpv133]

I remember when Hezbollah fired 2 cruise missiles toward the Israeli frigate off the coast of Beirut... one of them overshot and sunk a commercial trading ship. Oh yaaaa the Dassault 50 Assault JEt!! Man they need to add that plane to DCS as a non-flyable mod

[@deetwodcs4683]

So TLDR: They suck. What would you recommend against ships than in the F18?

[@АлексейТараканов-ы3ч]

To heat a Target you have to put the mark on the radar in front of Target twenty or so miles so the missile have time to lock the target. Use tdc depress. Sorry voice input.

[@gamerspitt8089]

Your a pilot in real life? that would make you even more awesome

[@mhe0815]

Doesn't the Harpoon have a max range setting in the other firing modes? That way you can make them deactivate if they miss their intended target. Would probably come in very handy in a situation like this. RB/L mode doesn't give you a lot of control over it, but there are modes available more suited to a scenario like this. Given enough range, you could also define a HPTP to make the weapon attack at a different angle, minimizing the chance of it locking on to other stuff in its FOV as well. This would have been a case where that might have been a better idea than just using RB/L that doesn't come with a range limit.

[@TheKenji2221]

You can set a range limit indeed. RedKite covered that part

[@mhe0815]

@@TheKenji2221 I was just amazed that the tutorial covers a case where you would never ever use RB/L as if it was the thing to do there. A bit counterintuitive, despite the concept being explained very well.

[@piston_77]

I hit perfectly with R/BL. Even if the ships are all close together I always hit the one I locked. Don't get me wrong, I hate ED but this time it works great.

[@channelwright9137]

The harpoon may work against a speed boat. The jf-17 CM802 anti ship will hit a fast moving speed boat. However, it's not worth hitting because of the cost of the missile. BTW, silkworm missiles cannot target speedboats.

[@fx_brad1562]

So when I put sensor control switch right it just does the same thing as me locking on with the target designator

[@kellywalker9268]

How would you lead the target if you're locked onto it with your radar?

[@DuVey64]

Ok just learning the basics of using the Harpoon , but I’m finding something weird about launching, I set everything in the UFC for all the missiles , first launch goes fine , as soon as I launch the 2nd , it explodes underneath me . UFC is set the same for all , so I’m scratching my head as to what I’m doing wrong .

[@embeddd]

hey, my missiles arent going low enough and keep on being blown up by the sams on the ships, any ideas?

[@chiken6559]

This missile is fucking crazy. I once fired it at enemy carrier, but instead of sinking it missiles decided to do a 180 turn and headed straight for friendly carrier which had only one frigate as an escort, i did quite a damage to friendly carrier. Since when do they have a 360 radar?

[@johannesdolch]

Strange that they apparently turn on their radar after they have already passed the target. One would think that at least they are sent off with a proper target distance.

[@jma3686]

Did you try to set the Harpoon min max range to avoid bad hit ?

[@cuttheloop]

nope

[@Trucker-Belly]

I tried this on a carrier and destroyer. They have missiles that kill everything. Is there another way of killing a destroyer? JDAMS?

[@depbugg]

Spud, Are you talking about PGG-610? That wasn't a harpoon but a HF 3. Only the Captain Died. Unless there is another ROCN incident.

[@jonathanriley7147]

So basically, don't use the harpoon if there are any friendlies or neutrals in the area. That kind of unreliability is so uncomfortable haha

[@murilomurakame]

Another video with a sensational explanation. But Supdnock, I almost couldn't watch it until the end, you talked about so many times about the possible mistake that it was extremely tiring to hear. Until I understood to bring the information of real events, It was very interesting to know about, the alert to the possible error once or twice, but wow, I lost count of how many times you repeated yourself in the same thing. Always one of the most interesting and cool channels on DCS but in my opinion there was an error in the narrative of this video. My personal feedback please don't get it wrong.

[@Al-Azraq]

Hey Spud, I think that you missed some things in this video: the SEEK option is not for small, medium or large ships, it is for setting up the scanning area. Usually if you know the location of the enemy ship like in this case, you use small search area so it only locks on the desired target. Then why not using the SKIM option so the missile goes low when close to target and detects it?

[@icecold9511]

Have they fixed that the Harpoon actually sea skim below enemy radar?

[@daviddavids8218]

Curios, why fire both, if they are not that reliable, your could come back at lower altitude and try again?

[@haedubabaganush]

You make some good points in this video about carefully use of the Harpoon. However, my criticism of the DCS harpoon is that the explosive power it inflicts is way underestimated. I suspect it's done purposefully. Remember, an exocet missile, with half the warhead payload, sunk the Atlantic Conveyor as someone else pointed out. Admittedly, the unspent missile fuel added to the destruction. The warhead design is similar... a fragmentation penetrator. If you look at test video's of the harpoon, even when it's not armed, just the tests of the radar and terminal guidance, it has enough kinetic energy to punch a hole in most ships. That 220 kg of explosives is going to cause a lot of damage. In DCS, a mav G or K will sink most ships, even though they have similar warhead design, but less than half the punch of the harpoon.... so I believe that there is a modeling error for the Harpoon's.

[@ATP-Flo]

He didn't say "as always". 🤯

[@flyboy98753]

I’m deeply saddened.

[@MitchellHickok]

Clearly not an authentic Spudknocker production

[@cuttheloop]

thank God

[@mitch_the_-itch]

Im having issues when trying to target multiple ships with multiple Harpoons. They always tgt the same ship. Anyone have any ideas other than wait till the first tgt sinks? In my example I have a damaged sub getting support from a circling DD and because they are close to each other the Harpoon wont tgt each only one.

[@flighttherapybullisticfpv133]

I forgot about that Iraqi Dassault Falcon 50 incident!! Someone really needs to mod that into the game as an AI unit

[@midair2376]

I fired 4 Harpoon on a Grisha and only 1 hit. How often happen this?

[@alexc2713]

The incident in ROC aka Taiwan is not a harpoon and not China fishing boat and only the caption died. That missile was misfired from a warship without warhead armed hence never exploded.

[@michaelwestmoreland2530]

This video is art. It includes technicalities, but also strategy and even MORALE considerations. Beautiful. Question: How does one defeat, or even mitigate, CIWS? It seems like all this work is for naught if a gatling gun is just going to smoke your missle the second it's in range. Also, what use are the attack profile and target size selections? You specifically set it to small and it STILL zeroed on a medium. The selections don't even limit the possible targets? Why bother with them at all?

[@Spudspike]

Haha thanks man! The biggest thing is to overwhelm a ships defenses with as many missiles as possible

[@shrug5277]

The counter to CIWS and PD missiles is just volume.

[@chrmer4769]

I'm new to DCS and can't wait to try this! Anyone know where I can find DCS T.16000M joystick settings for the A10 or F18? Thanks!

[@flighttherapybullisticfpv133]

There really isnt a set button layout for that joystick but it was what i used before i upgraded to VKB (still love the smooth travel on the t16000) and i was able to find a button layout that someone had done that was pretty good. Just google t16000 layout and go to the images tab and it should be there.

[@chrmer4769]

@@flighttherapybullisticfpv133 Thanks!

[@flighttherapybullisticfpv133]

@@chrmer4769 no worries. If youre new and want someone to teach you some things or are lookin for people to fly with let me know! I have a really sporadic work schedule so its hard to fly with a group consistently and im always looking for people to fly with

[@chrmer4769]

@@flighttherapybullisticfpv133 Thanks so much!

[@theaceofspades485]

"It will not hit what your aiming for,but definitely hit whatever it locks onto" "Target destroyed returning to base" *"Would you like to EXPLAIN why a Mcdonalds has dissapeared around your flight path !!?"*

[@brgimscht]

what are the alternative ways for attacking ships? laser guided?

[@Spudspike]

Other than specific anti-shipping weapons like Harpoons, I would say that probably large Warhead AGM-65 Mavericks are a good bet!

[@cbinder46]

was the radar screen twitching like that in game or is that just a recording thing?

[@Spudspike]

I believe its a graphical glitch in the game

[@Bane_Diesel]

I know this is specific but I have found that the defense of some ships can shoot down a shitload of harpoons. I was unable to set my ai wingmen to attack the ships with harpoons with me does anyone know how to program them to do so?

[@pilout8637]

This missile is totally useless in a conventional situation and i can’t imagine how scared real pilots were before launching them for test or exercise.

[@Spudspike]

They were used to quite good effect during operation praying mantis

[@qiyuxuan9437]

Well, they are kinda useful to attack a carrier group just to overwhem the air defence. You can spam dozens of those.

[@hphp31416]

leading target with aircraft does not work as them just follow programed heading, it is pretty strange hornet is not leading harpoons in 2d space while it does it in 3d space with a2a missles

[@aghostofrazgriz5137]

A Harpoons Radar can see a Grisha at High Flight.

[@bridiro]

so this weapon is made to turn ships into submarines?

[@stodlabua502]

The SEA or the GMD mode for the radar does not work for me, do I miss something?

[@FD1CE]

Would you make sure if you actually click on the correct pushbutton in your DDI? Btw, I think it's only available in openbeta version.

[@danieltdl11]

What control do you use? Do i have to buy the controller to play this game?

[@user5553_]

harpoon has too many bugs. with mid and high flight prof most of time doesnt pick up targets. giving %5 damage to big navy ships. best way to use right now is low flight med or large seek

[@joeds3775]

its not a bug, its how those missiles actually perform.

[@midgetmangler7120]

I'm trying to get into DCS but don't have a joystick, which one do you have?

[@Jondatorials550]

Just get a 3D pro. Sucks using the keyboard but I’m too broke

[@rogersmith9506]

I do not have sea radar in my Hornet, I just Steam DCS and it is current. Still no sea radar

[@cuttheloop]

upper left OSB on right MFD

[@Nikola-od6bc]

Lol, the harpoons hit the target in the middle of the ship, would have been on point if it was POP mode.

[@themortz]

Harpoon the un-neutral-izer missile

[@matk4731]

So not a very useful weapon if you don’t want to kill friendly or civilian shipping. Cool video Thanks for sharing 👍🏻👍🏻🙃🤤

[@tropicalpigeon4580]

any idea when this update comes out on steam i dont have sea radar on mine

[@Rob.Flynn81]

Make sure you’re on the Open Beta version if using Steam.

[@tropicalpigeon4580]

@@Rob.Flynn81 didnt no there was a beta version on steam do that work online

[@Rob.Flynn81]

@@tropicalpigeon4580 go to your Steam library, right click DCS, select properties, select Betas and select Open Beta. It will then do a quick update and once the update has finished you can log in to DCS Open Beta version. You will have more multiplayer servers as well. All the best DCS servers use open beta version.

[@tropicalpigeon4580]

@@Rob.Flynn81 nice thanks for the help

[@Rob.Flynn81]

@@tropicalpigeon4580 no problem.

[@OutlawAutowerkz]

Too bad the Harpoon in DCS is worthless, 4 direct hits on a ship and it does 15% damage total....riiiighhhht. The naval vessels need an actual damage model and the harpoon needs a damage boost. Anti-ship strikes are completely worthless in DCS, really kills the realism in missions.

[@orangecatman5516]

I love all your videos! But, this has to be the strangest one ever - a tutorial for using a weapon where you are actually unable to use the weapon as intended :) So the question really is, are these weapons simply basically useless since they are completely unpredictable and they miss their targets, or are their implementation in DCS broken, or have you not used them effectively in this tutorial? Have you learned something since making this video that you can teach us, to actually hit the target? I was playing around with the Harpoon today and my harpoon flew right over my target, ignoring it completely. I just feel that it has to be an issue of me not knowing how to use it correctly, instead of an innate problem with the weapon.

[@donrumsey]

it takes practice. I them alot; sometimes I'll make contact, sometimes not. ;) Additionally, many ships are capable of shooting them down. Have fun!

[@cuttheloop]

If only there were a UFC command I could program the missile to self destruct at X miles from intended target... oh wait

[@Sawyer_202]

This couldve been a 5 minute video

[@OfficialRedDirtNurse]

This video is a tutorial on US foreign policy.

[@eq1373]

Any Harpoons fired by American jets hit the wrong target?

[@skripzy6240]

45 views and 1 comment, wow Im TOO early.

[@eq1373]

You have to be so careful, it's not worth using the weapon

[@joeds3775]

you have to be carefull with ANY weapon. if youre not it will destroy what you point it at. or something else....

[@eq1373]

@@joeds3775 yeah, I get that. The Harpoon is damn near a dumb bomb though.

[@ytsks]

Nice tutorial LMAO :D

[@kellywalker9268]

Just calm down with the warning at the beginning. Noone here is in danger of actually killing something they weren't supposed to. You do realize that 95% of the "pilots" watching this have shot down 10+ aerial tankers out of frustration. So just 100% shut up with the "dangerous" BS.

[@eq1373]

I bet you're a joy at parties 🙄

[@kellywalker9268]

@@eq1373 more fun than you. Only boring DBs reply with that statement

[@thebu383]

China fired a harpoon huh? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@anasgame5685]

first comment🙂

[@DavidVanmeterDutch]

Why? Just why do you do this? What is the point? Probably THE most useless, immature comment on all of youtube that continues to happen. JUST STOP!! Please!

[@anasgame5685]

@@DavidVanmeterDutch what's your income? I'm just joking. If you don't like it, don't get involved

[@Spudspike]

David Vanmeter hey man any comments are good comments algorithmically! Haha

[@lilvinegar5526]

@@DavidVanmeterDutch we get it bro you were second