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How to use the HTS pod This post will go through how to use the HTS pod (pronounced Hits) to detect and target and employ HARM's at the SAM sites. First up you will need to load up the HTS pod on the left chin station and make sure it has power, turned on here, Then whilst your INS is aligning, you can do a bit of admin by going to air to ground mode, brining these to screens up on the left and right MFD respectively, Turn your HARM's on, on the right MFD, and then bring up the HTS pod by selecting The HAD function on the left MFD. To start with you won't see it. I always replace the FLCS option along the bottom with the HAD tab. To do this press the FLCS button twice, and then you will see this, Press and you will get the HAD screen, Next press the THRT button, and uncheck all classes except for 1 & 2 if going after Russian SAM's (there are some in Class 3) Here is a breakdown of the different Classes, The reason for limiting how many classes, is it dramatically reduces a scan sweep, with 2 classes its @20 seconds, as opposed to 2 mins if all selected. in that time a SAM can pop up and kill you. Now up into the air! The above picture shows the pod tracking 3 active radars, an SA2, SA6 and an P-19 search radar. To select a radar you make the HAD screen SOI, and move the cursor over the desired target and TMS up over it. It will then be boxed and go red. It also shows you the dynamic range of the HARM's based on your current height and speed. Note you can even shoot behind you a small distance. Once you have a SAM locked with TMS up you will then see this, Depending on the quality of triangulation the pod has, you will have a PGM number, 5 being the worst, and one the best. to improve the triangulation you do not fly straight at the target, instead fly offset, I usually wait until I at least have a PGM of 3, preferably 2 before launching, to give the missile the best chance. This is particularly important if you are using the HTS pod in conjunction with the TPod and other weapon types such as JDAM's And that's it lauch away! One extra, if you are flying with other Vipers, make sure you check this, so it displays as in the screenshot, Also if you want an extra challenge, use the Pod with JDAM's and not HARM's.....

Some more musings from me about attacking SAM's..... This is purely my own thoughts from what I have found works and does not work, and certainly not official procedure, as that's all classified anyway, lol. Your mileage may vary. Different SAM's require attacking at different heights, as they have different engagement ranges. Think of it as a dome of different sizes above the launcher depending what it is. To destroy a SAM you have to encourage it to turn on its radar and track you, so you can in turn track its radar. Its no good flying at 30,000 ft above an SA 8 or SA 15 as you are out of its engagement range, so it won't turn on its radar, and you won't know its there. Below is a pic I've channelled my inner Leonardo da Vinci to make, it will do the job though hopefully! The worst place to be attacking a SAM from my experience and watching others, is to enter the SAM's max range near the top of its engagement range, as you will suddenly find a missile coming at you with very little options of what you can do, since any direction you dive to attempt to notch, you are further entering the SAM's area of engagement. You stumble into a very fast missile SAM like a SA-15, you are pretty much dead, unless you are incredibly lucky and can climb out of its range quick enough (you won't). Coming in at a low height, while nowhere near as deadly to yourself, as you have plenty of distance to turn away and can terrain mask, but is not particularly effective as your own HARM's will have a much shorter range due to the thickness of air down low, so your missiles will have no where near as much energy which makes them much more susceptible to being intercepted by SAM's that can self protect shoot. Also being low you can run into other nasties laying in wait for you like manpads and AAA Also and probably more important, HARM's fired from lower altitudes do not come into the target anywhere near as vertically as those lofted from higher altitudes. This often results in misses that do no damage as a flatter trajectory going just over the SAM will not impact the ground for much more distance than one coming down near vertically just missing the emitter. This leads to my optimal attack altitude, around half way up the SAM's engagement range. It gives you plenty of options, and you can skirt around it tempting the SAM with only a 90 degree turn to head away, and can dive away and notch to. You are clear of manpads and most AAA, and your HARM will comedown with plenty of energy and at a fairly steep angle. Of course, knowing what SAM's you are going against helps..... But as a rule of thumb, for SA-8's SA-15's I find around 15,000 ft works very well, SA-6, SA-2, SA-11, 20,000-25,000 ft works well, and going up against an SA-10 30,000 ft plus. Going in at 15,000ft into unknown SAM territories gives you good scope to find what's there and be able to respond accordingly. Hope this helps 👍

You Leg End, Kev! Thanks

Done

Done. Good post.

Done Fen

Hi chaps, If historical accuracy is important to you in regards to the Normandy 2.0 map please read the linked post and if you agree, like the post as the more likes/thanks the post gets the more likely it is they’ll address the issues: https://forum.dcs.world/topic/310823-dcs-normandy-20-preview/?do=findComment&comment=5161446