Daunt
MLG Pro
Here's the first writeup guide for missions and weapon delivery. I'm starting off with one of the easiest and mainstays of the Viper arsenal.
What It Is
A SEAD mission, or Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, is one of the most important and often used tasks an F-16 will carry out. A SEAD strike is meant to target SAM sites and other enemy air defenses (Shilka, Tunguska also) to pave the way for air superiority, so it is safe for other aircraft to carry out other missions. Usually in an enemy area, SEADs are the first missions carried out so then other F-16s (or bombers) escorted by F-15s or other air superiority aircraft, can fly relatively safely in enemy airspace.
SAM sites are most often the target of these strikes. Striking SA-2s, SA-3s, more specifically, their radars (Low Blow for SA-3 for example) will render them useless. Most but not all SAM sites are passive radar-guided missiles, so knocking out their radar even with a SAM missile headed straight at you will make the missile ballistic.
Now I realize I need to do a little guide on the finer points of fragging a flight, as there's a tiny bit of prep work before hitting the runway, just to ensure you won't die.
How It's Done
So a bit of history to know alongside how to remove these pesky sites. The best way to root out these SAM sites is unfortunately, by having them fire. Almost always the sites sit passive, or off, until they detect something worth firing at. They are switched to active when they have something to shoot, and only then are they an easy target. In comes the Wild Weasel. Historically this is always an aircraft tasked with destroying enemy SAM sites, working in teams as one fighter (the weasel) pops up and makes itself a nice juicy target for the SAM site. The weasel, or usually his wingman(men), sees the SAM become active and fires on the weasel, and thus has a great target to destroy.
So by nature, the weasel tries to get shot at in order to fulfill his mission to destroy the SAM site.
Munitions & Delivery
The be all, end all munition for dealing with enemy radars is the AGM-88 HARM (High speed Anti-Radiation Missile). This replaced the AGM-45 Shrike (which if you're playing an old campaign / red flag, this will be the weapon of choice.) As mentioned, since SEAD missions are extremely common for F-16s, this is a common munition. Thankfully it's also one of the easiest to use as well.
First, before taking off, it is important to ensure the HTS pod is equipped. In the loadout screen, it is a simple checkbox. HTS (HARM Targeting System) will allow you to use the HAD (HARM Attack Display) which we'll get to in a second.
HARMs need to be powered on before use. Via the SMS page, on the right, click the button that says power off to toggle it to on. Once this is done, you can switch the SMS page to the HAD page on your MFD.
The HAD uses radar-seeking guidance that is linked directly to what's on the missile itself. So the HAD is displaying what the missile is seeing. You'll see a few things on the HAD page. Your flight path will be there, along with a strange looking bubble surrounding your aircraft. This bubble is the range of the missile. Anything inside that is directly engage-able. You can slew (assuming it is the SOI [sensor of interest]) as normal and use TMS up to lock target.
You'll see a lot of different numbers and other icons appear on the HAD page. A number like 2 or 10 indicates an SA-2 and SA-10 respectively. There will be other radars and types, too of course. Most important to note is color. A grey or green color indicates the radar is passive. Locking and firing at a passive radar will literally do nothing. Your HARM will fall out of the sky like a paperweight. A yellow indicates a tracking radar, and red indicates active. Blinking red means a firing radar. Yellow are OK to fire on but not ideal, as not only can it be turned off (and the HARM will be rendered useless midflight) but isn't the easiest for the HARM to track.
In comes our Wild Weasel. He'll get that SAM site to go red, or even blinking red. When that happens, you'll slew over and lock the SAM site. As long as that is within your engagement bubble, if you have it locked, fire away. From that point on, as long as the radar continues to emit, the HARM will automatically home in and destroy the radar.
Hope this helps. It's a wall of text but nothing simple in Falcon.
What It Is
A SEAD mission, or Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, is one of the most important and often used tasks an F-16 will carry out. A SEAD strike is meant to target SAM sites and other enemy air defenses (Shilka, Tunguska also) to pave the way for air superiority, so it is safe for other aircraft to carry out other missions. Usually in an enemy area, SEADs are the first missions carried out so then other F-16s (or bombers) escorted by F-15s or other air superiority aircraft, can fly relatively safely in enemy airspace.
SAM sites are most often the target of these strikes. Striking SA-2s, SA-3s, more specifically, their radars (Low Blow for SA-3 for example) will render them useless. Most but not all SAM sites are passive radar-guided missiles, so knocking out their radar even with a SAM missile headed straight at you will make the missile ballistic.
Now I realize I need to do a little guide on the finer points of fragging a flight, as there's a tiny bit of prep work before hitting the runway, just to ensure you won't die.
How It's Done
So a bit of history to know alongside how to remove these pesky sites. The best way to root out these SAM sites is unfortunately, by having them fire. Almost always the sites sit passive, or off, until they detect something worth firing at. They are switched to active when they have something to shoot, and only then are they an easy target. In comes the Wild Weasel. Historically this is always an aircraft tasked with destroying enemy SAM sites, working in teams as one fighter (the weasel) pops up and makes itself a nice juicy target for the SAM site. The weasel, or usually his wingman(men), sees the SAM become active and fires on the weasel, and thus has a great target to destroy.
So by nature, the weasel tries to get shot at in order to fulfill his mission to destroy the SAM site.
Munitions & Delivery
The be all, end all munition for dealing with enemy radars is the AGM-88 HARM (High speed Anti-Radiation Missile). This replaced the AGM-45 Shrike (which if you're playing an old campaign / red flag, this will be the weapon of choice.) As mentioned, since SEAD missions are extremely common for F-16s, this is a common munition. Thankfully it's also one of the easiest to use as well.
First, before taking off, it is important to ensure the HTS pod is equipped. In the loadout screen, it is a simple checkbox. HTS (HARM Targeting System) will allow you to use the HAD (HARM Attack Display) which we'll get to in a second.
HARMs need to be powered on before use. Via the SMS page, on the right, click the button that says power off to toggle it to on. Once this is done, you can switch the SMS page to the HAD page on your MFD.
The HAD uses radar-seeking guidance that is linked directly to what's on the missile itself. So the HAD is displaying what the missile is seeing. You'll see a few things on the HAD page. Your flight path will be there, along with a strange looking bubble surrounding your aircraft. This bubble is the range of the missile. Anything inside that is directly engage-able. You can slew (assuming it is the SOI [sensor of interest]) as normal and use TMS up to lock target.
You'll see a lot of different numbers and other icons appear on the HAD page. A number like 2 or 10 indicates an SA-2 and SA-10 respectively. There will be other radars and types, too of course. Most important to note is color. A grey or green color indicates the radar is passive. Locking and firing at a passive radar will literally do nothing. Your HARM will fall out of the sky like a paperweight. A yellow indicates a tracking radar, and red indicates active. Blinking red means a firing radar. Yellow are OK to fire on but not ideal, as not only can it be turned off (and the HARM will be rendered useless midflight) but isn't the easiest for the HARM to track.
In comes our Wild Weasel. He'll get that SAM site to go red, or even blinking red. When that happens, you'll slew over and lock the SAM site. As long as that is within your engagement bubble, if you have it locked, fire away. From that point on, as long as the radar continues to emit, the HARM will automatically home in and destroy the radar.
Hope this helps. It's a wall of text but nothing simple in Falcon.
