Forum: F-16 Armament & Stores

hey guys, just got back to AF after developing a new addiction to Orbiter Spacesim (shame on me, I know Smile

). I'm getting used to all the systems again and was wondering about the mavericks; the dust-cap needs to be removed to get a picture from the camera (U-key), but does it also need to be removed if I slave the mav to the A-G radar?

F-16.net Sponsor

Yes, the cap should be removed, nevertheless the mode you use to fire it.

Once it is uncaged. It remains uncaged. Granted if you switch weapons modes, but not radar modes, it will move to the uncapped mav.

okay, thanks. [Link pending approval] another question springs to mind, is there a way to designate multiple targets to multiple mav's, and then releasing them all at once?

after delving through the history of the f-16 I must apologize for the above question about designating multiple [Link pending approval] I understand this is a sensitive [Link pending approval]

Actually, this very capability was a selling point of the Block 40 with LANTIRN and was heavily emphasized in LM advertising and pamphlets at the time. If I recall correctly, in the promotional video, the pilot was able to select six independent targets and take them out with one pass.

Best Regards,

Don't hold me to this but even pre-Block 40, I believe you could theoretically do the same thing with EO Mavs. You'd have to blow the covers off each missile you intended to shoot and have enough look time or standoff range to acquire and lock the individual targets thru each exposed seeker. Once everyone had a target you'd then launch one Mav then MSL STEP to the next until all the assigned Mavs were away. Of course, if you shot the lot you'd only be able to make one pass but it'd be a helluva pass! Twisted Evil

Not trying to be contrary here, but I seem to remember that many years ago in Block 10 A's with the EO AGM's on LAU-88's, you could not get video on the REO for the next missile, without firing, jettisoning or rejecting the active one. No multiple ACQ capability, at least back then.

It may have been a SMS/LAU-88 sequencing thing. Having only carried a TGM or a single live AGM for training, I can't speak to this sequencing from experience.

That being said, also memory is one of the first things to go. Maybe I'm thinking A-7 or F-4. It all runs together.

OL

BTW, if it was theoretically possible to do this, considering the acquisition range of the old EO versions (even with scene mag), the single cockpit workload would have been intense.

Agree 100% with outlaw regarding the workload. Even if multiple locks WERE possible, getting the shots away successfully would be a stretch what with people shootin' at ya and junk. You'd almost have to have all the targets close enough to each other that you didn't have to do too much seeker slewing or movin' the jet around to lock each one. And if ya weren't careful you could lose one or more from exceeding seeker gimbal limits. Way, WAY too much stress there!

I think the only way that a one-pass scenario would work is if the software was smart enough to let you acquire the target, hand it off to the Maverick, and then switch to the next one, and so on. Once the Maverick is locked on to the target, you really don't have anything to do except launch it. You would still have to pickle six times, but you could do it in one pass. Might sound crazy, but infinitely more desirable than making six passes over heavily-defended targets. No way you are going to acquire, lock, and launch six independent Mavericks on one pass, especially if you have other stuff to do.

I would think that if anyone had ever really done this in combat, we would have heard about it! For some reason the LANTIRN/Block 40 combo never really worked out. Maybe it was a change in USAF doctrine or tactics, but the low-level night attack scenario (with LANTIRN anyway) never materialized.

Mavericks were a lot of fun to check out on the ground. We used to lock up trucks, people, canopy reflections, etc. The video connections in the pylons were so bad at one time that it was common practice for the Weapons guys to jump out of the redball truck with a rubber mallet; they would tap along the pylon until the pilot told them he could see the video on the MFD.

Best Regards,

JoeSambor wrote:

No way you are going to acquire, lock, and launch six independent Mavericks on one pass, especially if you have other stuff to do.

Doug Masters could prolly do it. Oh....and maybe Chuck Norris too. Gotta have the rockin' tunes in the helmet to getcha into the zone tho. Wink